Prime Minister Carney meets with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman

<p>Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, during his first official visit to Saudi Arabia. This was the first visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia in 26 years.</p><p>The Prime Minister thanked His Royal Highness for his hospitality, and the leaders recognised the growing cooperation between Canada and Saudi Arabia, including the recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-canada/news/2025/12/expanded-air-transport-agreements-with-saudi-arabia-and-the-united-arab-emirates-to-allow-more-passenger-and-cargo-flights.html">Air Transport Agreement</a> to increase air travel, and visits from Canada’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2026/03/joint-press-statement-at-the-conclusion-of-the-visit-of-the-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-canada-to-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia.html">Minister of Foreign Affairs</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2026/01/minister-sidhu-advances-canadas-commercial-ties-with-saudi-arabia.html">Minister of International Trade</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2026/02/minister-solomon-concludes-visit-to-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia-laying-the-foundation-for-future-collaboration-on-artificial-intelligence.html">Minister of Artificial Intelligence</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2026/01/canada-strengthens-critical-minerals-and-energy-partnership-with-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia-at-the-2026-future-minerals-forum.html">Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources</a>.</p><p>Prime Minister Carney condemned Iran’s recent attacks on Gulf countries and reaffirmed Canada’s support for the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of countries in the region. The leaders emphasised the importance of de-escalation, protecting civilians, and advancing diplomatic efforts to promote regional stability and security.</p><p>The Prime Minister recognised Saudi Arabia’s transformative Vision 2030 strategy, which has led to unprecedented investments in infrastructure, dynamic growth in tourism, and advancements in health and technology. He affirmed Canada’s commitment to building a stronger partnership with Saudi Arabia, built on mutual trust, pragmatic cooperation, and a focus on catalysing benefits for our peoples.</p><p>The leaders <strong>welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish the Canada-Saudi Arabia Coordination Council</strong>, which will strengthen&nbsp;cooperation across key defence, economic, trade and investment, cultural, educational, scientific, and consular priorities.</p><p>The leaders discussed harnessing Canadian expertise to catalyse innovations in health and medicine, support renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage, and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and save lives. To accelerate this cooperation, <strong>Canada and Saudi Arabia signed two MOUs on energy and AI</strong>.</p><p>Prime Minister Carney congratulated His Royal Highness for the city of Riyadh winning the bid to host the 2030 World Expo. The Prime Minister was pleased to confirm Canada’s intent to participate to showcase Canadian innovation and expertise in support of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The two leaders underlined the FIFA World Cup as a platform for collaboration and exchange, with Canada currently co-hosting the tournament and Saudi Arabia preparing to host in 2034.</p><p>The leaders agreed to remain in close contact.</p><h2>Associated links</h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/06/30/prime-minister-carney-attend-nato-summit-turkiye-and-visit-saudi">Prime Minister Carney to attend the NATO Summit in Türkiye and visit Saudi Arabia to deepen trade, technology, and defence partnerships</a></li><li><a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/saudi_arabia-arabie_saoudite/relations.aspx?lang=eng">Canada-Saudi Arabia relations</a></li></ul>

“At the invitation of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, made an official visit to Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period of (23-25) Muharram 1448 AH corresponding to (8-10) July 2026. Leaders agreed to elevate bilateral ties and set clear priorities for a deeper and sustained cooperation across trade, investment, innovation, multilateral fora and regional security. This marks a significant step in the bilateral relationship, built on considerable recent momentum and focused on the shared commitment to deliver tangible results that support both Canada's growth agenda and Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.&nbsp;Bilateral relationshipThe two sides underscored their shared commitment to a strong and forward-looking Canada–Saudi Arabia partnership.

The two sides agreed to establish a Canada–Saudi Arabia Coordination Council, led by Foreign Ministers, to advance cooperation and deliver concrete results across political, security and defence, economic, trade and investment, cultural, educational, scientific, and consular priorities. Both sides also welcomed the launch of a Joint Working Document as a roadmap to support the Canada-Saudi Arabia Coordination Council and its work to strengthen cooperation across strategic sectors.&nbsp;The two sides underscored their confidence in a future marked by deeper cooperation and shared prosperity, strengthened by mutual trust, close friendship, and a common vision for advancing the partnership between the two nations.&nbsp;They expressed confidence that the strengthened partnership would deliver tangible benefits for both countries and support Saudi Vision 2030 and Canada’s objectives to build&nbsp;a stronger more resilient economy and diversify partnerships abroad.

&nbsp;This partnership is based on trust,&nbsp;friendship,&nbsp;and a shared vision of confronting global challenges with pragmatic,&nbsp;swift,&nbsp;and tangible cooperation.&nbsp;&nbsp;Trade and investmentThe two sides emphasized the importance of unlocking the full potential of bilateral economic ties and welcomed the growing engagement between Canadian and Saudi businesses. Both sides noted that bilateral trade has reached over 20 billion USD since 2020.

They agreed to promote two-way investment, increase non-oil trade, support small and medium-sized enterprises, and strengthen cooperation between financial institutions. The two sides agreed to launch negotiations for a Double Taxation Agreement and welcomed the ongoing Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement negotiations with a view to concluding them by early 2027. The two sides stressed the importance of cooperation between financial institutions in the two countries, which contributes to enhancing financing for strategic and major projects.

