QUÉBEC — Prime Minister Mark Carney and his cabinet are gathering in Quebec City Thursday for two days of meetings focused on the economy, affordability and security.
The cabinet retreat is beginning just a day after Carney’s return from a nine-day overseas trip to drum up new investment for Canada. It also comes just ahead of the return of Parliament on Monday.
Experts say the retreat is an opportunity for the government to discuss internal issues — like interprovincial trade and major projects. As with the World Economic Forum summit in Switzerland this week, U.S. President Donald Trump, his tariffs and fixation on Greenland are likely to dominate much of the discussion.
“What they should be focused on is what’s the game plan for getting Canadians ready for what’s going to be a very rough year, with the prospect of more tariffs, more pain and (trade) negotiations that are clearly going to be taking place under the barrel of a tariff gun,” said Fen Osler Hampson, an international affairs professor at Carleton University.
The retreat is taking place on the heels of Carney delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum gathering that urged middle powers to band together against economic coercion by “great powers.”
The speech has drawn a number of positive reviews from all over the world — but not from Trump, who said during his own speech in Davos that the prime minister should be “grateful” to the U.S.
“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump told the gathering Wednesday. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
The retreat is being held at The Citadelle of Quebec, a military base and the secondary official residence of the governor general of Canada. The fortress was built in the 1800s by the British to protect the city from the threat of an American attack.
At the retreat, cabinet is expected to hear from experts in government, finance, community services, advanced technology and global affairs.
Speakers attending the retreat on Thursday include Mayor of Quebec City Bruno Marchand, Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley and Scotiabank’s head of resilience economics Rebekah Young.
Ministers will also hear from Royal Bank of Canada chief economist Frances Donald and head of BlackRock Investment Institute Jean Boivin.
Jennifer Welsh, director of McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, said she expects there will be conversations at the retreat about navigating the renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.
She also said ministers will have to discuss how exactly they intend to diversify Canada’s trade relationships and build the economy.
“So what should be the priorities and what do international partnerships mean? How are we going to actually pursue them and realize them?” she said.
During Carney’s trip abroad, he finalized a deal to get China to lower agricultural tariffs in exchange for opening some market access for Chinese electric vehicles. He also secured deals on defence, trade and foreign investment during his visit to Qatar.
In a news release Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said Carney and his cabinet will “continue to diversify our partnerships abroad and build our strength at home to deliver greater stability, security, and prosperity for Canadians.”
Osler Hampson said the ministers should also take time in Quebec to discuss making faster headway on major projects.
“We’re not going to be selling much to the world unless we build our infrastructure, build our ports, build our rail, build pipelines,” he said.
“That’s got to happen sooner rather than later if there are going to be jobs for those who are going to be thrown out of work.”
Parliament is set to resume on Monday for the first time since December 11. Carney’s Liberal government is two seats shy of a majority, after two Conservatives crossed the floor in the fall and the departure of Toronto MP Chrystia Freeland earlier this month.
The Liberal budget passed the House of Commons in November; now the government must pass legislation to implement parts of that budget. That bill passed second reading before the break but still needs to go to committee for study before a final vote in the House of Commons and then debate and votes in the Senate.
In the fall, the Liberals introduced three justice bills — which have yet to be passed by Parliament — that would implement a long list of changes to the Criminal Code.
They include new intimidation and obstruction offences in Bill C-9, measures in Bill C-14 to make bail more difficult to obtain and to allow for consecutive sentencing for some crimes, and Bill C-16’s move to restore mandatory minimum imprisonment penalties.
Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the cabinet’s agenda should include moving forward legislation in Parliament.
“There’s a sense now that Carney’s put a lot out there, but criticism is around delivering,” Robertson said. “They’ve got several bits of legislation that are on the books, and I think that that will be something that people will be seeing — how does he manage Parliament?”
Robertson said it’s significant that the retreat is being held in Quebec, given that the province is “always a battleground.”
“The seats they’ve got there, they have to sustain,” he said. “I think it’s prudent on his part to do it there and show off the Quebec ministers again.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.
—With files from Kyle Duggan, Anja Karadeglija and Alessia Passafiume
Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
