Where Palestinian Authority reforms stand after Canada recognized Palestine

When Prime Minister Mark Carney said in September 2025 that Canada was formally recognizing the State of Palestine, he said the decision was based on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to needed reforms. Carney said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made that commitment in a letter and later discussed it by phone. Canada’s Privy Council has declined to release the letter, citing international diplomatic relations.

Carney said Abbas promised fundamental governance reform and that Hamas could have no role in a future Palestinian state. Palestinian ambassador Feda Abdelhady said reforms are underway but constrained by continuing violence. A July Palestinian Finance Ministry report said the PA had completed 30 of 33 promised legal and social-system reforms over 18 months, while Israeli measures including withheld tax revenue, cancelled work permits, blocked export roads and capped financial transfers impede further work.

The PA committed to general elections in 2026 without Hamas participation. Palestinians last voted in 2006; Fatah controls parts of the West Bank, while Hamas seized Gaza in 2007. The PA has said elections can occur only a year after the Gaza war fully ends and when voting can take place in the West Bank and East Jerusalem without Israel detaining candidates. One election was held in Deir al-Balah in April.

Carney also cited a pledge to demilitarize Palestine. Canadian officials said this must include ending payments to families of people imprisoned for killing Israelis and education reforms. Abbas pledged in February 2025 to replace detainee-prioritized stipends with the needs-based Tamkeen system. Israel says the former policy continues; the PA says an independent audit due later this year found it largely eliminated. Impact-SE has criticized PA school materials for glorifying violence, while Israeli textbooks have also been criticized for racist portrayals.

Israeli ambassador Iddo Moed said the PA is corrupt and failing to meet commitments. University of Ottawa researcher Jeremy Wildeman argued that Canadian policy should focus instead on Israel’s power over Palestinians and settler violence. York University professor Heidi Matthews said Canada’s reform focus could represent meaningful support for Palestinian self-governance, consistent with the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion on ending Israel’s illegal presence in occupied Palestinian territory and realizing Palestinian self-determination.