Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to attend a Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Antigua and Barbuda beginning Monday and continuing with an opening ceremony on Tuesday.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney is travelling to Antigua and Barbuda on Monday to attend a Commonwealth leaders’ gathering, where officials said the focus will include trade and investment, as well as resilience and climate-change mitigation.
The meeting will include a lunch and a formal dinner hosted by King Charles for new Commonwealth leaders, along with executive sessions and other meetings. Carney is expected to spend one day at the gathering, with additional scheduling including a working breakfast with Caribbean leaders before the opening ceremony on Tuesday.
Carney is also expected to hold bilateral meetings, though officials declined to say in advance who he will meet. Antigua and Barbuda’s high commissioner to Canada, Ronald Sanders, said Carney will meet with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
Sanders said Browne will propose a bilateral agreement with Canada that “could see joint ventures and activities that promote economic growth and create commercial opportunities for Canadian enterprises.”
Officials described the Commonwealth meeting as a platform for Canada to expand trade, investment and strategic co-operation. They noted Canada currently has $100 billion in trade with Commonwealth countries.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will join Carney at the meeting. In an interview, Anand said Canada “supports practical Commonwealth initiatives that strengthen supply chains and improve market access, that advance trade diversification,” and that the Commonwealth has “ambitious targets” to increase trade among Commonwealth countries to $2 trillion by 2030.
The briefing said climate resilience and mitigation related to climate change will be a priority, with many smaller member states being islands that are “most affected by climate change,” according to Patricia Fortier, a retired Canadian diplomat. Sanders said the Commonwealth was where early discussions about climate change began.
Fortier described the gathering as an “extraordinary gathering,” adding that representatives from countries across regions including the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and the Indo-Pacific will be part of the talks.
Both Fortier and Michael Manulak, an associate professor of international affairs at Carleton University, said the Commonwealth can strengthen Canada’s ties beyond its day-to-day relationships. Manulak said trade and investment will be a top issue and that Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Botchwey has been pushing for concrete ways to reduce barriers to trade since she stepped into the role in 2025.
On broader issues, King Charles is expected to address the legacy of slavery at the meeting in Antigua. Officials did not answer directly when asked whether Carney will participate in any discussions connected to that topic. Manulak said Caribbean countries “naturally feel differently about this issue,” and noted that “Being in the Caribbean, this is going to be a really live issue.”
Tamanisha John, assistant professor at York University’s department of politics, said she predicted Canada will choose to stay quiet and, if pressed, will support the position of the U.K. government. She said the U.K. government opposes reparations, even if King Charles apologizes.
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