Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Canada became an Association of Southeast Asian Nations dialogue partner in 1977. It is one of 11 countries with this designation. In September 2023, ASEAN and Canada launched a Strategic Partnership, which identifies opportunities for collaboration between Canada and ASEAN. It was announced through a Joint Leaders' Statement during the ASEAN-Canada Summit in 2023.

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Our relations

Our strategic partnership

Canada became an ASEAN dialogue partner in 1977 and is one of 11 countries with this designation. Dialogue partners work with ASEAN on a range of issues, including:

• political and security issues
• regional integration
• economic interests
• transnational crime and counterterrorism,
• disaster risk reduction, and other areas.

In 2009, Canada's Ambassador to Indonesia was appointed Ambassador to ASEAN, given the ASEAN Secretariat is in Jakarta. In 2016, Canada opened a dedicated mission to ASEAN and appointed its first dedicated Ambassador to ASEAN.

In 2023, ASEAN-Canada relations took an important step forward. On September 6, Prime Minister Trudeau and his ASEAN counterparts launched the ASEAN-Canada Strategic Partnership. Establishing this Strategic Partnership recognized Canada’s growing presence and relationship with ASEAN. It also aligns with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and our mutual interests.

Through this Strategic Partnership, Canada is working to further grow ASEAN-Canada cooperation under three pillars: political-security, economic, and socio- cultural and through efforts of Canadian missions abroad. By the end of 2025, we will have fully accredited diplomatic missions in all 10 ASEAN member state countries.

Our Indo-Pacific Strategy and ASEAN

We launched Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) on November 27, 2022, guiding Canada’s diplomatic, trade, defence, security, and development assistance approach to the region for the next decade. Per Canada’s IPS, the Indo-Pacific spans 40 countries and economies, encompassing all 10 ASEAN member states. Canada’s approach to the region is underpinned by our vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. In this vision, the ASEAN region is at the core. Canada’s IPS supports ASEAN centrality and contributes to the implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

Our political and security cooperation

ASEAN is at the heart of Asia’s regional security architecture. Canada continues to expand its defence and security engagement with ASEAN member states. Our goal is to promote international law and uphold a rules-based international order. Canada and ASEAN have a shared vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. This is clear in the alignment between Canada’s IPS and ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. As part of our Strategic Partnership with ASEAN, we’re working together to enhance cooperation by focusing on peace, security and stability. 

Canada supports ASEAN’s political and security structure and is an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) founding member. Canada advocates for our regional security interests in important areas. As part of these efforts, Canada is supporting two important events this year:

• 6th ARF Workshop on United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Other International Maritime Instruments to Address Emerging Maritime Issues, with Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, and the EU.
• 2nd ARF Workshop on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), with Australia and Vietnam.

Canada also contributes to practical cooperative initiatives that aim to foster dialogue, and advance preventive diplomacy, including:

• Canada participates in the annual ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Transnational Crime.
• Canada is an observer in two ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus Experts’ Working Groups; Maritime Security, and another on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
• Canada is co-chairing the Intersessional Meeting on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technology with the Philippines.
• Canada is delivering $47M in security assistance over five years (2023-24 to 2028-29) in the Indo-Pacific region, including ASEAN Member States, to combat against transnational organized crime and international terrorism.
• Canada has collaborated with ASEAN on the Mitigation of Biological Threats (MBT) Program in the ASEAN region for over a decade. The MBT is an initiative that strengthens regional health-security capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to natural, accidental or deliberate biological threats. Canada’s support includes strengthening ASEAN’s Emergency Operations Center Network and enhancing the ASEAN BioDiaspora Virtual Centre.
• Canada also helped to develop the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Strengthening Regional Biosafety and Biosecurity, adopted  in October 2024. This declaration commits ASEAN countries to strengthening biosafety and biosecurity. This includes establishing an ASEAN Biosafety and Biosecurity Network and a sustainable laboratory infrastructure.

