Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June. Canada and Mexico plan to renew a dialogue on security, including joint efforts to combat illicit trafficking of drugs and firearms.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney will sign a strategic partnership on trade and security with Mexico when he visits Thursday, part of what officials are describing as a reset of their relationship as both countries prepare for a renegotiation of their trilateral trade deal with an increasingly protectionist United States.
A sizable business delegation including Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Scott Thomson, CPKC CEO Keith Creel, TC Energy CEO François Poirier, Martinrea International executive chairman Rob Wildeboer and ATCO CEO Nancy Southern will be joining Mr. Carney during his two-day visit to Mexico.
One Canadian official, speaking to journalists at a background briefing on Mr. Carney’s meetings with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, said Ottawa feels there is untapped potential to boost trade with Mexico. It currently ranks among the top five export markets for Canada.
The Globe is not identifying the official or others who spoke to media Wednesday because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the trip.
Canada and Mexico also plan to renew a dialogue on security and cabinet ministers from each country will discuss joint efforts to combat illicit trafficking of drugs and firearms as well as disrupting activities linked to transnational organized crime, including human trafficking, another senior government official said.
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Canada and Mexico are both looking for new export markets as the United States under President Donald Trump tries to raise the cost of selling to American customers.
Canada’s exports to the United States declined in 2025 over 2024 as a result of Mr. Trump’s tariffs, while Mexican exports to the U.S. fared far better − a contrast that highlights the different vulnerabilities in the Canadian economy to U.S. protectionism.
Speaking about the Carney-Sheinbaum relationship, a senior official said the Prime Minister’s visit marks a moment when there is a lot of alignment between these two leaders.
The visit between the Prime Minister and the President − their first one-on-one meeting since Ms. Sheinbaum attended the G7 summit in Alberta in June − will also provide them an opportunity to strategize on how to approach the 2026 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The U.S. is expected to want to reopen the pact and make changes.
Canada is facing trade retaliation from China for imposing 100-per-cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and Mexico plans to hike its tariffs on automobiles from China to 50 per cent − a measure that’s also angered Beijing.
Another senior Canadian official told reporters Wednesday what is being called comprehensive strategic partnership between Canada and Mexico would include an action plan with working groups to collaborate on infrastructure, trade, health, agriculture as well as emergency preparedness and security.
Like Canada, Mexico is in the midst of rolling out an industrial and trade strategy − Plan México − to diversify its economy in the face of Mr. Trump’s protectionism. Both countries, despite a free-trade deal with Washington, have been hit with steep tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, among others.
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Mexican officials have said they are eager to attract Canadian investment as the country modernizes six of its ports and assembles a new shipping route with its Interoceanic corridor that runs a railway line between the Pacific port of Salina Cruz and the Atlantic port of Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf of Mexico.
These Mexican ports could provide a shipping route for Canada-Mexico trade that bypasses the United States to deliver goods straight to each other’s markets.
Another senior Canadian official said Canada has identified Mexico’s port investments as a potential area of collaboration and this will be a major focus of discussions.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, will accompany Mr. Carney to Mexico.
When Mr. Carney meets with Ms. Sheinbaum at the National Palace on Thursday, both leaders will likely have in mind several incidents from 2024 that they would prefer to put behind them.
Last November, Mexicans were upset when Canadian politicians including Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith publicly talked of cutting Mexico out of the USMCA, and instead striking a bilateral deal with Washington. Then-deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland also declined to rule out a separate bilateral deal with the U.S. when asked about Mr. Ford’s comments.
Mr. Ford compounded Mexicans’ anger with comments he made when he rejected Mr. Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on both Canada and Mexico.
“To compare us to Mexico is the most insulting thing I’ve ever heard from our friends and closest allies, the United States of America,” the Premier said last November.