Overview
- On July 9, Prime Minister Mark Carney met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and signed 13 commercial agreements and memoranda of understanding, reported at about US$700 million, and agreed to set up a Canada–Saudi Arabia Coordination Council to oversee cooperation.
- Canada and Saudi Arabia signed separate MOUs on energy and artificial intelligence that commit both sides to partner on renewable projects, LNG and the infrastructure for next‑generation AI through sovereign‑AI bodies such as Canada’s Cohere and Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN.
- Carney said Ottawa will appoint a permanent defence attaché to Riyadh to deepen military and defence industry ties and to support potential exports of Canadian defence equipment.
- Both leaders committed to conclude negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement by early 2027 and launched talks on a double taxation deal, steps designed to make it easier for firms and investors on both sides to operate.
- The rapprochement revives unresolved issues from the 2018 diplomatic break and the Khashoggi episode, with rights groups and some politicians warning that deeper commercial and security ties raise accountability concerns even as Canada publicly condemned recent attacks on Gulf countries.