Canada-Iceland relations
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Bilateral relations
Canada and Iceland established formal diplomatic relations in 1947; however, the shared history of the two countries began over 1,000 years ago when Icelandic explorer Leif Eriksson landed in L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. In 1875, over 200 Icelanders immigrated to Manitoba, where they established the New Iceland community alongside Lake Winnipeg in the city of Gimli. Today Canada is home to the largest population of Icelandic immigrants (and their descendants) outside Iceland. Canada and Iceland enjoy solid relations founded on people-to-people links, and common values that underpin cooperation in multilateral organizations, in support of free trade, peace and security, human rights, climate and environment protection and the promotion of gender equality.
Canada and Iceland have a Youth Mobility Agreement, which allows young Canadians to live and work for a time in Iceland.
Canada is represented in Iceland through our Embassy in Reykjavik. In Canada, Iceland maintains an Embassy in Ottawa, a Consulate General in Winnipeg and Honorary Consulates in Calgary, Charlottetown, Edmonton, Montréal, Halifax, Québec, Regina, St. John’s, Toronto and Vancouver.
Trade relations
Trade between Canada and Iceland is supported by the Canada-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Free Trade Agreement, in force since July 1, 2009. Except for a few limited areas, most EU commercial legislation and directives are applied in Iceland. This goods-focused agreement reflects our shared commitment to an open, transparent and rules-based international trading system. Iceland has a continued policy for cooperation on progressive trade, gender equality, environment and climate change, with an Arctic emphasis.
Bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and Iceland was $207.6 million in 2023: Canada exported $55.4 million and imported $152.2 million of goods.
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Partnerships and organizations
To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and Iceland work closely in multilateral fora, such as:
- Arctic Council
- International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
- International Criminal Court (ICC)
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- United Nations (UN)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- World Trade Organization (WTO)
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