Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Anita Anand, will travel to Paris to take part in the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Canadian government announced on Sunday, 8 November. She will lead discussions on Haiti, artificial intelligence and Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as on hybrid threats facing North America, Europe and beyond.

Global Affairs Canada said Anand would engage with her G7 counterparts and invited guests to advance Canada's priorities on international peace and security and to address pressing global challenges. The meeting takes place on Monday and Tuesday, 9 and 10 November.

"In Paris, Minister Anand will advance Canada's national security and foreign policy priorities and reinforce its commitment to multilateral cooperation," the government said in its announcement. It added that Canada's engagement at the G7 reaffirmed its commitment to promoting international peace and security, defending democratic values and strengthening cooperation with like-minded partners.

The Haiti discussion will be one of the most closely watched parts of the meeting. Canada has been a leading voice on the crisis in the Caribbean country, where armed gangs control large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and more than a million people have been forced from their homes. Ottawa said the talks would give Canada a chance to frame opportunities for G7 partners to strengthen coordination and advance collective responses to threats to international stability.

Artificial intelligence is also on the agenda Anand will lead, reflecting how quickly the technology has moved from a trade and innovation issue to a foreign policy one. Governments are grappling with how to govern AI systems, protect critical infrastructure from AI-enabled attacks and prevent the technology from being used to spread disinformation or to target democratic institutions.

The war in Ukraine will feature heavily too, alongside discussions on the Middle East, challenges across Africa and evolving dynamics in the Indo-Pacific. Anand is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts on the margins of the gathering, to strengthen Canada's relationships with key partners and discuss shared priorities.

The meeting itself arrives after a last-minute change of venue. France moved the gathering from Marseille to Paris, informing delegations on Wednesday, 4 November, according to Reuters. The meeting had been scheduled for the Mediterranean port city, but will now be held in the French capital.

"The meeting of the G7 Foreign Ministers will ultimately be held on Monday and Tuesday in Paris," the correspondence to delegations said. It attributed the decision to logistical and operational considerations, explaining that holding the G7 meeting and the Paris Peace Forum in a very compressed timeframe required substantial mobilisation of people, equipment, security, accommodation and transport.

The move came after six weeks of nationwide protests in France, which began with student grievances over school conditions and widened into broader demonstrations over living costs and public services. Security forces have been stretched since September, and protests in several cities on 17 October ended with looting and clashes with police, with Marseille among the worst affected. France's foreign ministry confirmed the venue change without giving further details.

The G7 brings together Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, alongside the European Union, and France holds the group's presidency in 2026. This is the second foreign ministers' meeting scheduled during the French presidency. Ministers attending include United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Reuters, and diplomats said some delegations already had a presence in Marseille before the move was announced.

For Canada, the meeting is part of a wider effort to diversify its foreign policy partnerships. Anand has spoken in recent weeks about building coalitions of middle powers and major powers to deal with an international order under strain, and about doubling Canada's non-US trade over the next decade. The G7 gathering gives Ottawa a chance to test that approach with its closest allies in the room.

No joint statement has been issued yet, and the outcome of the two days of talks will only become clear once the ministers have met. The discussions Anand is due to lead, on Haiti, artificial intelligence and Ukraine, are among the most difficult on the agenda, and they will be watched for any sign of a coordinated G7 response.