Poilievre Visits With UK Business Leaders on First Stop of European Trip

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks in the Foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa on Feb. 17, 2026. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre met with U.K. business leaders in London on the first stop of his European visit. Next, he will travel to Berlin.

The Conservative Party said Poilievre’s first official trip abroad as leader of the Opposition is meant to “reinforce and strengthen” Canada’s business and diplomatic ties, and will include meetings with Commonwealth politicians and several public addresses.

“Meeting with members of the UK business community to share our Team Canada message: We have the resources our allies need,” Poilievre posted March 2 on X. “Let’s remove barriers to that opportunity, expand trade with our allies, so we can be stronger at home, and build unbreakable leverage abroad.”

The Conservatives also said Poilievre’s European trip will “promote Canada to leading thought leaders and stakeholders in London and Berlin.”

Earlier in the day, Poilievre posted that he and his wife visited a war memorial in London that honours the 110,439 members of the Canadian military killed in World War I and World War II.

Poilievre’s itinerary includes delivering the Margaret Thatcher Lecture at the Centre for Policy Studies on March 3, as well as remarks March 4 in Berlin at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank associated with Germany’s ruling centrist party, the Christian Democratic Union.

The European trip comes after Poilievre called for Canada to boost its own economy to gain leverage in a Feb. 26 speech at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto.

Poilievre’s office has not specified which politicians or leaders he plans to meet with on his European trip. He is also scheduled to visit Hamburg and a liquefied natural gas facility on Germany’s North Sea coast on March 7 before returning to Canada on March 8. The Conservative Party says it is paying all costs associated with the trip.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is also on an international trip, with visits planned to India, Japan, and Australia before returning March 7. The Prime Minister’s Office said the purpose of his trip is to expand Canada’s trade ties and attract new investment to the country.