Relationship dossier
Canada
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
A close partnership spanning defence, intelligence and trade, with some friction over negotiations on a successor trade agreement.
Canada toward United Kingdom
+70Canada cooperates with the United Kingdom through NATO and Five Eyes intelligence-sharing, and joined it in establishing the Canada–United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement to preserve trade arrangements after Brexit.
United Kingdom toward Canada
+70The United Kingdom cooperates with Canada through NATO and Five Eyes intelligence-sharing, and joined Canada in establishing the Canada–United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement to preserve trade arrangements after Brexit.
Overall relationship
+70The relationship rests on durable defence and intelligence cooperation, reinforced by a bilateral trade agreement and sustained diplomatic engagement. The two governments have also pursued negotiations on an updated trade arrangement, though talks have encountered friction. The breadth and persistence of cooperation outweigh this limited area of disagreement.
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 United Kingdom maintain a close, sustained partnership spanning defence, intelligence, trade and diplomacy. Both participate in NATO and the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement, and they established a bilateral trade continuity agreement after the United Kingdom left the European Union. Trade talks have also faced friction, but this has not displaced extensive cooperation.
Areas of tension
- Negotiations on an updated Canada–United Kingdom trade agreement have encountered friction.
Key developments
Canada and the United Kingdom signed the Trade Continuity Agreement to maintain preferential trade arrangements after Brexit.
The Canada–United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement entered into force.
Major uncertainties
- The future scope and terms of a successor trade agreement remain unsettled.
- The extent of bilateral defence and intelligence cooperation beyond established frameworks is not fully clear.