Canada and Britain Are Talking About Sharing the Cost of Defence
Britain is talking to Canada about joining a new bank led by Canada to help pay for defence.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Britain this week. He will meet British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday in Liverpool. It will be their first meeting as prime ministers.
They plan to talk about defence and security and energy. They will also watch an Everton Football Club match together in Liverpool. Both men support Everton. The Globe and Mail
The bank is called the DSRB. It would let member countries borrow money at low cost and pay it back over a long time to fund defence projects. Think of it as a group loan program for defence.
Besides Canada, the members are Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine. Canada will host the bank. That decision was made in talks in Montreal. Canada had hoped to name 10 founding partners.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will discuss the bank in London this week with John Healey. Healey is Britain's finance minister. He is reported to be more favourable to joining than Ms. Reeves was. Germany is also talking about joining.
There is a second, separate plan. Britain, the Netherlands, Finland and Poland are setting up the Multilateral Defence Mechanism. It would combine money so countries can buy weapons together and spend faster.
Carney and Burnham discussed both plans in a call on July 22, 2026. A British government statement says they agreed to do more work together on the bank and the mechanism. U.K. Government Blair said he expects they will talk about the DSRB this week. He also said they already know each other and respect each other. CBC
The visit follows recent moves in both capitals. On July 16, 2026, Carney announced new measures to strengthen Canada's defence in London, Ont. Wes Streeting serves as defence minister under Burnham. On Sept. 9, 2026, Burnham said Britain must 'stand against injustice' over West Bank settlements.
The broader context here is about how the system will work, not only who joins. Ottawa wants a Canada-based bank that makes long-term loans to countries for their own projects. London has already agreed in principle to a smaller joint-buying fund with three European partners. Officials in Ottawa, the provinces and industry will watch what loan terms Britain would accept, how the loans would fit with buying rules at home, and whether London sees the two plans as partners or as choices. The Champagne-Healey meeting will show how far the July agreement has moved into detail.
Looking at what this means for Carney, the Liverpool visit sets a friendly tone. A first meeting around a shared football club gives both leaders room to test agreement on defence money, energy and security. The test on Wednesday is whether they announce clear next steps on the bank, or say only that talks continue.
