Relationship dossier
Australia
Canada
Relationship assessment
Australia and Canada maintain a close partnership spanning strategic, defence and economic cooperation.
Australia toward Canada
+55The Australian government participates with Canada in the Australia-Canada Strategic Partnership, which provides a framework for cooperation on strategic, defence and economic issues, including critical minerals.
Canada toward Australia
+55The Canadian government participates with Australia in the Australia-Canada Strategic Partnership, providing a framework for cooperation on strategic, defence and economic issues, including critical minerals.
Overall relationship
+55The 2022 Strategic Partnership provides a durable bilateral framework for cooperation, while Five Eyes and shared security and economic arrangements reinforce the relationship. Strategic and economic collaboration outweighs any known bilateral friction.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Australia and Canada maintain a close partnership, reinforced by the 2022 Australia-Canada Strategic Partnership and cooperation in areas including defence, trade and critical minerals. Their Five Eyes intelligence partnership and shared participation in wider security and economic arrangements complement these bilateral ties. The relationship is substantially cooperative, although the scope and implementation of specific initiatives are not fully clear.
Key developments
Australia and Canada established the Australia-Canada Strategic Partnership to strengthen cooperation on strategic, defence and economic issues.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of initiatives under the Australia-Canada Strategic Partnership are unclear.
- The extent of recent bilateral defence and critical-minerals cooperation is unclear.