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. Advertisement Asia 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 trip. (Photo: Reuters/AAP/Lukas Coch) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. Tan Qiuyi Marcel Pereira Tan Qiuyi & Marcel Pereira 06 Mar 2026 10:15AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST 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. Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief An automated curation of our top stories to start your day. This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners. Loading 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 FOUNDATIONCanada 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.