Experts say Canada’s presence at the World Economic Forum has outsized importance this year, with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pitch to expand global trade relationships coming as rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to hijack the annual meeting.
The conference in Davos, Switzerland, sees politicians and wealthy corporate leaders meet to discuss global affairs and economic development.
But Ivey Business School fellow Mahmood Nanji said the latest edition “takes on a different kind of meaning” than in past years amid global conflict and economic upheaval.
He said the forum provides an important opportunity for Carney to plant the seed that could lead to eventual new trade partnerships, at a time when uncertainty lingers over renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
“Maybe before people said, ‘Oh, it’s just a bunch of elites who are going to show up at Davos, which is usually the case,'” Nanji said.
“For Canada in particular, Carney’s pitch at a forum like this is so important because I think he is really worried. Trying to have allies and partners with other parts of the world will be really important to offset any of the repercussions of Trump’s actions toward Canada out of the CUSMA negotiations.”
He cautioned it will take time for Canada to diversify its trade relationships, a process it has begun after signing recent deals with China and Qatar.
Carney spoke at the conference on Tuesday, saying the world is moving toward a system of economic coercion with large powers pursuing their own interests above all else. He said middle powers, including Canada, must join forces to survive this new reality.
“Diversifying our trading partners is absolutely an important piece of economic security,” said Kaylie Tiessen, chief economist at the Canadian SHIELD Institute.
“In that way, we have seen many efforts in the last year from Prime Minister Carney and others in the cabinet to diversify that trade, and now we’re wanting to make sure that in those trade agreements that are being written now, we still have the ability to govern the economy and make decisions about deciding what companies Canada buys from.”
Jay Khosla, executive director of economic and energy policy with the Public Policy Forum added that Carney seems to be positioning Canada as a country “growing up economically.”
But Khosla said he would have liked to hear Carney speak more about his government’s domestic agenda in his pitch, including its work to accelerate the development of projects deemed to be in the national interest. He said those are key projects that could help spur investment.
“He is signing trade deals across the board, but how does that interact with what we’re doing domestically to meet those markets and what they’re trying to do?” said Khosla.
“It’s a long-term game. This is nothing that’s going to happen overnight. But if we can’t build … the projects in energy, mining and infrastructure in particular quickly, then we won’t be able to reap the benefits of anything that’s happening out there.”
Trump is set to speak at the forum on Wednesday, having continued to muse about taking over Greenland in recent days. The president has also threatened tariffs on European countries opposed to the U.S. gaining control of the territory.
Nanji said that could distract from organizers’ theme, “a spirit of dialogue” at this year’s forum, but makes it all the more key for Canada to be engaged in conversations with its other allies right now.
For his part, Carney warned other world leaders against taking an approach of compliance in order to buy safety.
“Obviously in some ways, with what’s happened in the last little while, (Trump) has sort of hijacked the agenda at Davos. His mere presence at Davos was always going to be sort of a flashpoint,” said Nanji.
“Canada will also need to decide how it is going to response to this, so dialogue is going be even more important in the remaining days of the Davos summit.”
— With files from Kyle Duggan in Davos, Switzerland
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2026.
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
