🟢Canada and Qatar: Prime Minister Carney Extends Condolences as a Partnership Deepens🟢

By Annie Koshy

Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke today with His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of Qatar, to extend condolences following the passing of the Father Amir, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who died on July 12 at the age of 74.

Sheikh Hamad’s death closes a chapter in Gulf history that cannot be overstated. He ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013 and is widely regarded as the architect of modern Qatar. When he came to power the country was a minor Gulf state with limited international profile. When he voluntarily handed power to his son Sheikh Tamim in 2013, in a rare act of abdication by a hereditary Gulf Arab ruler, he left behind a country whose GDP had grown more than 24-fold, which had become the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas by 2006, and which had established itself as a hub of diplomacy, media, investment, and soft power far beyond what its geography or population would suggest. The establishment of Al Jazeera, the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Qatar’s role as a mediator in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, including the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban that shaped the eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan, all bear his fingerprints.

The condolence call is also a reflection of a Canada-Qatar relationship that has been quietly strengthening. Qatar is a significant energy partner, a source of sovereign wealth investment, and a diplomatic interlocutor whose influence in the Middle East extends well beyond its size. Qatar played a central role in negotiations over the Gaza conflict and the broader regional crisis that has dominated the Middle East since late 2023, serving as a key mediator between Hamas, Israel, and Western governments. Canada’s engagement with Qatar on regional security is therefore not merely diplomatic courtesy. It is substantive.

Prime Minister Carney and the Amir reaffirmed the strong partnership between Canada and Qatar, described in the readout as encompassing growing economic, defence and security, and cultural ties. The two leaders also discussed the regional security situation and cooperation on shared priorities, language that, in the current context, encompasses the Middle East conflict, the Strait of Hormuz situation, and the broader question of Gulf security in a region where the balance of power has been shifting rapidly.

Canada has been deepening its Gulf relationships with purpose and at pace over the past year. The $70 billion investment agreement with the United Arab Emirates signed in November 2025, the first bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia by a Canadian Prime Minister in 26 years announced for this month, and today’s condolence call to Qatar’s Amir are all expressions of a deliberate strategy to build Canada’s presence and partnerships in a region that holds significant energy, investment, and diplomatic weight. The Gulf states are not peripheral to Canada’s economic diversification agenda. They are increasingly central to it.