| Affaires mondiales Canada | |
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| Department overview | |
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| Formed | 1909 (as the Department of External Affairs) |
| Type | Department responsible for
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| Employees |
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| Annual budget | CA$7.1 billion (2018–19) |
| Minister responsible | |
| Deputy Ministers responsible |
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| Key document | |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes | |
| References[1][2][3] | |
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 Category |
Global Affairs Canada (GAC;French:Affaires mondiales Canada;AMC)[NB 1] is thedepartment of theGovernment of Canada that manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations, promotes Canadian international trade, and leads Canada's international development and humanitarian assistance. It is also responsible for maintaining Canadian government offices abroad with diplomatic and consular status on behalf of all government departments.
According to theOECD, Canada's total official development assistance (ODA) (US$7.8 billion, preliminary data) increased in 2022 due to exceptional support to Ukraine and its pandemic response in developing countries, increased costs for in-donor refugees as well as higher contributions to international organizations, representing 0.37% ofgross national income (GNI).[4]
The department has undergone numerous name changes and re-organizations since its founding in 1909. Originally established as the "Department of External Affairs", GAC has been known by a variety of names throughout its lifetime. Its current legal name is theDepartment of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, but its "applied" name used within government is Global Affairs Canada[5] often shorted in the Canadian media to simply "Global Affairs".
GAC was first founded as theDepartment of External Affairs on 1 June 1909.[6]
During and afterWorld War I, Canada assumed greater control over its foreign relations, with its full autonomy in this field confirmed by theStatute of Westminster in 1931. For historical reasons, the name External Affairs was retained.[7]
The Department of Trade and Commerce, which included theTrade Commissioner Service, had been created in 1892. In 1969, it was combined with theDepartment of Industry to form the Department of Industry Trade and Commerce (ITC).[8] Both External Affairs and ITC maintained networks of offices abroad, with varying degrees of coordination among them. TheDepartment of Citizenship and Immigration also had offices abroad, in some cases dating back toConfederation.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, there were growing efforts to ensure coordination among all Canadian government offices outside Canada and to strengthen the leadership role and authority of heads of post (ambassadors,high commissioners, andconsuls general) over all Canadian government staff in their areas of accreditation. This led to a 1979 decision byPrime MinisterJoe Clark to consolidate the various streams of theCanadian Foreign Service, including the "political" (traditional diplomatic) stream, theTrade Commissioner Service, and the Immigration Foreign Service.
This was followed in 1982 by Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau's decision to combine External Affairs and International Trade into a single department. It initially retained the name of Department of External Affairs, but was subsequently renamedExternal Affairs and International Trade.[9] The change was reflected in a newDepartment of External Affairs Act passed in 1983.[10] The 1982 merger was part of larger reorganization of government that also combined the Industry component of ITC with the Department of Regional Economic Expansion.
The department's name was changed to theDepartment of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) in 1993, about 60 years after Canada had gained control over itsforeign policy in 1931—though this change was only formalized by anAct of Parliament in 1995. DFAIT maintained two separate ministers: theMinister of Foreign Affairs, with lead responsibility for the portfolio, and theMinister of International Trade. TheMinister for International Cooperation, who was responsible for agencies such as theCanadian International Development Agency (CIDA), also fell under DFAIT. Moreover, the responsibilities of DFAIT would includeCanadian relations with Commonwealth nations—though such nations are not considered 'foreign' to one another.[11][12]
CIDA had been formally established in 1968, although a preceding External Aid Office was created as a branch of the External Affairs Department in 1960,[13] building on roots that go back to theColombo Plan in the early 1950s.
Through an administrative separation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, two separate departments namedForeign Affairs Canada (FAC) andInternational Trade Canada (ITCan) were created in December 2003. However, legislation to formally abolish DFAIT and provide a statutory basis for the separate departments failed to pass a first vote in theHouse of Commons on 15 February 2005. The government, nonetheless, maintained the administrative separation of the two departments despite neither having been established through an Act of Parliament.
