Carney announces over $70 million in new Commonwealth investments at CHOGM

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced more than $70 million in new Canadian investments for Commonwealth countries, unveiled at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. It was Carney's first CHOGM since taking office; he was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.

Caribbean: schools, infrastructure and relief logistics

Caribbean projects total $23 million. The largest is $10 million over six years through UNICEF, helping Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname keep children learning safely during climate-related emergencies and other disasters. The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) receives $5 million over two years to help four eastern Caribbean countries build more climate-resilient infrastructure, and the World Food Programme (WFP) receives $5 million over two years to support its Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in Bridgetown, Barbados, which stores emergency supplies and dispatches food and relief items quickly to disaster-hit communities.

A further $3 million over three years, through the International Trade Centre (ITC), will help Caribbean businesses turn sargassum — seaweed that piles up on coastlines and disrupts tourism and fishing — into sustainable products such as fertilisers, building materials and biofuels.

Zambia: roughly $50 million loan for small businesses

The single largest item is an approximately $50 million loan from FinDev Canada to Zanaco, Zambia's largest financial institution, to expand financing for small and medium-sized businesses, including women-owned or women-led firms and agribusinesses. It is FinDev Canada's first direct investment in Zambia.

At CHOGM, Carney hosted a meeting with Caribbean leaders to build momentum for the renewed Canada-CARICOM Strategic Partnership, covering energy, food security, regional security and infrastructure, and how countries can prepare for and respond to climate change and natural disasters. The summit theme was "Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth." The Prime Minister's Office notes Canada is the Commonwealth's second-largest financial contributor.

(Source: Prime Minister's Office news release and backgrounder, November 3, 2026. Cover photo is a file photo.)