Joint declaration between Prime Minister Mark Carney and His Highness the Aga Khan

OTTAWA, ON, March 25, 2026 /CNW/ -

1. The Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney welcomed this first official visit of His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V to Canada, from March 25 to 31, 2026.
   
   
2. The Government of Canada and the Ismaili Imamat share a longstanding partnership grounded in common values and shared interests, which reflects a commitment to creating a more prosperous, just and inclusive world. Building on this partnership, Prime Minister Carney and His Highness the Aga Khan today outlined a number of new initiatives.
   
   
3. The Prime Minister welcomed a series of investments by the Ismaili Imamat in multi-generational not-for-profit housing projects across Canada designed to address the affordable housing crisis. Through Build Canada Homes, the Government of Canada will work on a long-term partnership with the Ismaili Imamat, to be established through a Memorandum of Understanding. By creating a pipeline of projects, the partnership will facilitate more affordable homes being built, for low-and moderate-income households across Canada. 
   
   
4. The international work of the Government of Canada and the Ismaili Imamat shares a commitment to inclusive economic development, including in enhancing the competitiveness, productivity and resilience of emerging and developing economies.  Working together, there is an opportunity to align international development efforts with private investment in ways that benefit country partners while advancing our common interests. To deepen this joint commitment, Prime Minister Carney and His Highness the Aga Khan today announced the creation of an Economic Partnership Platform that will advance joint initiatives. This will include formalizing the partnership between FinDev Canada and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to align efforts in fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia Pacific regions across infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture, and financial institutions.
   
   
5. The partnership between the Government of Canada and the Ismaili Imamat involves working together in Canada and around the world, across a wide variety of common priorities. An important element of this partnership is a shared dedication to building prosperity, pluralism and capacity in geographies of mutual interest.  In this spirit, Canada and the Aga Khan Development Network are working together on joint development programming in Syria, to address immediate recovery needs and to promote longer-term sustainable development. This also involves partnerships in Africa and Asia, including the establishment of strategic partnerships in support of economic opportunity, health, and education, involving where appropriate other like-minded countries in new practical coalitions to achieve stronger results.
   
   
6. The Government of Canada and the Ismaili Imamat have a shared interest in building the workforce of the future, in better connecting Canadian innovation with the world, and in advancing energy initiatives in emerging and developing economies. In this spirit, Prime Minister Carney and His Highness the Aga Khan tasked the Canada-Ismaili Imamat Joint Steering Committee to identify areas for future collaboration related to:
   
   • Education, language and skills development that will serve to strengthen the economies of our partner countries, while aligning with our respective priorities;
   • Connecting Canadian innovations and technology advancements in areas such as agriculture, climate action, health, and education to generate pathways and opportunities for scaling Canadian technologies in new global markets; and,
   • Joint work on energy initiatives in developing regions, such as exploring support for peace and energy-security in the African Great Lakes region through the Regional Economic Integration Framework, including the Ruzizi III Hydropower Project, the first regional public-private partnership hydropower project in which the Industrial Promotion Services of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development is one of the principal sponsors.
     
     
7. Finally, the Prime Minister and His Highness the Aga Khan welcomed the naming of the Honourable David Lametti, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York as the new Representative of Canada to the Ismaili Imamat. Ambassador Lametti will advance collaboration at a strategic level and involve the entirety of the Government of Canada.
   
   
8. The Canada-Ismaili Imamat Joint Steering Committee, created under the 2014 Protocol of Understanding between the Government of Canada and the Ismaili Imamat on the Creation of a Strategic Partnership, will oversee the implementation of mutually determined deliverables and report progress annually.

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

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