Chapter 2
Japan's Foreign Policy by Region
3 Canada
(1) Canada's Domestic Situation
The Trudeau administration had been running its government stably thanks to the “Supply and Confidence Agreement” with the New Democratic Party (NDP) concluded in March 2022, but in September, the NDP announced the termination of the agreement. The ruling Liberal Party suffered defeats in the Toronto by-election in June and the Montreal by-election in September and has since carried out multiple cabinet reshuffles. In November, the Trudeau administration announced a temporary reduction of the goods and services tax and support measures for citizens to revive the government's sluggish approval ratings. In December, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland resigned, and the Trudeau administration embarked on another cabinet reshuffle, but in January 2025, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his intention to resign as leader of the Liberal Party and as Prime Minister. On the economic front, according to the Department of Finance Canada's economic statement in December, real GDP growth in 2024 is expected to be 1.3% (1.2% in the previous year), the unemployment rate to be 6.4% (5.4% in the previous year), and the annual average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to be 2.5% (3.9% in the previous year). In addition, the government was unable to achieve the goal set out in the previous year's economic statement of keeping the fiscal deficit for fiscal year 2023-24 below the 40.1 billion Canadian dollars projected in the 2023 budget guideline.
On the diplomatic front, Canada has been strengthening its involvement in the Indo-Pacific region based on the Indo-Pacific Strategy announced in November 2022. Canada's Defence Policy, revised in April 2024 also sets forth a policy of ensuring a persistent presence in the region. In 2024, Canada further strengthened its presence in the Indo-Pacific with the deployment of three warships to the region.
There have also been major developments in the traditionally stable U.S.-Canada relationship. After the U.S. presidential election in November, President-elect Trump announced that he would impose a 25% tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico, citing illegal immigration and the influx of fentanyl. In response to this, Prime Minister Trudeau had a telephone call with President-elect Trump and visited Florida for a dinner with the President-elect. In addition, in response to the concerns of President-elect Trump, the Government of Canada announced in December a comprehensive plan to strengthen border security over six years, worth 1.3 billion Canadian dollars.
Based on the “Strategic Partnership” established with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in September 2023, Canada is strengthening its relationship with ASEAN, including holding a special summit in October to strengthen ASEAN connectivity and resilience. In December, Canada announced that negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Indonesia had been concluded. Regarding relations with China, in July, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly visited China for the first time in seven years as a Canadian foreign minister. In August, the Government of Canada announced additional tariff measures of 100% on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) and 25% on steel and aluminum products from China, to protect Canadian workers and key economic sectors from China's unfair trade practices. These measures were applied starting in October. Dialogue is continuing, with the foreign ministers of Canada and China holding a meeting during the APEC Ministerial Meeting in November. Regarding relations with Taiwan, former President Tsai Ing-wen visited Canada for the first time in November and delivered a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum. As for relations with the ROK, a Canada-ROK Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in July, and the Canada-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Action Plan was adopted. The first Foreign and Defense Ministers' Meeting “2+2” was held in November. Relations with India have remained tense since the murder of a Sikh leader in Canada in 2023. In May, the Government of Canada arrested three Indian suspects. Also in October, both Canada and India announced the expulsion of six diplomatic and consular staff.
In response to the situation in Ukraine, Canada has continued to impose sanctions on Russia and provide support to Ukraine, including making statements expressing full support for Ukraine's use of long-range weapons. Since February 2022, the Government of Canada has committed a total of 19.5 billion Canadian dollars (approximately 2.1 trillion Japanese yen) in assistance, including military assistance totaling 4.5 billion Canadian dollars. In October, Canada hosted a ministerial meeting on Ukraine's Peace Formula in Vancouver. In response to the situation in Israel and Palestine, the Government of Canada announced new humanitarian aid of 50 million Canadian dollars in November, bringing the total amount of humanitarian aid to 215 million Canadian dollars (approximately 23 billion Japanese yen).
(2) Japan-Canada Relations
From January 2024 to the end of January 2025, three summit meetings and four foreign ministers' meetings were held between Japan and Canada.
