Visit of EEAS Secretary-General and Special Envoy for EU–Canada partnership to Ottawa - EEAS

Open this photo in gallery:French Ambassador to Canada Hélène Farnaud-Defromont at the French Embassy in Ottawa, on Friday. Keito Newman/The Canadian PressFrance’s new ambassador in Ottawa says her country is open to working closer with Canada on defence procurement, despite its push for Europe to develop a fully autonomous arms industry. “In the defence sector and in other equally strategic sectors, France advocates for a European preference in procurement,” French Ambassador Hélène Farnaud-Defromont said in a French-language interview. “The ideal for us would be to achieve 100 per cent European content but, once again, we’re being realistic. We know we’re all going to need a bit of time to reach that goal.”Farnaud-Defromont said France can help Canada build up its defence base by sharing best practices. “France is the only member state of the European Union today to have retained a comprehensive defence industrial and technological base,” she said. “We have some really interesting ideas to put forward and develop together.”In February, Canada became the first non-European partner in an EU loan program for joint defence projects called Security Action for Europe, or SAFE.

French Ambassador to Canada Hélène Farnaud-Defromont is photographed at the French Embassy in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. OTTAWA - France’s new ambassador in Ottawa says her country is open to working closer with Canada on defence procurement, despite its push for Europe to develop a fully autonomous arms industry. “In the defence sector and in other equally strategic sectors, France advocates for a European preference in procurement,” French Ambassador Hélène Farnaud-Defromont said in a French-language interview.

PoliticsU. S. President Donald Trump is "comfortable" with where things stand with Canada — his country's once closest ally — and is in no rush to reach a new trade deal, according to his top trade envoy. Canada-U. S. trade minister says work continues, 'but I'm not waiting by my phone'Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Sep 25, 2026 12:28 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 25Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. U. S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the Trump administration isn't in a rush to reach a trade deal with Canada. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)U. S. President Donald Trump is "comfortable" with where things stand with Canada — his country's once closest ally — and is in no rush to reach a new trade deal, according to his top trade envoy. "The reality is President Trump is comfortable where we are on Canada," United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a Friday morning interview with the American network CNBC.

Open this photo in gallery:Japan's Ambassador to Canada Masashi Nakagome says Japan is keen on buying more energy from Canada as part of its efforts to boost its economic security. Dave Chan/The Globe and MailJapan is keen to buy more energy from Canada and particularly welcomes the fact that there is no possible bottleneck such as the Strait of Hormuz that could thwart Canadian petroleum from reaching Asian shores, its new envoy said. “Between Japan and Canada, there is no choke point,” Masashi Nakagome said in an interview, citing narrow passages including Asia’s Strait of Malacca, the main shipping route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The ambassador signalled, like his predecessor, that Japanese businesses are watching Canada-U. S. trade negotiations in hopes that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is renewed because investments including in this country’s auto sector are premised on preferential access to the U. S. market. “For any companies, not just Japanese companies, predictability is very important, and so we are hoping that we could see more predictability in the future,” he said of Canadian trade relations with the United States.