In early 2006, under the new government of Prime MinisterStephen Harper,[14] Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada were re-joined to again form a single department known asForeign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
In 2013, included within the Conservative government'somnibus budget bill,An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures (Bill C-60), was a section that would foldCIDA into the department, creating theDepartment of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD). The bill receivedroyal assent on 26 June 2013.[15]
On 4 November 2015, Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau's newLiberal government again modified the name of the department.[16] While its legal name remains the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, its public designation (applied title) under theFederal Identity Program isGlobal Affairs Canada (GAC).[17] Despite the change to the applied title of the department, the senior minister responsible is still called theMinister of Foreign Affairs, rather than "Minister of Global Affairs", in line with the terminology used in other jurisdictions and in international law.
GAC is headquartered in theLester B. Pearson Building at 125Sussex Drive on the banks of theRideau River inOttawa, but operates out of several properties in Canada'sNational Capital Region.
Ministers andparliamentary secretaries to ministers are elected members of theHouse of Commons and accountable toParliament. Ministers are also members of thecabinet andprivy council (and thus entitled to use the prefix "the Honourable"). The current leadership of GAC is provided by three ministers, each with their own responsibilities.[18]
Theminister of foreign affairs (as of 2025Anita Anand) is the senior minister in the department, with responsibility forforeign policy matters as well as the department overall. This ministerial portfolio includes:[18][19]
The portfolio of theSecretary of State (International Development) (currentlyRandeep Sarai) is responsible forinternational development,poverty reduction, andhumanitarian assistance. This ministerial portfolio includes:[18][19]
Theminister of international trade (currentlyManinder Sidhu) is responsible for matters ofinternational trade. This ministerial portfolio includes:[18][19]
The institute is Global Affairs Canada's primary training provider. It offers training to clients in federal, provincial, and municipal governments, as well as to non-governmental organizations, foreign governments and organizations, academic institutions, and, in certain cases, private sector companies.
Deputy ministers are seniorpublic servants who take political direction from ministers and are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department.
The current departmental structure, and corresponding executives, are as follows:[18][19]
Branches of Global Affairs each have their own Assistant Deputy Minister, who report to all three deputy ministers:[19]
Included in the portfolios of the three Global Affairs ministers are:[23][24]
The change of terminology fromexternal affairs toforeign affairs recognized, albeit belatedly, a shift that had occurred many years before.
At the time that the external affairs portfolio was created in 1909, Canada was a self-governingdominion in theBritish Empire and did not have an independent foreign policy. The termexternal affairs avoided the question of whether a colony or dominion—self-governing and hence sovereign in some respects—could, by definition, have foreign affairs. Implicitly, since the department was responsible for affairs with bothCommonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries, all external relations were of a type, even when the head of state was shared with other nations.[citation needed]
Under section 132 of theBritish North America Act, 1867, the federal government had authority to conduct and implement relations with other parts of the British Empire, which were not considered foreign lands. The United Kingdom and other colonial powers still routinely divided their conduct of overseas policy into foreign affairs (e.g. theForeign Office) and domestic or colonial affairs (theColonial Office orDominion Office, which were later reorganized and combined into one department: theForeign and Commonwealth Office). Canadian interests outside the empire (e.g. between Canada and its non-empire neighbours, theUnited States,Russia,St. Pierre and Miquelon, andGreenland) were under the purview of the UK Foreign Office. Informally, however, Canada had had relations with the United States in particular, with trade and other relationships pre-dating Confederation.[26]
Canada's management of its own foreign relations evolved over time, with key milestones including: theFirst World War (at the conclusion of which Canada was a signatory of theTreaty of Versailles and a member of theLeague of Nations); theBalfour Declaration; increased direct conduct ofbilateral matters with theUnited States (where Canada had its ownrepresentatives since at least 1927); and finally, theStatute of Westminster and theSecond World War. In terms of Canada's commercial relations, the first trade commissioner,John Short Larke, was named following a successful trade delegation to Australia led by Canada's first minister of trade and commerce,Mackenzie Bowell.[27]
The Statute of Westminster clarified that Canada (and certain other dominions, such asAustralia andNew Zealand) were primarily responsible for, among other things, the conduct of their own foreign affairs. After World War II, Canada was a founding member of theUnited Nations and participant in its own right in post-war settlement talks and other international fora, and in most respects the conduct of foreign affairs was no longer colonial.
