Canada-Brazil relations
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Bilateral relations
Canada and Brazil’s bilateral relationship began in 1836, when Brazil appointed a vice-consul to the port of Halifax. Brazil opened its embassy in Ottawa in 1941, and Canada followed with an embassy in Rio de Janeiro in the same year. Both nations fought side by side in the Second World War during the Italian campaign. Today, Canada has an embassy in Brasilia and consulates general in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has an embassy in Ottawa and consulates general in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Canada and Brazil enjoy a growing strategic partnership advanced through bilateral mechanisms and anchored by a Foreign Minister-led Strategic Partnership Dialogue. The fourth edition of the Dialogue was held in 2023 in Brasilia, and focused on peace and security, protecting the environment, promoting democracy, safeguarding human rights and Indigenous rights, and strengthening and reforming the rules-based international order. The bilateral relationship is enhanced by parliamentary friendship groups in the Parliament of Canada and Brazil’s Congress.
Given Brazil’s importance as a regional power, and its commitment to international peace support operations, Brazil is a key partner for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. In February 2025, the Canada and Brazil Defence Cooperation Agreement entered into force. Canada and Brazil held Political-Military talks in May 2025.
Environmental protection and climate action
Canada and Brazil are committed to environmental sustainability and green growth. Both countries collaborate in multilateral forums, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Canada contributes to climate finance initiatives in Brazil through multilateral institutions, notably the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB).
Brazil is a member of the International Model Forest Network, developed by Canada in the 1990s and headquartered at Natural Resources Canada. The network aims to move away from valuing forests for timber alone, considering the social, environmental, economic, and cultural benefits. There are 60 model forests across 30 countries including 6 sites in Brazil, totaling over 12 million hectares of land. Canada has also contributed $17.3 million to the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund for the Sustainable Development of the Brazilian Legal Amazon. This contribution will help protect biodiversity and promote sustainable livelihoods in Brazil’s Amazonian states.
Canada and Brazil cooperate in methane mitigation, high-integrity carbon markets, nature conservation, and wildfire management.
In July 2023, Brazil sent 105 firefighters and supervisory personnel to support Canada in fighting wildfires in British Columbia. In 2025, on the margins of COP30 in Brazil, Canada and Brazil signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Assistance and Integrated Fire Management with the goal to strengthen institutional cooperation, enable exchanges of expertise, and advance training for firefighters. In response to extreme flooding in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in April-May 2024, Canada provided disaster relief and humanitarian assistance to support impacted communities.
Democracy and human rights
Canada and Brazil share a commitment to democracy and human rights, and Brazil is often a like-minded partner for Canada in multilateral forums, including the United Nations, G20, and Organization of American States.
In September 2023, in joining international efforts to combat disinformation, Brazil endorsed the Canada-led Global Declaration on Information Integrity. Most recently, Canada endorsed the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change at COP30 in November 2025.
In October 2023, Brazil joined the Equal Rights Coalition which seeks to advance 2SLGBTQI+ rights globally. Opportunities exist to advance collaboration on combatting racial discrimination and exploring ways to promote Indigenous rights and empowerment of women and girls. Brazil and Canada are both members of the UN Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations which seeks to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the multilateral system.
Mobility
Canada and Brazil have longstanding people-to-people ties. According to latest Census data, approximately 71,755 individuals in Canada reported having Brazilian origins and, in 2021, 48,455 immigrants in Canada were born in Brazil. Overall, the Brazilian community in Canada is estimated at approximately 143,500 people. Brazil is also Canada’s primary source of student enrollment from South America and Brazil is the largest beneficiary of Canada’s Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program in Latin America. As of December 31, 2025, there were 5,680 Brazilian students in Canada on a study permit of 6 months or more.
Trade relations
Canada’s trade and investment relationship with Brazil has seen steady growth in recent years. Major two-way foreign investment flows continue to expand, as does the bilateral trade of goods and services.
Brazil is the third-largest economy in the Americas (after the U.S. and Canada) and Canada's most important trading partner in South America. In 2025, bilateral merchandise trade totaled $14.7 billion, a 16% increase from the previous year. Canada’s exports to Brazil reached $3.1 billion, and imports from Brazil totaled $11.6 billion. Top Canadian merchandise exports to Brazil include fertilizers, turbojets and parts, medicines, helicopters, and plastics. Major imports from Brazil include gold, aluminum oxide, cane sugar, coffee, and airplanes.
Two-way trade in services in 2025 was over $2.4 billion, a 4% increase from the previous year, with services exports to Brazil valued at nearly $1.6 billion and imports of services valued at $839 million.
Canadian direct investment in Brazil reached $24.6 billion in 2025, a 25% increase from 2024. Brazil’s stock of foreign direct investment in Canada, by ultimate investor country, was $14.3 billion, a 20% increase from 2024.
The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service has identified significant commercial opportunities for Canadian companies in sectors that are well suited to Canadian capabilities and interests:
- Aerospace
- Agriculture
- Clean Technologies and Energy
- Defence and Security
- Education
- Information and Communications Technologies
- Life Sciences
- Mining
- Oil and Gas
Canada and Brazil’s trade relationship continues to grow through multilateral and bilateral initiatives. In 2018, Canada launched negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Mercosur trading bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Brazil is Mercosur’s permanent coordinator for negotiations with Canada. In 2025, Canada and Brazil renewed their commitment to reaching a Canada-Mercosur FTA.
In 2020, Brazil and Canada signed a Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Agreement. The agreement includes the establishment of a joint committee to promote bilateral science, technology, and innovation collaboration between Canadian and Brazilian partners from industry, academia, and government. Brazil and Canada also signed in July 2020 a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on agricultural research, which establishes a formal joint framework to underpin and enhance existing cooperation.
Related links
Partnerships and organizations
To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and Brazil work closely in multilateral forums, such as:
In the United Nations and the G20, Canada and Brazil collaborate on shared priorities, such as addressing climate change and promoting human rights.
Brazil also plays a key role in the Organization of American States security agenda, notably by leading the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security as well as the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. Brazil is a key security partner for Canada on combatting transnational organized crime, promoting violence prevention, and cooperation on technical capacity-building.
Canada and Brazil collaborate to address challenges to the multilateral trading system through engagement at the World Trade Organization and in other international forums.
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