Quick facts

• Canada is a long-standing partner of ASEAN on defense and security issues and is proud to be a founding member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
• As an active member of the ARF, Canada continues to attend meetings and host workshops.
• Through its Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada will deliver CAD $47 million in security assistance over the next five years to combat transnational organised crime and international terrorism in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Canada is an Observer in the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus Experts’ Working Groups on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.
• Canada’s Mitigation of Biological Threats Program recently celebrated 10 years of collaboration to prevent, detect and respond to biological threats and strengthen regional health security capabilities.
• In 2023, Canada hosted a series of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) dialogues with ASEAN. Canada also supported the development of the Localisation Toolkit and Guidelines for the said Regional Plan of Action.

Our trade and investment

ASEAN is one of the world’s fastest-growing economic regions. Canada’s trade and investment in Southeast Asia is expanding quickly—not only in volume, but across many sectors, including:

• Extractives
• Clean technologies
• Agriculture and agri-food
• Information Communication Technologies
• Financial services
• Aerospace
• Infrastructure
• Consumer goods

As a group, ASEAN member states represented Canada’s fourth largest merchandise trading partner in 2023.

Negotiations toward a possible free trade agreement

On November 16, 2021, Canada and ASEAN agreed to negotiate towards an ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA). To enhance our commercial relations and strengthen our presence in this fast-growing market, Canada is committed to negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement with ASEAN. This potential agreement would help create new market opportunities for Canadian goods and services. It would also support a more transparent and predictable environment for trade and investment.

Chief Negotiators have met multiple times since the launch in November 2021. Consistent with Canada’s IPS and Strategic Partnership with ASEAN, the FTA negotiations are a valuable initiative. They contribute to the renewal and deepening of Canada’s commercial engagement across the Indo-Pacific region. A completed, comprehensive FTA will allow for inclusive and sustainable economic growth for ASEAN members and Canada.

Public consultations on a possible free trade agreement

From September 1 to October 16, 2018, the Government of Canada conducted public consultations through the Canada Gazette to seek the views of Canadians on a possible FTA with ASEAN. Comments were collected in a number of ways, including in writing, by email, and through in-person meetings and teleconferences. While the official consultation period has closed, we remain committed to hearing from Canadians on a possible FTA with ASEAN.

Joint Declaration on Trade and Investment

Canada and ASEAN are party to the ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration on Trade and Investment (JDTI) (2011). The JDTI provides a platform for Canada and ASEAN member states to exchange information on trade and investment opportunities and strengthen commercial engagement.

Canada and the ASEAN member states meet three times a year to review the progress made against the Work Plan to implement the ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration on Trade and Investment.

Support for Canadian businesses in the ASEAN region

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service has offices in Canadian missions in each of the 10 ASEAN member states. This network of trade experts works in direct support of Canadian companies active in the region, providing advice and recommendations.

The Canada-ASEAN Business Council (CABC) is an industry association focused on increasing private sector links between Canadian and ASEAN businesses.  It is based in Singapore.

On January 15, 2024, the CABC received official accreditation with ASEAN. As an ASEAN-accredited entity, the CABC has increased access to ASEAN’s regional networks, resources, and opportunities. This will further strengthen its role of a key agency supporting business ties between Canada and the region.

To further support Canadian businesses in the region, the Government of Canada has a number of initiatives including:

• Organizing Team Canada Trade Missions (TCTMs) to the region. Following the successful missions to Malaysia and Vietnam, and Indonesia and the Philippines in 2024, TCTMs will head to Thailand and Cambodia in May 2025. These missions will help create even stronger ties between Canada and ASEAN and good jobs for Canadians and peoples of ASEAN Member States. It will also help expand Canada’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region and ASEAN. Canada also plans to send business delegations to the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Brunei Darussalam in 2025.
• Establishing new Export Development Canada offices in Jakarta, Indonesia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a FinDev Canada office in Singapore, and Canada’s first Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office in Manila, Philippines. These offices further support Canadian companies doing business in ASEAN markets.
• Appointing Paul Thoppil as the first Canadian Indo-Pacific Trade Representative (CIPTR) in September 2023. Based in Jakarta, CIPTR facilitates and promotes trade, investment, and supply chain resilience between Canada and the region.