On January 13, Foreign Minister Kamikawa visited Foreign Minister Joly's hometown of Montreal for a Japan-Canada Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The two Ministers confirmed the progress of the “Japan-Canada Action Plan for contributing to a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” and concurred that they would work closely together on the CPTPP, people-to-people exchanges, the success of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
Japan-Canada Foreign Ministers' Meeting (January 13, Montreal, Canada)
On June 14, Prime Minister Kishida held a meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau while visiting Apulia, Italy, to attend the G7 Summit. Prime Minister Kishida welcomed Canada's recent revision of its Defence Policy, in which Canada expressed its commitment to contribute to stability in the Indo-Pacific region by maintaining a more persistent presence. He also welcomed recent progress in Japan-Canada cooperation in the area of the rule of law including surveillance activities against illegal ship-to-ship transfers and illegal fishing. The two leaders confirmed that Japan and Canada would continue to work together to contribute to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.
On July 22, Foreign Minister Kamikawa held a working lunch with Foreign Minister Joly, who was visiting Japan. The two Ministers welcomed the new cooperation being advanced in the joint exercises and surveillance activities targeting IUU fishing, and concurred to continue to work together to promote bilateral cooperation on economic issues, including the establishment of a comprehensive EV value chain. The two Ministers also concurred to keep promoting bilateral cooperation in the areas of Women, Peace and Security (WPS) as well as in the Arctic.
Japan-Canada Foreign Ministers' Meeting (July 22, Tokyo)
On September 22, Prime Minister Kishida held a meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau while visiting New York, U.S., to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where Prime Minster Kishida recognized Canada's contribution as the chair of the CPTPP in 2024 and mentioned that Japan would like to continue cooperating with Canada toward a world without nuclear weapons.
Japan-Canada Summit Meeting (September 22, New York, U.S; Photo: Official Website of the Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet)
On October 11, immediately after assuming his position, Foreign Minister Iwaya held a telephone call with Foreign Minister Joly. The two Ministers confirmed their intention to advance bilateral and G7 cooperation with Canada and concurred to hold a face-to-face foreign ministers' meeting at an early date.
On November 18, Prime Minister Ishiba, who was visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to attend the G20 Summit, held his first meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau. The two leaders concurred to continue working together toward promoting bilateral economic and security cooperation including on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and EVs. The two leaders confirmed that they would cooperate on regional situations such as responses toward North Korea and relations with China, and given Canada's G7 Presidency in 2025, the two leaders concurred to continue working closely together toward the success of the G7 Summit.
Japan-Canada Summit Meeting (November 18, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Photo: Official Website of the Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet)
On November 26, Foreign Minister Iwaya held a meeting with Foreign Minister Joly during his visit to Fiuggi, Italy to attend the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The two Ministers shared the view on the importance of cooperation among like-minded countries in relation to the regional situations, including deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and situations in the Middle East, Ukraine and East Asia. Foreign Minister Iwaya welcomed Canada's increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, stating that the security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inseparable, and that Japan would support Canada during its G7 Presidency in 2025.
Japan-Canada Foreign Ministers' Meeting (November 26, Fiuggi, Italy)
In the economic and trade fields, Japan cooperated with Canada, the 2024 chair of the CPTPP, in advancing discussions on issues such as accessions to the CPTPP and the general review, with a view to maintaining and strengthening a free and fair economic order in the Indo-Pacific. Japan also worked together with Canada on reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including discussions in the Ottawa Group. In October, the first meeting of the Dialogue based on the Memorandum of Cooperation concerning Battery Supply Chains, which was signed in September 2023, was held in Ottawa. At this meeting, the participants discussed collaboration between Japan and Canada on battery supply chains, exchange of information on policies of the two countries, measures to promote trade and investment, and research and development, among other topics. The two countries reaffirmed that they would continue to strengthen their coordination based on the Memorandum of Cooperation in order to build sustainable and reliable global battery supply chains, from the perspectives of carbon neutrality and economic security. In addition, economic relations between Japan and Canada have been further strengthened through the establishment of a comprehensive EV value chain in Canada and bilateral cooperation on LNG Canada.
In the field of science and technology, the 16th Japan-Canada Joint Committee Meeting on Cooperation in Science and Technology took place in Tokyo in May. The meeting provided an opportunity to share information on recent developments concerning national policies on science, technology, and innovation (STI); discuss funding opportunities and researcher mobility, mechanisms for co-innovation, Open Science, and research security/integrity; and highlight current and future bilateral initiatives in various fields: energy research, Arctic research, aerospace, health-related technologies, semiconductors, nanotechnology, physics R&D, quantum, AI ,and marine/ocean research.