Nearly a Year After Canada Recognized Palestine, Where Do Palestinian Authority Reforms Stand?

Canada is approaching the first anniversary of its formal recognition of the State of Palestine on September 21, 2025, bringing renewed attention to the reform commitments cited by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government when it made the decision. Those commitments included governance reform, general elections, demilitarization and excluding Hamas from any future role in Palestinian governance.

Before formal recognition, Carney said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had given Canada direct commitments to fundamentally reform the Palestinian Authority, hold general elections in 2026 and work toward a demilitarized Palestinian state. Ottawa later described recognition as part of a coordinated international effort aimed at preserving the possibility of a two-state solution.

Nearly a year later, the Palestinian Authority says substantial progress has been made on institutional reform. A Palestinian Finance Ministry report released in July and shared by the Palestinian delegation with Canadian media said 30 of 33 legal and social-system reforms had been completed over an 18-month period, including measures related to the rule of law and investment legislation.

Palestinian Ambassador to Canada Feda Abdelhady has said reforms are continuing and are intended to strengthen Palestinian institutions and democracy. She has also argued that further progress is constrained by the political, security and economic conditions Palestinians face, including continuing violence and Israeli economic restrictions affecting the Palestinian Authority’s ability to operate and fund public services.

Elections remain one of the most significant outstanding commitments. Carney referred to general elections in 2026 in which Hamas would have no role, but no Palestinian presidential or legislative general election had taken place as of September 6. Palestinian officials have previously said such a vote would require the war in Gaza to end and voting to be possible across the West Bank and East Jerusalem without obstruction.

Local elections were held in April across parts of the West Bank and in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Central Elections Commission said voting took place in 183 local authorities, including Deir al-Balah, with more than one million eligible voters. Those municipal elections, however, were separate from the presidential and legislative elections referenced in the commitments made to Canada.

Demilitarization is another key part of Ottawa’s stated vision for a future Palestinian state, alongside preventing Hamas from participating in government. Canadian officials have also linked the reform agenda to changes in Palestinian welfare payments to families of prisoners and those killed, as well as education reform. The Palestinian Authority has moved social assistance into a unified needs-based system and says an independent review will assess the implementation of those changes.

Israel disputes the Palestinian Authority’s assessment of its progress. Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed has argued that the PA has not fulfilled its commitments, pointing in particular to the absence of a firm date for general elections. Israel continues to oppose Canada’s recognition of the State of Palestine.

At the time of recognition, Canada also announced $47 million in new funding to strengthen judicial systems, governance structures, democratization efforts and economic resilience in the West Bank and Gaza, bringing Ottawa’s announced assistance to the territories at that point to more than $400 million.