VANCOUVER — The Philippines and Canada have elevated bilateral relations to a strategic partnership to deepen collaboration across critical sectors, including defense and economy, President Marcos and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Friday (Philippine time).
Canada is the sixth country with which the Philippines has elevated ties to a strategic partnership. The others are Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
Marcos, who has been in Canada since Thursday (Philippine time) for a four-day official visit, made the announcement during a joint press conference with Carney following their bilateral meeting at the Vancouver Convention Center.
The two leaders have tasked their foreign ministers to draw up a Plan of Action “to pursue our shared commitment to work together in adapting to shifting global realities, addressing shared challenges and building capacities for a future-ready partnership,” Marcos said.
“We recognize that robust defense and security cooperation underpins the strong momentum of our relations. Recent milestones in this pillar underscore the shared commitment of our countries in ensuring that our peoples continue to live in a peaceful and secure region,” he said.
A strategic partnership between countries is a long-term diplomatic framework aimed at deepening cooperation across multiple dimensions – such as defense, economics, technology and politics.
Stressing that a strategic partnership is defined not just by deep and close relations, but also by the reliability of the partnership, Marcos said he and Carney underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and Canada’s increasing engagement in the region under its Indo-Pacific strategy.
Free trade
Carney, for his part, said the two countries have a prospect of tripling bilateral trade in both directions by 2035, under a free trade agreement which they aimed to be concluded by the end of the year.
“We’re launching a new era of cooperation, deepening our collaboration in trade and energy, defense and tourism, and as part of this partnership we’re announcing a joint declaration of intent on energy and natural resource cooperation and a new technical assistance partnership,” the prime minister said.
Bilateral merchandise trade between the two countries reached Canadian $3.4 billion in 2025.
Meanwhile, the leaders also welcomed the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement signed in November 2025 and the signing of the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement and the Statement of Intent on Strengthening Defense Cooperation between the Philippines and Canada just two weeks ago in Ottawa.
SOVFA is awaiting ratification from the two countries’ respective Senates.
Deals signed
Marcos and Carney also witnessed the signing of several agreements, enhancing the cooperation between Manila and Ottawa, in the following fields: energy and natural resources, culture, tourism and labor and migration.
Among the documents signed were a memorandum of understanding between the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Industry of Canada on Tourism Cooperation and an MOU between the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage on Cultural Cooperation.
Also signed were a Joint Declaration of Intent Concerning Energy and Natural Resources Cooperation and the Joint Declaration of Intent between the Department of Migrant Workers and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada concerning labor and migration cooperation.
Signing the documents for the Philippine government were Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro (for the DOT), acting Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna (energy and environment), Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac (labor and migration) and National Commission for Culture and the Arts chairman and executive director Eric Zerrudo (culture).
Among the key commitments in the agreement is that workers and jobseekers should not be charged recruitment fees or related costs by employers. — Rhodina Villanueva, Bella Cariaso