Language selection

Government of Canada Government of Canada

Search

Canada-Papua New Guinea relations

On this page

Bilateral relations

Diplomatic relations were established in 1975. Bilateral relations between Canada and Papua New Guinea are cordial.

Throughout their fifty-year relationship, Canada and Papua New Guinea have fostered their people-to-people ties through numerous modest yet meaningful initiatives. One such initiative was the establishment of the first physiotherapy clinic in Madang province in 1986, initiated by a Canadian volunteer physiotherapist and Papua New Guinean hospital staff, with funding from Canada, Madang provincial government and other partners. Canadians and Papua New Guineans continue to engage in meaningful ways to this day. In March 2025, staff from Canada’s consular service provided “Consular 101” training to over 30 Papua New Guinean civil servants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies.

In Papua New Guinea, Canada is represented by the High Commission of Canada to Australia, in Canberra. Papua New Guinea is officially represented in Canada by an Embassy in Washington, D.C., and by an Honorary Consul in Calgary. About 330 people who live in Canada were born in Papua New Guinea according to the 2021 Canadian census. Citizens of Papua New Guinea do not need a visa to visit Canada.

Trade relations

Canada's trade relations with Papua New Guinea are managed by the Trade Commissioner Service at the High Commission of Canada in Australia. In 2024, total bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and Papua New Guinea was $35.8 million, up 8.1 million from 2023. Canadian merchandise exports amounted to $20.1 million, comprising mainly aircraft and machinery parts. This included Air Niugini’s purchase of 11 Airbus A220 aircraft, manufactured in Mirabel QC, the first of which arrived in Papua New Guinea on the eve of PNG’s 50th anniversary of independence in September 2025.  Imports amounted to $15.6 million, more than triple the level of the previous year, and were primarily food, beverage, and tobacco products. In 2022, Canadian direct investment in Papua New Guinea reached $92 million, an increase from $57 million in 2021. Canada’s main foreign direct investment in Papua New Guinea is in the mining industry, particularly through Barrick Gold’s Porgera mine in Enga province and K92 Mining’s Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands. 

Related links

Development

Canada supports small and community-focused projects in Papua New Guinea through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). In the past 5 years, the Canada Fund has supported 25 local projects in Papua New Guinea with over $1.2 million in funding. In 2025, Canada is supporting 4 projects focused on health and education in rural and remote areas.

Papua New Guinea has also been a beneficiary of several ongoing or recent Canadian development projects in the Pacific Islands region, including:

The Kiwa Initiative – Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilience is a multi-donor, pan-Pacific, initiative funded by Canada, France, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand. Since 2020, Canada has been contributing 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 Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) is a project implemented by the World Bank, to which Canada has contributed $1.5 million. The PCRAFI provides the Pacific Island countries with disaster risk assessment and financing tools, including sovereign insurance, for enhanced disaster risk management and climate change adaptation.

Between 2015 and 2025, Canada contributes $20 million to the Asia Pacific Project Preparation Facility (AP3F) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). AP3F is a multi-donor trust fund that provides additional financial resources and technical support for the preparation of infrastructure projects in developing member countries in order to increase infrastructure development and enhance the quality of infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific. AP3F has so far approved 13 technical assistance projects that have benefited Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Cook Islands, Palau, Fiji, and the Federated States of Micronesia, amounting approximately $15.4 million in total.

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 provided seven technical projects in the Pacific Island countries valued at approximately $1.1 million. Two of these projects have benefited Papua New Guinea so far: the Comprehensive Assessment of the Implications of Implementing the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement on Six Pacific Island Countries WTO Members Phase I (2023-2024, $67,000) and Phase II (2025-2026, $240,000); and the Institutional Strengthening of the Ginigoada Foundation (2020-2021, $111,000).

The Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN) is a project implemented by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and 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. The CFAN benefited Pacific Small Island Developing States and others in securing and structuring finance for priority climate projects by cultivating a network of highly trained, embedded climate finance advisors.

Partnerships and organizations

To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and Papua New Guinea work closely in multilateral fora, such as:

Date modified: