In the news today: Canada’s trade diversification push continues, arms expo in Ottawa

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Canada’s push to diversify trade away from U.S. seeing mixed results: report

A small group of cities across the country is driving Canada’s progress on diversifying its trade beyond the United States, while others fall behind, says a new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

The report says Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Saskatoon and Kelowna, B.C., are among the cities making the strongest gains in export diversification beyond the U.S. market.

It says many other cities in Canada aren’t seeing the same shift, and manufacturing regions in Ontario continue to face weaker overall trade performance.

The report says the data suggests many businesses still expect Canada-U.S. trade conditions to stabilize, though trade conditions are likely to remain volatile for the time being.

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File photo — People pass a scale model of the Canadian variant of the F-35 fighter aircraft at the Lockheed Martin booth at the CANSEC defence industry trade show in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Canada’s biggest arms expo is booming as Carney prioritizes defence

Canada’s biggest arms trade show is booming amid an uncertain geopolitical climate and Ottawa’s drive to rebuild the military.

Hundreds of defence equipment and tech companies will jostle to sell their wares at CANSEC in the nation’s capital over the next two days.

Christyn Cianfarani, head of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries group that hosts the show, says companies attending CANSEC are working hard to promote the Canadian firms in their supply chains this year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has pushed to boost domestic defence spending and to use the sector to help shore up the economy, campaigning last year on Buy Canadian policies and reducing the amount of Canadian defence dollars headed to the U.S.

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Covered Bridge Potato Chips Ltd.’s factory in Woodstock, N.B., is shown on Thursday, May 21, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eli J. Ridder

N.B. residents file claim against ‘sickening’ smell from Covered Bridge chip factory

Residents of a western New Brunswick town say their lives have been upended by a popular potato chipmaker.

Susan Ryan and 16 other residents of Woodstock are making legal claims against Covered Bridge Potato Chips, saying the sights, sounds and smells of its new factory has disrupted their quality of living.

Ryan says the smell of potato chips is constant, while others say they’re concerned the factory’s presence could lower the value of their homes. 

The family-owned company lost its previous plant near Hartland two years ago to fire, and it says it’s planting trees, building a fence and taking other measures to limit its effect on the community. 

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Liberal MLA Liberal MLA George Abbott pictured in this undated photo.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — George Abbott (Mandatory Credit)

B.C. Indigenous relations face ‘fraught context’ but treaty commissioner undeterred

Tensions between British Columbia and First Nations have been rising as Premier  David Eby navigates calls to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

The new head of the B.C. Treaty Commission, George Abbott, says his appointment comes at a “challenging time” following two court rulings that sided with First Nations, a move critics say threatens property and  development rights.

Abbott has warned against directly linking treaties to UNDRIP and DRIPA, but stresses modern treaties will provide much-needed certainty and benefits for First Nations, government and industry.

He says one of his priorities is to speed up treaty negotiations, adding that some First Nations have waited more than 30 years for agreements.

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Leo Woodall is shown in the film “Tuner,” in this handout still image.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout – Elevation Pictures (Mandatory Credit)

How Daniel Roher and Matt Johnson charmed rising British star Leo Woodall

After two back-to-back films with high-profile Toronto directors, British star Leo Woodall suggests he should perhaps only work with filmmakers on this side of the Atlantic.

Woodall, who had a breakout role in the Sicily-set season of “The White Lotus” as a hard-partying swindler, has worked with Daniel Roher for the movie “Tuner” and with Matt Johnson on a biopic about the early life of the late Anthony Bourdain. 

Woodall’s first taste of Canadian hospitality came two years ago when he stepped onto the set of Roher’s “Tuner,” which marked the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker’s first foray into narrative features.

The film, which also stars Dustin Hoffman, follows a piano prodigy turned piano tuner who suffers from Hyperacusis, a hearing disorder that amplifies everyday sounds, leading to pain in the ear.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

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