Canada seeks stronger ties with Japan as Carney pushes ‘middle-power’ strategy

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will wrap up his Asia-Pacific tour with talks in Tokyo aimed at deepening economic and security cooperation.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers an address to members and senators in the House of Representatives at the Australian Parliament House, in Canberra, Australia on Mar 5, 2026. Carney heads to Japan next in the last leg of his…see more

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to arrive in Japan on Friday (Mar 6) for the last stop of his three-nation Asia-Pacific tour that also took him to India and Australia.

The trip is part of Ottawa’s broader effort to diversify trade and strengthen partnerships across the Indo-Pacific, reducing reliance on the United States as global competition intensifies.

In Tokyo, he is set to meet Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for talks aimed at deepening cooperation in key economic sectors and on security and defence, including support for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Carney has framed the trip as part of a broader effort to bring together so-called “middle powers” at a time of growing rivalry between larger states.

The visit follows the message he delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, where he said: “In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: compete with each other for favour or to combine to create a third path with impact.”

He has urged countries that are not superpowers but wield significant economic or diplomatic influence to work together to bolster global stability and uphold shared values and Japan is central to that vision.

Kei Koga, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said: “Japan has the economic capabilities, and a strong diplomatic presence in the Pacific. And they (Canada and Japan) share the same kind of values … such as democracy and human rights.”

A SOLID FOUNDATION

Canada and Japan have long-standing economic ties underpinned by robust trade and investment.

Japan is Canada’s fourth-largest foreign investor after the US, the United Kingdom and China, and its fifth-largest trading partner by product volume, according to official data.

Tokyo’s key exports to Canada include cars, machinery and medical equipment, while Ottawa exports canola, wheat, beef, pork, minerals and, increasingly, energy to Japan.

Last year, Tokyo began importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Ottawa to diversify its energy supply.

Mitsubishi Corporation, one of Japan’s largest trading houses, holds a 15 per cent stake in the C$40 billion (US$29 billion) LNG Canada project in British Columbia.

“What concerns the people most in Japan currently is cost of living and inflation,” said Tomoo Kikuchi, professor at Waseda University, noting that reliable access to natural resources underpins production and prices.

“Because of what’s happening now in (the) Middle East, I think it’s important for Japan that it has other sources of imports of LNG and oil,” he added.

SECURITY COOPERATION

Both countries are also strengthening their security ties amid rising regional tensions.

Under Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy, Ottawa has joined maritime security exercises in Asian waters and signed defence technology transfer and information-sharing agreements with Tokyo.

But some commentators describe Canada’s engagement as piecemeal and ad hoc.

“Canada is a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and their security perspective could be shifting to the European side,” noted Koga.

“So in that sense, it would be difficult to understand to what extent Canada could actually commit militarily to the Indo-Pacific in the future.”

BALANCE OF POWER

Canada and Japan both face pressures from larger powers – especially the United States and China.

They have long been caught in what analysts call the “Washington distraction”, forced to react to shifts in US trade and security policy. Both countries have faced US tariffs, along with pressure from Washington to increase defence spending.

At the same time, Canada has stepped up selective engagement with China in certain economic areas as it seeks to reduce reliance on the US, while Japan continues to manage tensions with Beijing, including over Taiwan and regional security.

Carney and Takaichi previously met on the sidelines of the APEC leaders’ meeting in South Korea in November last year, where they discussed expanding economic cooperation and strengthening ties in the Indo-Pacific.

The talks in Tokyo on Friday and Saturday will be their first formal bilateral summit in Japan.

Against a backdrop of US policy shifts and regional tensions, the meeting will test whether Canada and Japan can translate their shared interests into a practical middle-power strategy – one that can hold its ground amid rivalry between the world’s largest powers.

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