In a major address to federal parliament, Mark Carney also referenced an abandoning of the rules-based world order, saying that "from this rupture, we can build something better, more prosperous, more resilient, more just".
Mr Carney has described Canada and Australia as strategic cousins, saying the relationship between the two countries has been built up by choice, not by geography, over centuries.
"Our two nations were built by voyagers and by drovers - adventurers, risk-takers, and families who left everything behind to start again," he said on Thursday.
"They crossed oceans with uncertain prospects to bet on themselves and on each other."
Mr Carney was given a ceremonial welcome with a gun salute when he arrived at Parliament House on Thursday morning, and posed for selfies with school students visiting the building alongside his counterpart Anthony Albanese.
The Canadian leader made headlines in January for a blistering speech in which he declared  there had been a "rupture" in the traditional rules that govern interactions between countries.
A former head of Canada's central bank, Mr Carney has used his platform as prime minister to rally middle powers in the face of the changing world order, shaped by US President Donald Trump's tariff regime and growing military actions.
He used his speech in Canberra to chart what he said should be the next steps, saying middle powers can be far more influential when they work together instead of competing.
"It is my fundamental belief - the result of an optimism I may have picked up from this great country - that from this rupture we can build something better, more prosperous, more resilient, more just," he said.
Mr Carney said trusted nations that can work together will be more effective at shaping the world over the years to come.
"Great powers can compel. But compulsion comes with costs, both reputational and financial. Middle powers must convene to matter, but not everyone can," he said.
"Middle powers like Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power. Because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions."
Australia and Canada have inked a series of agreements on critical minerals, including signing Australia up to the G7 minerals alliance, Mr Carney said.
"(This is) the largest grouping of trusted democratic mineral reserves in the world," he said.
Mr Carney also pointed to defence, artificial intelligence, trade and investment as areas in which Australia and Canada can grow their co-operation.
He said Canada would be seeking global co-operation on a network of low-earth-orbit satellites which will launch next year, aimed at providing reliable and secure global communications.
"We are working with other like-minded partners who possess similar capabilities to build out a deep and resilient system we can all share and control in our own territories."
