Mark Carney and Emmanuel Macron will meet in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon on Sunday

Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a symbolic meeting Sunday in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a French territory about 20 kilometres off Newfoundland’s southern coast. Both countries describe the visit as a show of unity and mutual respect.

The leaders are scheduled to have a working lunch and attend a wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial for Free France volunteers. Macron’s office said Carney will be the first Canadian prime minister to make an official visit to the archipelago, while Macron is the first French president to visit in more than a decade.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the pair will discuss deepening the Canada-France partnership in aerospace, energy and critical minerals, as well as advanced technologies including quantum science, satellites and supercomputing. A French official said the meeting will also promote regional co-operation on fishing, transport, traveller transit, university exchanges and trade.

The visit comes as Canada and the European Union discuss a closer partnership. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that she wants Canada to become the EU’s first “associate member.” Carney said Thursday that the name and nature of any new arrangement remain to be determined and would be debated and voted on in Parliament.