Relationship dossier
Canada
Philippines
Relationship assessment
Expanding defense and diplomatic cooperation, alongside a resolved dispute over Canadian waste shipments
Canada toward Philippines
+45Canada has pursued closer defense cooperation with the Philippines, including signing a status of visiting forces agreement and establishing a strategic partnership. Canada also repatriated waste shipped to the Philippines in 2019 after the Philippine government pressed for its return.
Philippines toward Canada
+45The Philippine government has pursued closer defense and diplomatic cooperation with Canada, including signing a status of visiting forces agreement and establishing a strategic partnership. It also pressed Canada to take back waste shipped to the Philippines, which was repatriated in 2019.
Overall relationship
+45The relationship combines expanding diplomatic and defense cooperation with a resolved waste-shipment dispute. The strategic partnership and visiting forces agreement indicate a durable basis for collaboration, while the waste issue demonstrated that bilateral disagreements can become politically salient.
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
Canada and the Philippines have developed substantial cooperation in defense, diplomacy, and trade. Their governments established a strategic partnership and signed a status of visiting forces agreement to facilitate military cooperation. A notable dispute arose over Canadian waste shipped to the Philippines; Canada repatriated the waste in 2019 after Philippine demands. Cooperation has broadened, though the scale and implementation of some arrangements remain unclear.
Areas of tension
- Canadian waste shipped to the Philippines, which the Philippine government demanded be repatriated.
Key developments
Canada and the Philippines established a strategic partnership.
The two governments signed a status of visiting forces agreement to facilitate military cooperation.
Canada repatriated waste shipped to the Philippines after the Philippine government demanded its return.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of defense cooperation under the visiting forces agreement are unclear.
- The extent of practical cooperation under the strategic partnership is uncertain.