The Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Riccardo Guariglia, travelled to Ottawa on April 12-13 to lead the Italian delegation at the Italy-Canada Strategic Dialogue, assisted by the Ambassador of Italy to Canada, Alessandro Cattaneo. The Canadian delegation was headed by the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arun Thangaraj.
The bilateral Strategic Dialogue, established in 2022, is envisaged under the Roadmap for Enhanced Cooperation between Italy and Canada, signed in 2024 and reaffirmed in 2025 at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis by Prime Minister Meloni and Prime Minister Mark Carney. Its purpose is to review the state of the Italy-Canada partnership and identify new areas of cooperation and shared interest.
Discussions confirmed the excellent state of bilateral relations across the political, economic, and scientific domains, with a particular focus on opportunities in strategically relevant sectors such as critical minerals, energy, defence and security. Among the key follow-ups to the Roadmap, participants discussed the bilateral Energy Dialogue, launched by Minister Pichetto Fratin and his Canadian counterpart Tim Hodgson on the margins of the G7 Energy and Environment Ministerial Meeting held in Toronto last October; the establishment of the Italy-Canada Joint Working Group on Artificial Intelligence – co-chaired by the President of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the Chief Science Advisor to Prime Minister Carney –; as well as the Business Forum that will be organized by the Italian Embassy in Toronto and Ottawa in the fall of 2026.
Consultations continued during a working lunch, focusing on major international issues, including the crisis in the Middle East, the conflict in Ukraine, relations with China, and transatlantic cooperation among like-minded middle powers, on which the parties confirmed a full convergence of objectives and values.
On the margins of the consultations, Ambassador Guariglia met with the staff of the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa to thank them for their work to strengthen bilateral relations with one of Italy’s strategic partners.
