Canada’s minister of national defense traveled to Iceland in early October 2026 to attend a meeting of defense ministers of nations belonging to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a British-led rapid-reaction force created to respond to threats in the Arctic, Baltic and North Atlantic regions. The October 2 meeting in Reykjavik focused on the evolving security environment in the High North and the importance of strengthening the 10-nation force, according to a news release from Canada’s Department of National Defence. Canada formally requested to join the JEF when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in the United Kingdom in September.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) already cooperate with JEF members through exercises and planning activities, including Exercise Tarassis in Latvia and Estonia in 2025, which involved Canadian CF-188 fighter aircraft. The Reykjavik meeting deepened that commitment. “Throughout the meeting, Minister McGuinty held bilateral discussions with counterparts from Iceland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway, and engaged with counterparts from Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands,” the release stated.
Canada has sought to strengthen defense partnerships with NATO allies who have Arctic territory. Canada has more Arctic territory, by a large margin, than any other NATO member. Recent defense budgets have emphasized Ottawa’s commitment to improving its domain awareness and response capabilities in its sparsely settled High North, an environment with severe logistical challenges. Investments in naval, air and surveillance assets in recent years have buttressed the CAF’s push to refurbish and expand some of its Arctic bases. Canada also has recently moved forward on a deal with Germany and Norway to triple its submarine fleet by purchasing six new vessels.
October’s JEF defense minister gathering builds on a March virtual meeting in which Carney met with the leaders of the JEF member nations. At that meeting, Carney said Canada recognizes the need for greater cooperation and interoperability among NATO nations operating in the alliance’s northern and northwestern flanks.
“The Prime Minister welcomed the JEF’s role as a flexible, high-readiness framework that strengthens deterrence and contributes to the security of Northern Europe and the Baltic region. He emphasised the importance of close cooperation among like-minded partners to address shared threats, counter hybrid activities, and reinforce collective defence,” a statement from the prime minister’s office stated after the March meeting.
As the October meeting kicked off, JEF troops conducted Exercise Lion Protector 26, in which forces deployed across the North Atlantic, High North and Baltic Sea to protect critical national infrastructure, strengthen joint command and control and counter emerging threats, according to a JEF news release. The exercise involved hundreds of troops and included the first defense exercise in the Faroe Islands — a Danish territory in the strategic Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom gap — since World War II.