Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to arrive in Türkiye on a trip expected to give a new push to relations between the two countries that are working toward a free trade agreement (FTA).
Carney will travel to Ankara and Istanbul from Wednesday to Friday and is scheduled to hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during what will mark the first dedicated bilateral visit to NATO ally Türkiye by a Canadian leader.
The trip marks Carney's latest diplomatic effort as he seeks to reduce the country's reliance on the United States, by far its biggest trading partner, after a collapse in trade talks in August.
The talks with Erdoğan are meant to cover political and diplomatic issues as well as trade, defense industry, energy and mutual investment.
Carney and his delegation are also expected to meet Turkish business representatives to discuss opportunities in areas such as aviation, advanced technologies and critical minerals.
The premier has vowed to double Canada's non-U.S. trade over the next decade and has rushed to establish ties with a host of countries, including China and India, with which it had past strains.
Relations received a boost from the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara in July, when Carney and Erdoğan formally launched negotiations for a free trade agreement.
Türkiye has also agreed to join Canada's Defense Security and Resilience Bank as one of 10 founding member nations of Carney's multilateral "middle powers" bank.
The bank's purpose is to bolster the defense of like-minded allied nations by raising up to 100 billion pounds ($134 billion) in cheap financing.
The two countries' technical teams have worked intensively since July to define the scope and goals of the trade agreement.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat and Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu also met in June to discuss advancing the economic partnership. They described energy as a "promising area" for deeper cooperation, and discussed possible cooperation in nuclear energy.
Türkiye's exports to Canada last year totaled about $1.58 billion, and its imports from Canada about $1.16 billion. That put two-way trade at about $2.74 billion.
The leading Turkish exports in 2025 were boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, at $158.8 million, followed by iron and steel at $104.4 million and articles of iron or steel at $97.0 million.
In the first eight months of this year, exports to Canada reached about $1.02 billion and imports about $955 million, bringing trade close to $2 billion.
Boilers and machinery again led exports at $96.1 million, followed by aluminum and aluminum articles at $73.8 million and edible fruits and nuts at $49.5 million.
If an FTA is signed, the two countries aim to lift trade to $7-$8 billion in the short term, and to $10 billion later.
Visitors from Canada to Türkiye rose 6.1% to 321,271 in 2025, from 302,728 in 2024. In the first eight months of 2026, arrivals rose 2.9% year-over-year to 209,176.
According to Statistics Canada, Canada's stock of direct investment in Türkiye stood at CA$3.3 billion ($2.35 billion) as of 2025. Türkiye's direct investment stock in Canada was CA$233 million.
