Background

The first formal meeting between ASEAN and Canada was held in February 1977 wherein the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs informed the Chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee of Canada’s proposal to extend a programme of development assistance to ASEAN. Canada was among the first non-members to be designated as an ASEAN “dialogue partner.”

The first 20 years of ASEAN-Canada economic relations focused on development cooperation activities, including the establishment of an ASEAN-Canada Centre in Singapore and the funding of various ASEAN-Canada technical assistance projects. In 1982, an ASEAN-Canada senior official dialogue process known as the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) was established to promote and review cooperation activities between Canada and ASEAN, including an agreement on bilateral economic cooperation. This agreement covered industrial, commercial, and development cooperation. The JCC came to an end in 1997 and ASEAN-Canada Relations hit a downturn during this period.

ASEAN-Canada Dialogue was resurrected with the holding of the 1st ASEAN-Canada Dialogue was held in Brunei on March 30, 2004, the first such meeting since 1997. The meeting resulted in ASEAN endorsement of a broader and enhanced relationship with Canada. In addition, the meeting also endorsed a new track in ASEAN-Canada dialogue, the ASEAN-Canada Senior Economic Officials’ Meeting. 

ASEAN-Canada relations have since been very productive with the signing of ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration to Combat International Terrorism and the 2005-2007 ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Work Plan during the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference + 1 Meeting with Canada in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 28 July 2006. The Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and Canada are expected to adopt the 2nd Joint Cooperation Work Plan with Canada for the period 2007-2010 during the 40th AMM/PMC/ARF in Manila on 1 August 2007. The year 2007 also marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Canada Dialogue Relations.

Institutional Framework 

As a Dialogue Partner, Canada participates in a series of consultative meetings with ASEAN, namely, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC), ASEAN-Canada Dialogue, ASEAN-Canada SEOM, and ASEAN-Canada Informal Coordinating Mechanism (ICM) Meeting. The ASEAN-Canada Business Council, comprised of businessmen involved in ASEAN-Canada trade, also assists in conducting and maintaining dialogue with Canada. 

At the apex of the dialogue process is Canada's participation in the PMC, which immediately follows the annual ASEAN Ministerial Meetings (AMM). The PMC meetings offer an opportunity for the ASEAN and Canadian Foreign Ministers to review contemporary political, security, economic and development cooperation issues affecting the dialogue relationship. 

Political-Security Cooperation

ASEAN-Canada relations have been revitalized as a result of Canada’s renewed interest in the region. In addition to the ASEAN-Canada Dialogue, Canada has been participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the annual ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs). Since 1990, officials from Canada and most ASEAN members have also had extensive interaction through the activities of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Canada’s participation in these meetings contributes to greater interaction and exchange of views on key regional and international issues of mutual interest. Recent developments in ASEAN-Canada cooperation include:

1. ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism

The ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism was signed during the ASEAN PMC + 1 Meeting with Canada in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 28 July 2006. The declaration calls on ASEAN and Canada to, among others, designate a contact point to coordinate their respective law enforcement and security agencies, authorities dealing with countering terrorist financing and other relevant agencies for the purpose of implementing the declaration.

2. 2005-2007 ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Work Plan

The 2005-2007 ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Work Plan was adopted during the ASEAN PMC + 1 Session with Canada in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 28 July 2006. This serves as the plan of action to implement cooperation activities between ASEAN and Canada for the period 2005-2007. The Work Plan covers a broad spectrum of fields, including political, security and development cooperation, as well as social, economic and trade issues and lists a number of modest, practical and recommended steps that can be taken. Notably, Canada outlined their interest in three areas of cooperation, namely in customs modernization, infectious diseases and general health issues. ASEAN and Canada are expected to adopt the 2nd ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Work Plan 2007-2010 during the 40th AMM/PMC/ARF to be held in Manila on 1 August 2007.

3. 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-Canada Dialogue Relations

The year 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of Dialogue Relations. ASEAN has welcomed the idea of having a commemorative activity to commemorate this occasion. ASEAN and Canada are in the process of finding a suitable activity to commemorate this occasion. Per ASEAN tradition, commemorative Summits were held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dialogue Relations, as was the case with China and Japan. 

Economic Cooperation

Canada’s importance as a trading partner for ASEAN has declined in the last decade and vice versa. In 1994, ASEAN as a whole was the fifth largest trading partner for Canada. By 2003, ASEAN had slipped to seventh position. In 2003, Canadian percent of Canada’s total exports. As a share of Canada’s exports to Asia, Canadian exports to ASEAN were valued at US$1.6 billion, which is about 11% in 2003 - behind Japan, China, and South Korea. Despite a 24 percent increase in Canadian exports to ASEAN over the past decade, the rate of growth has been considerably lower than overall export expansion over the same period.

To some extent, this decline is a natural outcome of growing intra-regional trade and investment both in Asia and North America. Canada is focused on NAFTA while the ASEAN economies, badly affected by the financial crisis, began to place more emphasis on intra-Asian economic integration, establishing an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). 

To boost economic ties, ASEAN and Canada are currently negotiating a Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) under the auspices of the ASEAN-Canada Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM). The ASEAN-Canada TIFA could be finalized at the 3rd SEOM, which will be held in Canada in the fall of 2007, and that it could serve as a starting point for further discussion on trade expansion.

Development Cooperation

The emphasis was in the first 20 years of ASEAN-Canada relations was on development cooperation activities. By the end of 2003, the value of Canadian development assistance to the region was in the order of C$2.6 billion. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is Canada’s lead agency for development assistance. CIDA has a mandate to support sustainable development in developing countries in order to reduce poverty and to contribute to a more secure, equitable, and prosperous world. Recently, effective collaboration has occurred in the following key areas:

1. Fighting disease: Canada funds $15 million for the Canada-Asia Regional Emerging Infectious Diseases (CAREID) project, implemented by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization, to reduce the threat of emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia and China. 

2. Promoting human rights: Canada is providing $1.7 million over five years to the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism in support of ASEAN’s human rights objectives to promote and protect the rights of women, children and migrant workers in the region as outlined in 1.1.4 of the Vientiane Action Programme. This support is part of a $9 million project named SEARCH which is supporting the Working Group, Forum-Asia and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking. 

3. Supporting communities: Canada provided $95,000 for the 5th ASEAN People’s Assembly, held in December 2006 in the Philippines, in support of ASEAN’s goal of building a people-centred community. 

4. Promoting gender equality: Canada is working with the ASEAN Secretariat to conduct regional analysis and prepare the third regional report on women’s advancement in ASEAN countries. 

5. Fostering innovative information technology: The ASEAN Collaboratory, a three-year, $800,000 project established by the ASEAN Foundation and Canada’s International Development Research Centre, promotes innovative “ICT for development” applications.