Last week, we inaugurated a series of bulletins about Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (the “Strategy”) by discussing the Strategy as it pertains to South Korea. Today, we will focus on Japan.
The purpose of this second bulletin in our series on the Strategy is to highlight the importance of Canadian relations with Japan, the only G7 country in the Indo-Pacific region and the world’s third-largest economy. Japan is also one of Canada’s most important commercial partners and Canada’s largest source of foreign direct investment in Asia. Furthermore, Japan and Canada are the two largest economies in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Global Importance of the Indo-Pacific Region in General and Japan in Particular
The Strategy recognizes that the Indo-Pacific region – composed of forty economies, over four billion people, and $47 trillion in economic activity – is the world’s fastest-growing region. In the region, Japan – a country of one hundred and twenty-five million people, with a gross domestic product of $6.2 trillion – is Canada’s fourth-largest trading partner.
Canada’s Strategic Objectives and Initiatives in the Indo-Pacific Region
Canada has five strategic objectives in the Indo-Pacific region: (i) promoting peace, resilience, and security; (ii) expanding trade, investment, and supply chain resilience; (iii) investing in connecting people; (iv) building a sustainable and green future; and (v) cementing Canada as an active and engaged partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
Expanding Trade, Investment, and Supply Chain Resilience
Among the initiatives set out in the Strategy, there are three that aim to ensure the resilience of supply chains that are of special interest to Japan:
- Advance shared interests in supply chain resilience with partners, including through greater Canadian involvement and alignment with regional initiatives such as the Australia-Japan-India Supply Chain Resilience Initiative;
- Position Canada to be a reliable supplier of clean energy in the region and in a net-zero-emission economy (including critical minerals and hydrogen), fight climate change, be an energy security partner, and support global climate goals; and
- Strengthen Canada’s science, technology, and innovation partnerships with key economies – including Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, and Taiwan – to support international co-innovation projects, commercialization-oriented research, and development partnerships for small and medium-sized Canadian businesses with Indo-Pacific partners.
How Canada Is Engaging With Japan
The Strategy states that Canada is a Pacific country, given its 25,000 kilometres of Pacific coastline. It too stresses that the North Pacific is a region in which Canada has a long-standing and deepening relationship, especially with respect to trade. Among the opportunities for collaboration between Japan and Canada, the Strategy cites artificial intelligence, critical minerals, hydrogen, and clean energy sources as examples. More specifically, the Strategy outlines five initiatives for improving Canada’s ties with Japan:
- An action plan to implement the 2021 Six Shared Priorities, as agreed to by Japan and Canada’s ministers of foreign affairs, to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific region:
- The rule of law;
- Peacekeeping operations and peace building, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief;
- Health security and responding to COVID-19;
- Energy security;
- Free trade promotion and trade agreement implementation; and
- Environment and climate change.
- Working together with Japan towards sustainable energy and free trade, in addition to addressing climate change and environmental protection;
- Concluding the negotiations with Japan for a general security of information agreement[1] between the two countries and helping support both defence procurement and broader national security objectives;
- Working closely with Japan as it undertakes the G7 presidency in 2023 to support its work as it shapes its priorities; and
- Participating in the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan to showcase Canadian innovation, resources, investment, and education to both Japan and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
Provincial Initiatives
The Quebec Strategy
The province of Québec has created a separate provincial strategy for the Indo-Pacific region. The Québec strategy, titled the “Pathway to Economic Growth: New Ambitions for Québec”, recognizes that the Indo-Pacific region has become the new global economic centre of gravity and that Japan is one of the world’s leading investors.
British Columbia’s Trade Initiatives
Japan stands as British Columbia’s third-largest export market and has been acknowledged by the Premier of British Columbia as a “strong historical trading partner.” Accordingly, economic relations between British Columbia and Japan hold significant importance for the provincial government. British Columbia is at the forefront of a trade diversification strategy towards Asia, aimed at growing provincial businesses, generating quality employment opportunities, and enhancing the reliability of supply chains for goods and services. The province is committed to reinforcing its reputation as a reliable partner on the cutting edge of clean energy, clean technology, biotech, agritech, education, and responsible resource development. In this context, substantial efforts have been directed towards engagement in Japan. British Columbia maintains a leading position in leveraging the federal Strategy to deliver stability, jobs, and opportunities for all British Columbians in a time of global uncertainty and rising costs.
Ontario’s Trade Initiatives
For Ontario, Japan is the second-largest export market in Asia and has been acknowledged by the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade as a “trusted partner and friend.” The Ontario government recently concluded a successful trade mission to Japan aimed at fortifying economic partnerships and forging new alliances. The mission focused on showcasing the province as the innovation and manufacturing gateway to North America, thereby attracting new investments in crucial sectors. Of particular focus was the promotion of Ontario’s strengths in automotive, aerospace, and other key emerging sectors.
In the third and next bulletin of this series, we will focus on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, otherwise known as the “ASEAN”, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
[1] A general security of information agreement is a legally binding instrument that supports defence procurement and defence operational requirements by setting out the mutual rights and obligations between two parties with respect to protecting classified information and assets when in foreign custody.
