Prime Minister Carney to travel to Norway and the United Kingdom to strengthen collective defence and security + Canadian Prime Minister to visit Norway
Dual Press Release + Noah Note
March 9, 2026
Ottawa, Ontario
In a more dangerous and divided world, regions once considered isolated from global tensions are becoming areas of growing competition. The Arctic is at the centre of this shift. To protect Canadian sovereignty and the collective security of our Allies, Canada’s new government is strengthening our presence in the North, deepening our security and economic partnerships, and building our domestic defence capabilities.
To these ends, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, today announced that he will travel to Bardufoss and Oslo, Norway, from March 13 to 15, 2026. In Bardufoss, the Prime Minister will observe the Norwegian-led NATO Exercise Cold Response, where troops from 14 Allied nations will gather above the Arctic Circle to enhance the Alliance’s readiness, interoperability, and defence capabilities. This exercise is an important demonstration of NATO’s shared resolve to defend the Alliance's northern flank – supported by the participation of its newest members, Sweden and Finland, at this critical moment.
In Oslo, Prime Minister Carney will meet with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, to advance the Canada-Norway relationship across trade, investment, clean energy, critical minerals, and aerospace. Prime Minister Carney will then attend the Canada-Nordic Summit and meet with other Nordic partners to deepen geopolitical coordination and enhance transatlantic security, including in the North.
During his visit, the Prime Minister will also engage with business leaders to position Canada as a premier destination for global capital and investment, particularly in the defence, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence sectors.
The Prime Minister will then travel to London, United Kingdom, where he will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss a range of issues, including collective defence, global economic shifts, and the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
Quote
“Canada is, and forever will be, an Arctic nation. In the face of new threats, we are deepening defence collaboration with our Arctic partners to create a stronger, more prosperous, and more secure world for Canada and for all.”
The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
Quick facts
This is Prime Minister Carney’s first visit to Norway since taking office.
Exercise Cold Response brings together troops from 14 nations, including Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Türkiye, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Belgium to train for operations in Arctic and extreme winter conditions.
At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Canada and our NATO Allies agreed to a new Defence Investment Pledge of investing 5% of annual GDP by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective security. As part of this pledge, Canada will invest 3.5% of GDP for core military capabilities and 1.5% of GDP in critical defence and security-related expenditure.
Canada officially joined the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative at the Munich Security Conference in February 2026. SAFE is a key pillar of the EU’s Readiness 2030 plan, and Canada’s participation in SAFE will enhance defence readiness on both sides of the Atlantic.
Press release | Date: 09/03/2026 | Office of the Prime Minister
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will be visiting Norway on 13–15 March at the invitation of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. On Sunday, the two Prime Ministers will be participating in a Nordic-Canadian summit in Oslo.
This is the first official visit to Norway by a Canadian Prime Minister since 1980. On the agenda are the Cold Response military exercise and Norway’s cooperation with Canada.
‘I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Carney to Norway. Norway and Canada are close partners and have a great deal in common. At a time of deep global uncertainty, it is important to strengthen cooperation between Canada, Norway and the other Nordic countries,’ said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
The Canadian Prime Minister’s trip to Norway will begin with a visit to the Cold Response military exercise, where the two Prime Ministers and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will meet Canadian, German and Norwegian soldiers.
On Sunday, Mr Støre will host a Nordic-Canadian summit in Oslo. Prime Minister Carney and the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden will take part, in addition to the Norwegian Prime Minister.
Noah Note: YES PRIME MINISTER CARNEY. SECURE THE NORTH ATLANTIC TRIUMVIRATE. SECURE CANADA’S MANDATE OF HEAVEN IN THE EXPANDED LUNNA HOUSE AGREEMENT.
So I am quite pleased by this news. Of course perhaps it's just the fact that it's Nirway and the UK and I have been persistent in my desire to see a proper Northern Atlantic alliance built on our common equipment, threats, and operating environments.
I wrote about Norway a few months ago when discussing Lunna House, and my words there are still the words I would caution today:
“There are also areas like the North Atlantic where we need to position ourselves as a real partner, an active player. The more that we're out of these conversations, outside the purview of such agreements, the more we sacrifice our position, the more opportunities we lose out on.
Eventually they'll slow down, people will fall into camps, and we will be further shut out. We do not have the luxury of time, to advertise ourselves and wait for people to come to us. Norway demonstrates to us what leveraging our desires, our opportunities can be used to secure the partnerships we keep hearing thrown around.
Yet that requires work, and I feel like we might be quick to squander those opportunities in the name of aversion and complacency.”
I am a proud supporter of the Arctic camp concept, beyond the often mentioned Joint Expeditionary Force. I am happy to see the Prime Minister engaging in NATO exercises, and using the opportunity to engage with many of our Nordic allies.
I dont see big announcements or major.moves here but thats okay. Not every trip needs to be a spectacular, earth-rsttling shift in the strategic posture of Canada. Everything starts somewhere, and those starts are often the events like these. Of course I wish the Prime Minister went to Norway sooner, given their importance to other areas like CPSP.
It's better late than never… but I do hope the Prime Minister shares my own ambition here, and that he will use this trip to start engaging on serious discussions of the broader North Atlantic and NATO Arctic camp. The opportunities, as I have said, are there to do a lot more than we are.
So I hope those with power and authority to get things done also share in that vision. Time will tell I guess, though it isn't on our side.
Yes, perhaps PM Carney is getting to Norway but better late than never. He and the movers in government are moving forward laying a very sturdy foundation in alliances, defence, space and just about everything. As long as future governments don’t muck things up.
And hopefully the Forces contribution to the exercises is more than token.