Canada-Fiji relations
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Bilateral relations
The Republic of Fiji is a group of over 330 islands in the Pacific subregion of Melanesia. Fiji’s population of 929,529 is multicultural and multi-ethnic. Fiji's official languages are English, iTaukei, and Hindustani (also known as Fiji Hindi).
Canada and Fiji established diplomatic relations on October 10, 1970. Canada’s first resident diplomat arrived in Fiji in October 2022, followed by the Head of Cooperation in May 2024. Canada then appointed its first resident High Commissioner to Fiji in August 2025. Fiji is represented in Canada by its Ambassador to the United States, based in Washington D.C., who is also accredited as High Commissioner to Canada, and by an Honorary Consul in British Columbia. About 24,710 people living in Canada were born in Fiji according to the 2021 Canadian census.
Canada and Fiji enjoy warm and long-standing bilateral relations, including through the Commonwealth. They share interests in a range of issues such as climate action, ocean management, inclusive growth, gender equality, and security cooperation.
On October 14, 2023, the Fijian flag was hoisted on Parliament Hill to commemorate Fiji’s Independence Day. This was the first time in Fiji’s history that its flag was raised on another country’s Parliament building.
Trade relations
The Trade Commissioner Service (New Zealand) manages Canada's trade relations with Fiji. In 2024, two-way trade totalled $53 million, almost double the figure of 2023 ($27.6 million). Exports to Fiji amounted to $47.1 million in 2024 and were predominantly vehicles, aircraft, vessels and other transportation equipment, machinery parts, food products and coins (other than gold coins). Imports from Fiji totalled $5.9 million in 2024 and were primarily beverages, vegetables and wood products. Canada has had an Air Transport Agreement in force with Fiji since 1974. Since November 25, 2022, Fiji Airways has been operating non-stop flights year-round between Nadi and Vancouver, and since then, Fiji has seen Canadian tourist arrivals increase from 10,000 annually to 20,000. Tourism, sugar and fisheries are the primary economic activities in Fiji. Canada’s main foreign direct investment in Fiji is in the mining industry.
Related links
- Trade and Investment Agreements
- Import / Export Controls
- Doing business in Fiji (served by Auckland, New Zealand)
Development
Fiji has been a beneficiary of several Canadian development projects in the Pacific Islands region, including:
The Kiwa Initiative - Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation is a multi-donor, pan-Pacific, initiative funded by Australia, Canada, the European Union, France and New Zealand. Since 2020, Canada has contributed a total of $16 million to strengthen capacities of local and national governments and civil society organizations to design and implement nature-based solutions for biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation at local, national and regional levels through granting facilities.
The Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF) is implementing a $5.6 million Accountability for Inclusive Public Services project in Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Kiribati, in partnership with Global Affairs Canada. This project aims to enable the participating countries’ supreme audit institutions to conduct more effective performance audits that lead to government programs better responding to the needs of the most vulnerable, with a strong focus on gender equality, inclusion, environmental protection and risk mitigation, and human rights.
The Canadian Trade and Investment Facility for Development (CTIF) is a demand-driven, $11.6 million technical assistance facility designed to contribute to improving the policy and regulatory environment for trade and investment in ODA-eligible countries in the Indo-Pacific region in support of poverty reduction and women’s empowerment. Since 2018, CTIF has supported seven technical assistance projects in Pacific Island countries valued at approximately $1.1 million. Three of these projects were successfully completed in Fiji, valued at around $499,000.
The Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN) is a project implemented by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to which Global Affairs Canada contributed $9.5 million (2021 to 2024). Environment and Climate Change Canada is now supporting it with another $5 million. CFAN supported Pacific Island countries and others in securing and structuring finance for priority climate projects by cultivating a network of highly trained, embedded climate finance advisors.
Canada has provided $2 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization to support the Strengthening Small Scale Fisheries in the Pacific project to increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of fishermen and women in the climate-vulnerable coastal communities of Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.
Canada has helped reduce COVID‑19‑related food Insecurity in the Pacific Region by partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organization to enable the regional Pacific Food Security Cluster to strengthen regional and national capacities. Canada provided $3.65 million from 2021 to 2024 to this work, which is also supporting COVID‑19 impact assessments for gender-sensitive agriculture and food systems, and builds resilience in Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Palau and the Solomon Islands.
Canada contributed $17 million in 2022 to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) for Protected and Conserved Areas: Natural solutions to strengthening climate resilience and protecting biodiversity projects in Fiji and seven other countries. In April 2023, Canada announced an additional $3.5 million to help Fiji and Samoa reduce methane emissions and achieve their Paris Agreement targets.
In addition, Canada supports community-focused projects in Fiji through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). Since 2012, Canada has contributed over $2 million to the implementation of 49 CFLI projects in Fiji. In 2024-2025, Canada supported four CFLI projects covering LGBTQI+ groups’ health, coastal and marine ecosystems management, gender equality, and mobility at a total cost of $211,300.
Partnerships and organizations
To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and Fiji work closely in multilateral fora, such as:
- Commonwealth
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (The Ocean Panel)
- United Nations (UN)
- Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)
- World Trade Organization (WTO)
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Canada is also a Dialogue Partner of the Pacific Islands Forum to which Fiji belongs.
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