Over the years after the Second World War, a number of other historical traditions were slowly abolished or brought into accordance with reality, such as the practice of Canadianambassadors presenting diplomaticcredentials signed by themonarch of Canada (including, on occasion, credentials written in French as anofficial language of Canada); Canadian ambassadors now present credentials signed by thegovernor general of Canada as representative of the Canadian monarch. Other traditions remain, such as the exchange ofhigh commissioners, instead of ambassadors, between Commonwealth countries. (High commissioners present credentials from thehead of government [the prime minister], as the head of state was historically shared, and would not accredit a representative to one's self.) Nonetheless, by the time the change in terminology was effected in 1993, Canada's foreign affairs had been conducted separately from theUnited Kingdom in most significant respects for the entire post-war period, or over 60 years since the Statute of Westminster.
This process was paralleled in other areas over this period, including the establishment of Canada's ownsupreme court as thecourt of last resort, thepatriation ofthe constitution, andCanadian citizenship (Canadians had beenBritish subjects, and no citizenshipper se existed until 1947).
In September 2012, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and theUK Foreign and Commonwealth Office signed a memorandum of understanding on diplomatic cooperation, which promotes the co-location of embassies, the joint provision of consular services, and common crisis response. The project has been criticized by leading Canadian foreign affairs scholars for undermining Ottawa's foreign policy independence.[28]
Global Affairs Canada funds humanitarian projects, contributes to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, makes smaller emergency contributions through theCanadian Red Cross and Canadian Foodgrains Bank and funds Canadian humanitarian organisations via theHumanitarian Coalition.[29]
Support is guided by Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy.[30]
Within Global Affairs Canada, there are several bodies that facilitate Canada'sinternational trade system, including theTrade Controls Bureau,Export Development Canada,Canadian Commercial Corporation, and theTrade Commissioner Service. Other organizations that facilitate international trade and foreign investment in Canada include theCanada Border Services Agency (CBSA),Invest in Canada (formerlyForeign Investment Review Agency), and theCanadian International Trade Tribunal, which is an independentquasi-judicial body. The CBSA andStatistics Canada collect information on all items exported from Canada, and classify these items using categories negotiated by theWorld Customs Organization.[31]
| Trade agreement / system | Status | Type | Partner states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada–Central American Four Free Trade Agreement | Never implemented | Free trade agreement (FTA) | Central American Four (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua) |
| Canada–Chile Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Chile |
| Canada–China Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments Agreement[32] | In effect | Bilateral investment treaty | China |
| Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Colombia |
| Canada–Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Costa Rica |
| Canada–European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement | In effect | FTA | European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) |
| Canada–Honduras Free Trade Agreement | In effect | FTA | Honduras |
| Canada–India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement[33] | Under negotiations, as of 2020[update][34][35] | Bilateral FTA, whose negotiations launched in 2010[36] | India |
| Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Israel |
| Canada–Jordan Free Trade Agreement | In effect, since October 2012 | Bilateral FTA | Jordan |
| Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | South Korea |
| Canada–Panama Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Panama |
| Canada–Peru Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Peru |
| Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement | In effect | Bilateral FTA | Ukraine |
| Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) | Superseded by NAFTA in 1994 | Bilateral FTA | United States |
| Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership | In effect | Multilateral FTA | Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam |
| Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) | In effect | Bilateral FTA | European Union |
| Free Trade Area of the Americas | Never implemented | Proposed agreement | Countries of theAmericas, excluding Cuba. |
| North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | Superseded by USMCA in July 2020 | Trilateral agreement | United States and Mexico |
| North American Union[37] | N/A | Theoreticalcontinental union | United States and Mexico |
| United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) | In effect | Trilateral agreement superseding NAFTA in July 2020 |
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