Quick facts

• Together, ASEAN member states have the third-largest population in the world (679 million-and growing in 2023)
• If ASEAN were one economy, it would be the fifth largest in the world. It would have a combined nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3.8 trillion (2023).
• ASEAN is one of the world’s fastest-growing economic regions, with an estimated real GDP growth rate of 4.3% for 2023 and 4.7% (projected) for 2024 (Asian Development Bank).
• As a group of countries, the 10 member states of ASEAN represent Canada’s fourth-largest merchandise trading partner (2023).
• In 2023, Canada-ASEAN bilateral merchandise trade reached $38.8 billion.

Our international development assistance 

Canada and ASEAN share a longstanding partnership in development cooperation. Since 2000, Canada has provided $4.4 billion in development assistance to the ASEAN region. This includes regional and bilateral assistance to ASEAN and in ASEAN member states as well as through multilateral organizations.

ASEAN’s economic prosperity has increased in recent years. Poverty has declined, life expectancy has increased, and levels of education and literary rates have increased. The ASEAN region continues to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

However, key challenges remain including:

• income inequality;
• enduring areas of poverty;
• increasing frequency and strength of natural disasters;
• transitioning to a low-carbon economy; and,
• gender inequality.

ASEAN regional development program

Canada’s development assistance to the region helps strengthen the regional policy agenda and supports ASEAN institutions, organizations, and networks in addressing shared regional development priorities. 

Canada’s international assistance aligns with the ASEAN community-building objectives and the ASEAN-Canada Plan of Action. Under this plan, Canada and ASEAN work together in areas of mutual interest, like political and security support, economic growth, and socio-cultural and sustainable development cooperation.

The ASEAN regional development program works with many ASEAN stakeholders. This includes:  the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN member states, partners, and other donors in all ASEAN member states. Key bilateral development initiatives include:

• To date, the $14 million Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) has supported 616 students from the ASEAN region to complete short-term studies or research in Canada. Their fields are relevant to ASEAN’s efforts to narrow the development gaps and reduce poverty in Southeast Asia.
  • For more information on scholarships and the application process, please visit: Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development.
• Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: Preventing Violence and Promoting Social Cohesion in ASEAN focuses on strengthening the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The $8.5 million project is working to prevent violence against women and to promote greater social cohesion by developing expertise across the ASEAN region. This is part of Canada’s third National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security, launched in March 2024.
• ASEAN, Protection, Resilience and Inclusion for Multi-Hazard Emergencies (ASEAN-PRIME) and ASEAN Building Regional Resilience through Anticipatory Action and Civil Society Empowerment (ASEAN-BRACE). The two initiatives, worth $7 million, are helping to build the capacity of ASEAN to increase gender equality and climate integration in disaster management governance.  This work aims to strengthen the region’s preparedness for extreme weather events and disasters, building its resilience to climate change.
• The ASEAN-Canada Plan of Action Trust Fund is supporting activities that strengthen cooperation between ASEAN and Canada on shared priorities to reduce development gaps. A $1 million initiative implemented by the ASEAN Secretariat; the Trust Fund also supports the participation of least developed ASEAN countries in the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Quick facts

• Canada continues to welcome a growing number of international students from the ASEAN region. There were more than 75,000 study permit holders from ASEAN countries in Canada at the end of 2023, representing an increase of 115% since 2019.
• Canada also has bilateral development programs in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Our office

Mission of Canada to ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia

The Mission of Canada to ASEAN in Jakarta is the primary channel for diplomatic representation and communications between the Canadian government and the ASEAN.

Related links

• The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
• ASEAN Human Rights Declaration