Global Affairs Canada eyes ‘more risks’ in an uncertain world: document – National
Global Affairs Canada says it must “challenge traditional ideas” about its mission as the department tries to navigate an uncertain world and grapple with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s public service cuts.
A departmental planning document reviewed by Global News suggests that Canada’s foreign affairs department believes it should “take more risks” and rethink what it can “focus its energies” on.
“Canada and the world are at a critical juncture – driven by global change, economic change, and rapid technological advances. The laws and norms that have served as the foundation of Canada’s prosperity and security for decades can no longer be taken for granted,” reads the document, which sets out Global Affairs Canada’s plans for 2026-27.
“At a time when Canada is facing many challenges, the department will have to take more risks and challenge traditional ideas about its work and what to focus its energies on.”
Risk-taking is not often associated with the Canadian public service, and especially not with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) – which handles matters such as foreign policy and diplomatic relations, consular services to Canadians abroad, and promoting trade relations.
Although it is not clear what risks the department intends to take, the pressures facing the GAC are evident.
Roland Paris, dean of the University of Ottawa’s School of Public and International Affairs, said Carney’s international agenda of building alliances and opening trade is being jeopardized by cutting the foreign service.
Paris noted that the portion of the department’s budget to “advance Canadian interests and address global challenges” is being cut by about $400 million over the next two years.
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“It seems strange that while the Carney government is talking about the critical importance of expanding Canada’s economic and security relationships around the world, that at the same time it is cutting the budget for our foreign service,” Paris said in an interview.
“Canada is making an important and overdue investment in defence, but we will need much more than military equipment to navigate the increasingly complex world that the prime minister himself has been describing.”
The ministry’s plan for 2026-27 does not detail the “risks” it intends to take, but it does represent a significant change in the way the government thinks about international development assistance.
Canada will extend its aid to countries where it aims to build a “new economic partnership based on mutual benefit” – part of a radical shift under Carney to view foreign affairs primarily through the lens of trade and diversification away from the United States.
The document goes on to say that Canadian aid will still respect “the country’s commitments to poverty reduction, gender equality and providing humanitarian assistance to those in need.” But the document makes it clear that the GAC is expected to comply with Carney’s national policy of building new relationships to prevent conflict with the US.
The current moment calls for the GAC to “face the world as it is, not as we wish it to be,” the document reads, echoing Carney’s speech to political and business leaders in Davos earlier this year.
The call for change comes at a time when the GAC, like the rest of the world, is trying to check the rise of US President Donald Trump’s global order.
The US has gone from being Canada’s strongest and most important ally to a comfortable superpower using its economic and military power to succeed, creating crisis after crisis that escalates.
For the GAC, that has meant navigating Trump’s first presidency, his supporters’ riots on January 6, 2021, his re-election, his impeachment threats, his inflexible tax rates and now war with Iran.
But the GAC’s challenges run deeper than the unpredictable ambitions of the American president.
The department warned last year that it was facing major challenges in its work, including staff facing “organizational change,” increased workloads and financial pressures – even before Carney approved cuts to public services, resulting in 1,533 job losses between 2025 and 2028.
“The department’s ability to fulfill its mission is increasingly challenged by mounting financial pressures, unexpected disruptions and the need to make difficult trade-off decisions across portfolios in a resource-constrained environment,” read the department’s 2025 report.
“The cumulative effect of ongoing organizational change, increased workload and the need to respond to multiple crises is placing ongoing pressure on GAC staff, potentially impacting employee well-being, retention and the department’s ability to remain an employer of choice.”
The appointment of David Morrison, a former GAC executive who is known to be close to Carney, to a new position with the Privy Council Office focused on geopolitical strategy may signal a shift in GAC power to a government agency when it comes to foreign policy.
But Canada still relies on the GAC’s boots on the world stage to advance its foreign policy interests. Those top diplomats will have less to work with in the coming years, with the proposed budget cut from $9.06 billion this year to $6.56 billion in 2028-29.
“This is at the heart of any international strategy; it will be people who build and maintain relationships on the ground,” Paris said.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
