In 2016, the EU and Canada signed the Strategic Partnership Agreement and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, lifting the relationship to a new level. Cooperation on migration and asylum, as well as on home affairs are important elements of this strategic relationship. The EU and Canada are also close partners in the framework of the G7 (previously G8) and G20, the United Nations on migration-related issues in and more broadly are global partners the fight against terrorism and transnational crime.
Main areas of cooperation
In recent years, the major areas of collaboration focus on:
- fight against terrorism and transnational crime,
- information exchange for law enforcement purposes,
- border management and
- visa and migration policies.
International agreements
Work towards adopting a new EU-Canada agreement on Passenger Name Record is currently ongoing.
Diplomatic and technical engagement allowed achieving full visa waiver reciprocity between all countries in the EU and Canada as of 1 December 2017.
Operational cooperation
An operational cooperation agreement is also in force between Canada and Europol.
Joint informal EU-Canada consultations on immigration and asylum issues were established in 2007 and take place once a year at the level of Director General.