Conservative Leader Poilievre travelling to U.S. to discuss autos, energy

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is heading to the United States for several days of meetings to meet with auto leaders, advocate for Canadian energy and “fight for tariff-free trade.”

Poilievre is set to hit the road later this week and his itinerary does not include a stop in Washington, D.C.

Poilievre’s office says he’s spending Friday and Saturday in Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.

He is set to travel to Houston and Austin in Texas early next week to meet with people in the energy industry.

He will wrap the trip with a stop in New York, where he’s scheduled to speak about his vision for Canada-U.S. relations at an event hosted by the Foreign Policy Association.

Poilievre said in a video posted to social media Wednesday that he plans to defend an integrated North American auto industry and fight for tariff-free trade during the first leg of his trip.

While in Texas, he said he will advocate for Canadian energy.

“As I said in a recent speech, we need to leverage the relationship we have with the American people,” Poilievre said in the video. “Canada can’t control every decision made in Washington and I’ll leave the negotiating up to our government, but we can leverage the goodwill and shared interests with the American people.”

This is Poilievre’s second international trip as Opposition leader, after he travelled to the U.K. and Germany last week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2026.