Finland, Canada to boost co-op in defence, tech, marine sectors

Finland and Canada agreed to further deepen cooperation in the fields of defence, technology and maritime industry.

President Alexander Stubb and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held a meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday ( Canadian time) and discussed various issues including bilateral trade and economic cooperation, official sources said.

Stubb started his two-day visit to Ottawa, Canada on Tuesday.

“Excellent meeting with Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney in Ottawa. We discussed Arctic issues as well as strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation. Canada is a key strategic partner for Finland. We agreed to further deepen cooperation in the fields of defence, technology and maritime industry,” Stubb wrote in a post on his social media platform X after the meeting.

Carney also said that the countries are deepening cooperation in various sectors.

“Canada and Finland are strong partners, and we are deepening our cooperation to protect our Arctic, defend our sovereignty, and build stronger economies for all in both of our nations,” he wrote in his X.

After the meeting leaders of the two countries issued a joint statement where they said that they met to advance a forward-looking agenda for the next phase of Canada-Finland relations, focused on cooperation in the Arctic and maritime domains, defence, security and resilience, and cutting-edge technology.

The joint statement focused on strengthening Arctic and maritime cooperation,

“In this context, we welcome the signing of the Canada–Finland Maritime Memorandum of Understanding, which establishes a framework for closer cooperation on maritime and ice capabilities. This includes collaboration on icebreaker development, the broader maritime industrial ecosystem, including SMEs supporting shipbuilding, and joint work under the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact). The MoU is intended to deepen ties between Canadian and Finnish industry and research institutions while advancing innovation in shipbuilding, ports, and marine technologies,” they said in the joint statement.

They also underscored the importance of deepening defence, security, and resilience cooperation and vowed to work together to realize commitment to invest 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in their defence and security by 2035.

The leaders welcomed the Canada-Finland Joint Statement on Sovereign Technology and AI Cooperation, which aims to expand cooperation on advanced technologies in a way that delivers shared economic benefits.

“We will deepen coordination to strengthen sovereign technology, helping to grow capacity and reduce dependenciesin an increasingly contested digital landscape. This includes exploring Finland’s participation in the Sovereign Technology Alliance,” they said in the statement.

They also said that the countries will collaborate on research and innovation in high performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI), including by enabling AI adoption across industry and governments and identifying investment opportunities that scale up small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

“We will also continue to cooperate on research and development in network communication technologies that will underpin sovereign AI infrastructure. This includes promoting growth opportunities to our telecommunications industries through multilateral initiatives such as the Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT),” the joint statement added.