By Grace Crivellaro in Canberra

Anthony Albanese hopes to deepen security and defence ties with Canadian leader Mark Carney, who is visiting Australia for the first time as prime minister.

Mr Carney’s three-day trip to Australia comes after a series of engagements between the two leaders, who have met nine times, most recently on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa in November.

The Canadian leader arrived in Sydney alongside his wife Diana Fox on Tuesday and will travel to Canberra to address federal parliament on Thursday.

Mr Carney will deliver opening remarks at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Wednesday night, with his speech focused on shifts in the global order and the opportunities they present for middle powers.

It will come off the back of his widely heralded World Economic Forum speech in January, when he called for middle powers to work together to build a more co-operative, resilient world.

In that speech, Mr Carney sought to move beyond US President Donald Trump’s claims on Greenland and urged smaller countries to band together to not to be overpowered by larger players.

“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” he told the forum.

Political strategist Jack Milroy, who has worked on progressive campaigns in Canada and Australia, said Mr Carney had continued to stand up to Mr Trump on trade and other matters, bolstering his political standing.

“I imagine a big part of his goal in coming to Australia will be to build that solidarity between the Canadian and Albanese government, to be activist middle powers,” he told AAP.

“But the Iran strikes complicate things for that view of the world because Carney and Albanese both came out pretty quickly in complete support of the strikes.

“That will be interesting to see how that plays out while he’s here.”

The visit will be an opportunity to further strengthen Australia and Canada’s co-operation on investment, economic security and critical minerals, Mr Albanese said in a statement.

“Canada is one of Australia’s closest friends, built on generations of trust, with a shared commitment to supporting stability across the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” he said previously.

“As our countries face new challenges and opportunities, we must deepen our co-operation with partners to promote our national interests.”