The Kingdom welcomed the strong interest of Canadian investors in visiting Saudi Arabia to explore opportunities. Equally, Prime Minister Carney looks forward to welcoming Saudi investors to the first-ever Investment Summit in Toronto in September 2026.&nbsp;The Saudi Arabia-Canada Investment Forum, held on July 9th, showcased the economic momentum between the two countries. The two sides welcomed the announcement of commercial and investment agreements between Canadian and Saudi entities, illustrating the scale of opportunities across several sectors, including mining, engineering, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, training and education, financial services, and information and communication technology.

Energy, mining and mineral resourcesThe two sides welcomed the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Energy Cooperation and highlighted opportunities for collaboration across conventional and clean energy, including liquefied natural gas projects in Canada, electricity and renewable energy, hydrogen, carbon management technologies, innovation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, resilient supply chains and workforce development. The two sides also welcomed growing cooperation in mining and mineral resources formalized via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January 2026 to enhance cooperation in the field of mineral resources, including exploration, financing, and processing technologies.

This strategic MOU cemented an established track record of bilateral growth, highlighted by Canadian companies securing the largest share of mining exploration licenses issued by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in the Kingdom. Furthermore, the two sides seek to enhance industrial cooperation centred on advanced manufacturing. Technology, education and health, international cooperationThe two sides welcomed the conclusion of a MOU on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Investment and Skills Development.

The MOU aims to advance cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, including joint investment opportunities in targeted sectors; encouraging business-to-business linkages, such as through trade missions; advancing technical collaboration; and supporting skills development and advanced AI training.&nbsp;Both sides&nbsp;identified future opportunities to expand collaboration in public health, biotechnology, digital health, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies,&nbsp;exchange of expertise, training programs and research. The two sides stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and joint coordination in international forums, organizations and multilateral financial and economic institutions, in order to support global economic stability and growth.

The Canadian side affirmed its support for the Kingdom's desire to host the (G20) summit in 2030.People to people tiesThe two sides also highlighted the FIFA World Cup as a platform for collaboration and exchange, with Canada currently co-hosting the tournament and Saudi Arabia preparing to host in 2034.Prime Minister Carney&nbsp;congratulated His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for the city of Riyadh winning the bid to host the 2030 World Expo and was pleased to confirm Canada’s intent to participate to highlight Canadian innovation and contributions to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.&nbsp;The two sides reaffirmed the importance of bilateral air connectivity and the value of the recent expansion of the Air Transport Agreement concluded in November 2025, which permits up to 14 weekly passenger flights per country and unlimited weekly all-cargo services.

They recognized the importance of continued collaboration between the two authorities in the field of civil aviation and agreed to expand the Air Transport Agreement to support the growth of passenger and all-cargo transportation between the two countries. The two sides highlighted the importance of implementing these increased passenger and cargo flight frequencies to strengthen economic and people-to-people ties.&nbsp;Thereby advancing mutual interests and enhancing bilateral cooperation in the civil aviation sector. Defence and regional securityThe two sides reaffirmed their commitment&nbsp;to enhance cooperation and coordination in the defence field as well as to advance regional stability and international security.

They welcomed enhanced cooperation on defence, cybersecurity, counterterrorism, combatting transnational crime and the exchange of expertise between relevant institutions.&nbsp;On regional security,&nbsp;the two sides strongly condemned Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7, 2026. They stressed that these unacceptable attacks constitute an attack on the security and safety of international navigation and on the security of global energy supplies and represent a serious violation of international law and norms, which guarantees freedom of navigation and safe passage through maritime routes, and of United Nations Security Council Resolution (2817).&nbsp;They also underscored that such actions heighten regional tensions, undermine confidence-building efforts, and jeopardize ongoing diplomatic negotiations aimed at promoting regional stability and security.

Both sides commended the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the State of Qatar aimed at reaching an agreement.&nbsp; They reaffirmed the importance of restoring safe and unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law, to the normal conditions that prevailed prior to February 28, 2026.&nbsp;On State of Palestine, the two sides emphasized the importance of the safe, urgent and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance, the protection of civilians, and efforts to create the conditions for lasting peace. They reiterated support for the two-state solution and stressed the importance of maintaining the Palestinian people's right to establish their independent state.

The Saudi side welcomed Canada’s recognition of the State of Palestine.&nbsp;On Yemen, the two sides affirmed their full support for efforts aimed at reaching a political solution to the Yemeni crisis, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and agreed on the importance of supporting the Presidential Leadership Council in the Republic of Yemen to enable it to carry out its responsibilities. They stressed the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region. On Sudan, the two sides stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to end the crisis and reaffirm their support for Sudan's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, the preservation of its national institutions, and the rights of the Sudanese people to live in peace, dignity and justice, free from actions that could further fuel the conflict or undermine the country's stability.

At the conclusion of the visit, Prime Minister Carney expressed his appreciation to His Royal Highness for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended throughout the visit. His Royal Highness also expressed His sincere wishes for His Excellency's continued good health and well-being, and further progress and prosperity for the friendly Canadian people.”