Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Canada

Sarah Petz · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 09, 2026 7:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Canada this week for his first visit to the country in nearly a year as his country copes with an onslaught of deadly airstrikes.  

Zelenskyy will be in the country from Wednesday to Friday and attend events in Calgary, Toronto and North Bay alongside his wife, Olena Zelenska, says a statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney. 

"The visit underscores Canada's continued leadership in supporting Ukraine and reflects our unwavering commitment to a just and lasting peace," Carney said in the statement. 

The visit will focus on "shared priorities" between Canada and Ukraine, including deepening defence, economic and energy co-operation, Carney's statement said. 

"It will also address the human cost of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and build on the strong people-to-people ties that connect our countries." 

The statement doesn't say when or where Zelenskyy is expected to arrive in Canada, but the prime minister's itinerary says he is meeting with Zelenskyy in Calgary on Thursday morning. The two leaders will participate in a signing ceremony and hold a news conference afterwards. 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expected to visit Canada next week: sources

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The Ukrainian president announced that he was travelling to Canada in a social media post on Wednesday, but did not say what city he was flying into. 

Zelenskyy's most recent visit to Canada was last December, where he met with Carney in Halifax before travelling to the U.S. for talks focused on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Carney visited Kyiv last August in his first official visit to the country, where he reiterated Canada's support for Ukraine and unveiled details of an additional $2 billion in military aid. 

Flight delayed Tuesday due to drone activity

On Tuesday, a flight scheduled to carry Zelenskyy from Moldova to Norway was ​delayed when authorities closed Moldova's airspace because of a drone incursion, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.

Moldovan police said a Russian drone crashed on Tuesday in a sunflower field on the outskirts of a village in Riscani district, which caused four fires to break out but no injuries.

On Wednesday, government spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici said Moldova had closed its airspace on Tuesday afternoon to protect aircraft flying over the country at the time, delaying three departures, including Zelenskyy's.

Zelenskyy's visit comes as Kyiv copes with devastating airstrikes and as his government pleads for more air defence support. European leaders argue Russia has been widening its war.

WATCH | Russia-Ukraine war escalation:

Before travelling to Canada, Zelenskky chided the international community for not taking a tougher stance against Russia over its escalating bombardment of civilian areas of Ukraine. 

"Unfortunately, there has been too little response from the international community to these strikes, which are taking people's lives practically every day," he said on social media.

"But a response is needed — Moscow must not go into the winter believing that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences." 

Last week, Carney told reporters his message to Vladimir Putin will be straight forward if the Russian president attends this year's G20 summit in Miami. 

"The message will be simple: 'Get out of Ukraine, give back all of Ukraine to Ukraine, end this war which is killing more than 30,000 of your people every single month,' and I'd leave it at that to be honest."

WATCH | Carney's message to Putin: