Prime Minister Carney meets with the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni
Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, on the sidelines of the 2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit in Evian, France.
The leaders highlighted ongoing efforts to strengthen cooperation on a range of priorities, including critical minerals, energy, defense, and secure supply chains. For example, the Italian energy company Eni recently invested nearly $100 million to purchase Canadian graphite from Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie mine in Quebec. Construction on this mine began only recently , just six months after the project was submitted to the Bureau of Major Projects. In the past year, Italy joined the Critical Minerals Production Alliance launched at the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, a Canadian trade mission visited Italy, and a Canadian investment forum on critical minerals was held in Italy.
Building on this progress, Prime Minister Carney welcomed Italy’s intention to collaborate with Canada in establishing stockpiles of critical minerals. These efforts will foster new partnerships between the two countries in the energy and industrial sectors.
Canada and Italy are strengthening their ties in the areas of defence and security. To this end, leaders welcomed the commencement of negotiations for Canada to acquire advanced M-346 jet trainers , designed and produced by Leonardo, one of Italy’s largest aerospace companies. This agreement, which leverages Italian aerospace and defence expertise, will allow the Royal Canadian Air Force to train on state-of-the-art aircraft and develop sovereign training capabilities.
This is how Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy is being implemented , through a build, partner, and purchase approach that supports domestic production and partnerships with trusted allies. Prime Minister Carney also highlighted Canada’s efforts to establish the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank to provide low-cost, multi-year funding for defence, security, and resilience initiatives.
The prime ministers reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine and agreed on the imperative of continuing to exert pressure on Russia with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace. They also discussed the situation in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Meloni agreed to remain in close contact.
: Office of the Prime Minister of Canada