Canada is courting Nordic countries as it seeks to buy more military kit from the likes of Sweden and Finland to offset its trade dependence on the US after President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of annexation.
Mélanie Joly, Canada’s industry minister, told the Financial Times while on a five-day trip to Nordic countries that she is keen to work with “like-minded” Sweden and Finland by boosting business and diplomatic ties and bolstering security in the Arctic region.
“We know we are overdependent [on the US] on trade,” she said. “We know that we have to invest more in our military because of under-financing for decades . . . Our defense industrial strategy is helping us invest more in the EU and diversify our economic partnerships with key countries in Europe, including Sweden and Finland.”
Trump’s hostility to Canada — not just threatening annexation but also embarking on a trade war in violation of a free trade deal — dominated the country’s election campaign and helped propel Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal party to victory in April.
One of the pillars of Carney’s agenda is to build “the strongest economy in the G7” and insulate Canada from Trump’s tariffs by diversifying its trading relationships with allies in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Joly visited companies including defense group Saab and technology company Ericsson in Sweden and she inaugurated the construction of a polar icebreaker at a Canadian-owned shipyard in Finland.
Saab has a partnership with Canada’s Bombardier over its increasingly popular GlobalEye surveillance aircraft and also produces the Gripen fighter jet that is an alternative to the US F-35. Ottawa has ordered the latter but has asked its defence minister to examine ‘other alternatives’.
Canada, the US and Finland have also signed a pact aiming to develop icebreakers using Helsinki’s expertise.
Finland and Sweden joined Nato in the past two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They too are keen to develop closer ties with Canada amid concerns about Moscow and Washington’s intentions in the Arctic following Trump’s threat to take control of Greenland from Denmark.
“The game changer was their accession to Nato,” Joly said. “We just created a new Arctic security dialogue together . . . We need to make sure we are putting money where our mouth is when it comes to protecting our sovereignty.”
Catherine Fortin LeFaivre, head of international policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, on Wednesday said: “More diversified trade links make Canada more resilient to shocks and more competitive in the long run. And Canada has what the world needs. Do our businesses know it’s harder and costlier to ship goods across oceans than across a land border? Yes.”
Joly’s Nordic trip is part of a global push to reinvigorate old friendships or patch up past problem areas. Carney’s government has moved to improve relations with the EU and UK as well as try to rekindle them with China and India. Canada’s international trade minister Maninder Sidhu will also travel to Brazil on Monday.
