Canada-United Arab Emirates relations

On this page

• Bilateral relations
• Trade relations
• Operations
• Partnerships and organizations

Bilateral relations

Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have a broad and deep relationship focused principally on building prosperity for both our societies, strengthening regional and global security, contributing to economic and social development in third countries, including empowering women and girls and deepening people to people ties. Canada is represented in the UAE at our Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate General in Dubai. The UAE is represented by its embassy in Ottawa.

Trade relations

The UAE was Canada’s second most important merchandise trade partner in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in 2021, following Saudi Arabia. In 2021, bilateral trade in goods between Canada and the UAE was $2.5 billion, an increase of 24.6% over 2020. Canadian merchandise exports to the UAE in 2021 were nearly $2 billion in 2021, an increase of 11% from 2020. Canada’s imports from the UAE in 2021 were valued at $549.9 million, an increase of 120.3% from 2020. The UAE’s foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Canada was valued at $1.3 billion in 2021 by Ultimate Investing Country (UIC), according to Statistics Canada.

Canadian companies are supported by:

• The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service
• Export Development Canada
• The Canadian Commercial Corporation

Related links

• Trade and investment agreements
• Import / Export controls
• Doing business in the United Arab Emirates

Operations

A number of Canadian government departments and institutions collaborate with their Emirati counterparts to advanced joint interests, including through a Defence Cooperation Arrangement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the RCMP and the Abu Dhabi Police, and an MOU between the Canadian Space Agency and the UAE Space Agency. Cooperation continues between Public Safety and the UAE Ministry of Interior to strengthen cooperation on police, corrections, border issues and training opportunities. A Joint Consular Cooperation Committee, established in June 2018, meets regularly to enhance cooperation on consular affairs and discuss consular matters. A MOU establishing a Joint Committee for Cooperation was signed in July 2022 to strengthen bilateral relations and enhance cooperation going forward.

Partnerships and organizations

To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and the United Arab Emirates work closely in multilateral fora, such as:

• La Francophonie
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• Pacific Alliance
• United Nations (UN)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)