Global Affairs Canada says it must “challenge traditional assumptions” about its work, as the department tries to navigate an increasingly 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 Department of Foreign Affairs must “take more risks” and rethink “focusing its energies.”
“Canada and the world are at a pivotal moment – driven by geopolitical changes, economic changes and the rapid evolution of technology. The rules 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, Global Affairs Canada’s Projects 2 7026.
“At a time when Canada is facing so many challenges, the department needs to take more risks and challenge traditional assumptions about its work and the focus of its energies.”
Risk-taking is not generally 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.
While it is not clear what risks the department intends to take, the pressures facing the GAC are clear.
Roland Parris, director of the University of Ottawa’s School of Public and International Affairs, said Carney’s ambitious international agenda to build alliances and open trade is being jeopardized by cutting the Foreign Service.
Parris noted that a line item in the department’s budget is being cut by roughly $400 million over the next two years to “advance Canadian interests and address global challenges.”
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“It seems extraordinary that at a moment when the Carney government is talking about the critical importance of expanding Canada’s economic and security ties around the world, it is simultaneously cutting the budget for our foreign ministry,” Parris said in an interview.
“Canada is making really important and disproportionate investments in defence, but we need more than military equipment to navigate the increasingly complex world that the Prime Minister himself is describing.”
The department’s 2026-27 plan doesn’t go into detail about what “risks” it intends to take, but it offers a significant shift in how the government thinks about international development assistance.
Canada will shift its aid to countries that intend to build “new economic partnerships founded on mutual benefit” — part of an aggressive shift under Carney to view foreign affairs through the lens of trade and diversity away from the United States.
Canadian aid still respects the country’s “commitments to poverty reduction, gender equality and humanitarian assistance to those in need,” the document says. But the document makes it clear that the GAC is expected to align with Carney’s overall geopolitical thrust of developing new partnerships to defend against US aggression.
The current moment requires the GAC to “deal with the world as we want it, not as we want it,” 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 navigate US President Donald Trump’s global mandate.
The U.S. has transformed from Canada’s most stable and important ally into a superpower that is comfortable using its economic power and military might to provoke crisis after increasingly dangerous crisis.
For the GAC, that means navigating Trump’s first presidency, his followers’ January 6, 2021 riots, his re-election, his takeover threats, his unprovoked tariffs and now war with Iran.
But the GAC’s challenges run deeper than the unpredictable whims of the US president.
The department warned last year that it faced significant challenges to its mandate, including a workforce dealing with constant “institutional change”, increased workloads and financial pressures – with 1,533 job losses expected between 2025 and 2028, before Carney mandated cuts across the public service.
“The department’s ability to deliver on its mandate is increasingly challenged by increasing financial pressures, unexpected disruptions and the need to make difficult trade-off decisions across portfolios in a resource-constrained environment,” the 2025 departmental report read.
“The cumulative effect of ongoing organizational change, increased workloads and the need to respond to multiple crises will place constant pressure on GAC’s workforce, potentially impacting employee well-being, retention and the Department’s ability to remain an employer of choice.”
The appointment of David Morrison, a former senior GAC official close to Carney, to a new position with the Privy Council Office focused on geopolitical strategy marks a shift of power from the GAC to the center of government when it comes to foreign policy.
But Canada still relies on the GAC’s boots on the ground around the world to advance its foreign policy interests. Those front-line diplomats will have less to work with in the coming years, with the projected budget cut from $9.06 billion this year to $6.56 billion in 2028-29.
“This is the coalface of any international strategy; it’s going to be the people on the ground who build and maintain relationships,” Paris said.
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(tags to translate)Mark Carney
