Canada deepens strategic cooperation with Finland and Sweden in anti-Russian—and anti-Trump—key

Brussels – Canada is increasingly looking to the Nordic States of the Old Continent to deepen military cooperation in an anti-Russian capacity and, at the same time, reduce the impact of US tariffs. This week, two members of the Ottawa executive visited Sweden and Finland to explore potential partnerships with the weapons industries of Stockholm and Helsinki.

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n the end, the combination of two wars—the tariffs one unleashed by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin‘s bloody one in Ukraine—has prompted Canada to review its strategic posture in its backyard, the Arctic Circle. With the ice caps irretrievably set to melt as a consequence of climate change, the Ottawa government is taking no chances. 

The Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney, elected  last April  right on the heels of the US tycoon’s rantings (above all, the hypothesis of annexation of the northern neighbour as the 51st state), is shaking up Canadian politics, which has traditionally followed Washington’s lead.

Now, also aided by the tariffs escalation pursued by the White House, the Arctic country is rapidly approaching the EU, as evidenced by the signing of a new strategic cooperation agreement with Brussels (Ottawa’s gateway to the SAFE Fund set up by the EU Commission for joint war procurement), which underpins the CETA economic partnership, already in place since 2017.

 Continuing along this path, this week the Canadian Prime Minister sent two ministers to Europe in as many EU Member States. Foreign Minister Anita Anand went to Finland, while Mélanie Joly, responsible for industry, visited neighbouring Sweden. This is a paradigm shift for the North American country, made necessary by the Russian invasion of Ukraine (an event that, moreover, convinced both Scandinavian nations to join the North Atlantic Alliance). 

“Nato’s sight must also shift westwards and northwards due to the changed geopolitical landscape, especially after 24 February 2022,” Anand noted from Helsinki, where she had a bilateral meeting with President Alexander Stubb, who had just returned from the super-summit at the White House on Monday (18 August), to seal the new strategic partnership on foreign and security policy signed between the two countries.

Canada and Finland are close NATO allies and partners in the Arctic. Today with Minister @elinavaltonen, our nations’ strengthened cooperation on NATO collaboration, Arctic and North Atlantic security, countering hybrid threats, and reiterated our support with Ukraine.… pic.twitter.com/EXtaUlxnOo

— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) August 19, 2025

Anand reported “an increase in activity“ by Moscow around the so-called Northwest Passage (the naval route that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Canadian Arctic archipelago) and noted that “Russian infrastructure is moving further and further north, beyond the Arctic Circle.” “Our priority in terms of Canadian foreign policy in the Arctic is to ensure that nothing is overlooked to protect and defend Canada’s sovereignty,” she added. 

Translated, it means intensive investment in security infrastructure, including through new synergies between the public and private sectors. Thus, while evaluating a further order of 72 F-35 fighter jets (16 are to be delivered soon, worth almost €12 billion), the flagship of the US Lockheed Martin, Ottawa is moving to deepen collaboration in the military field with Scandinavian industries.

Under special observation, as a potential replacement for the F-35, is the Gripen fighter, produced by the Swedish Saab. In recent days, a partnership between Canadian Roshel and Swedish Swebor for the production of ballistic steel for military vehicles has also been entered into, in addition to the Finnish-Canadian joint venture for the construction of a new icebreaker fleet for the Coast Guard of Maple Country. The region’s rich deposits of critical minerals, which offer enormous economic and strategic potential, are also being targeted.