Prime Minister Mark Carney is back in London this week — his 13th foreign trip since taking office in March — and his globe-trotting schedule is drawing both criticism and praise.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has taken to social media to needle Carney over his travel habits. In a recent post, Poilievre said Carney was "back on his taxpayer funded jet" to attend a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
In response to an opinion article on Carney's first six months in office, Poilievre posted this week that "after six months, everything is worse. Crime, tariffs, inflation, deficits, immigration, housing — all spiralling out of control."
"Mark Carney prances around abroad while Canadians pay the price at home," he added.
One international affairs expert, meanwhile, says Carney appears to be doing the job he was elected to do by working to shore up multiple trade ties as the United States becomes an increasingly unreliable actor under President Donald Trump.
"Carney's challenge is a very simple one — to send a message to the rest of the world that Canada is back open for business," said Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University.
"He's doing exactly what he should be doing, which is the wholesale marketing of Canada to diversify sources of trade — both exports and imports — but also to encourage investment in the country."
A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said they had no further comment beyond Poilievre's social media posts. A spokesperson for Carney did not immediately respond when asked if Carney is striking the right balance between international travel and his responsibilities in the House of Commons.
Question period is where opposition parties publicly hold the government to account between elections. Carney has taken part in just three question periods since the House of Commons resumed last Monday.
In the spring sitting following the election, Carney participated in nine question periods.
Carney has travelled to 11 countries since becoming prime minister, most of them in Europe.
Days after securing the Liberal leadership and becoming prime minister, Carney took off to Paris and London.
He is expected to attend a series of summits this fall, including the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, the APEC forum in South Korea and the G20 summit in South Africa. Canada hosted the G7 summit this summer in Alberta.
In Mexico earlier this month, Carney signed an agreement with President Claudia Sheinbaum that includes a plan to build port, rail and energy infrastructure while tackling crime and protecting the environment.
In August, Carney travelled to Ukraine, Poland, Germany and Latvia, and in May he went to Italy.
Carney has travelled twice to the United States as prime minister — to Washington in May and to the United Nations in New York in September.
Hampson said the trips should not be seen as "political tourism," but as a sign that Carney is "firing on all eight cylinders" in his efforts to rebuild international trade relationships while working on domestic issues through a series of meetings with premiers.
As for all his travel to Europe, Hampson said Carney understands "you have to show up more than once."
"You've got to build those relationships with people that are going to do business with you," he said.
"And so that's exactly what he's doing, and he'll be doing the same in Asia."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2025.
