King and queen of Sweden to visit Canada this month

Queen Silvia of Sweden and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden leave after the christening of Princess Ines of Sweden at the Drottningholm Palace Chapel on June 13, 2025 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Iwi Onodera/WireImage)

The Swedish king and queen will be in Canada later this month, the Governor General announced Monday.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will arrive for a state visit Nov. 18 and leave just two days later, a news release from Gov. Gen. Mary Simon’s office said.

The Swedish Royal Court says the two countries will launch a strategic partnership during the visit, and the delegation will include the country’s defence and energy ministers, as well as representatives of 30 companies and agencies.

While an agenda for the trip has yet to be released, Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General, said the royal couple will make stops in Ottawa and Montreal, attending events meant to “deepen the ties between Canada and Sweden.”

Calling Sweden an “important economic and security partner,” the news release said the visit is meant to strengthen political, defence and trade relations between the countries, with emphasis on Canada’s Arctic foreign policy.

The visit comes as Swedish defence firm Saab considers assembling Gripen fighter jets in Canada.

Sweden joined the NATO military alliance last year and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has boosted its collaboration with Canada on issues such as disinformation and dark vessels.

Background information provided with the announcement included that tariffs have been eliminated on most of Sweden’s exports to Canada as part of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

While recent changes to U.S. tariff policy were not directly mentioned, the visit follows several international trips taken by Prime Minister Mark Carney and other officials in the months since the federal election in an effort to increase trade with other partners.

In September, The Canadian Press reported that Carney alone had taken a total of 13 foreign visits since March. Last week, he and Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu met with their Chinese counterparts in discussions that included trade and other topics.

Those meetings were held amid the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, during which Carney said he apologized to U.S. President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff ad that prompted the American leader to cut off trade talks in late October.

With files from The Canadian Press