Canada’s progress on Summit for Democracy commitments
Respecting human rights and freedoms, holding free, fair and inclusive elections, and adhering to the rule of law are essential for our democracies to thrive. By protecting and promoting democracy globally, Canada will create a more secure, stable, and prosperous world for future generations.
In December 2021, Canada announced 35 commitments in alignment with the 3 key themes of the Summit for Democracy.
- Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism
- Addressing and Fighting Corruption
- Advancing Respect for Human Rights
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Theme | Geographic scope | Status | Commitments |
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | Domestic / International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will continue to implement and to refine the plan to protect Canada's democracy, which is based on 4 pillars: Enhancing Citizen Preparedness; Improving Organizational Readiness; Combatting Foreign Interference; and Building a Healthy Information Ecosystem. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic and international Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | In progress | Canada will establish a new centre to expand the availability of Canadian expertise and assistance to those seeking to build peace; advance justice; promote human rights, inclusion and democracy; and deliver good governance. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: In progress Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | In progress | Canada will expand fast and flexible support for fragile and emerging democracies with a view to extending the reach of our assistance and the impact of our diplomatic efforts; improving the timeliness of Canada’s response to sudden-onset democracy and human rights crises; and increasing Canada’s capacity for flexible and innovative responses to emerging challenges. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: In progress Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | Domestic | Completed / ongoing | Canada will continue to ensure young people across the country have a voice in decisions that affect them by supporting organizations, such as the Prime Minister’s Youth Council (PMYC), that play a role in helping to influence government policy, increase youth knowledge and understanding of democratic processes and institutions in Canada, and increase their awareness of the importance of being active and engaged citizens. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will enhance like-minded collaboration to identify and respond to foreign threats to our democratic values, processes and institutions in the context of our leadership of the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (G7 RRM). Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will further its global leadership to address arbitrary detention for diplomatic leverage, including by securing additional endorsements of the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations and working collaboratively with partners on the implementation of its associated Partnership Action Plan. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will chair the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in 2022, and by doing so will support the organization’s work on the advancement of democracy worldwide. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will advance digital inclusion to foster meaningful participation in society online and offline, at home and abroad, through continued implementation of our Digital Charter and international partnerships, including chairing the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) in 2022, with a focus on shaping global norms, empowering multi-stakeholder engagement and boosting communication and outreach. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will strengthen its role in advancing free, fair and inclusive elections, and provide increased support for election observation missions. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will promote the implementation of the framework for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace and continue to publicly call out and respond to malicious cyber activity carried out by authoritarian actors, including actions that undermine democracy or interfere in democratic processes. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will take further steps to address the gender dimensions of cyber security, notably by advocating that gender considerations be mainstreamed at ongoing and upcoming UN cyber processes. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will take additional steps to enable and protect civil society and continue our partnership with Canadian civil society interlocutors. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | Domestic and international | Completed / ongoing | Canada will sustain its support for women’s leadership and political participation domestically and internationally through historic government funding to women’s organizations and equality-seeking groups, with a focus on women in vulnerable situations, and provide a new contribution to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), with a focus on the ASEAN region. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic and international Progress/achievements:
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Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | Domestic and international | Completed / ongoing | Canada will advance the recognition, protection and fulfillment of the human rights of Indigenous peoples through implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic and international Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will exercise leadership to promote open government nationally and internationally, including as a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee until 2023 and through our continued support of the OGP Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will develop an initiative to underscore the importance of the Inter-American Democratic Charter 2 decades after it was adopted, to identify challenges and opportunities for the promotion of democracy in the hemisphere, and to build consensus in advance of the Summit of the Americas in 2022. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism | International | In progress | Canada will launch a call for proposals under the Office of Human Rights Freedoms and Inclusion to support innovative approaches aimed at ensuring that technology supports democracy and open societies. Theme: Advancing Democracy and Defending Against Authoritarianism Status: In progress Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Addressing and Fighting Corruption | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will continue to support collective efforts to tackle corruption internationally by supporting capacity-building initiatives enhancing the ability of foreign states to prevent and respond to this phenomenon and other security threats such as money laundering. Theme: Addressing and Fighting Corruption Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Addressing and Fighting Corruption | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will convene a national high-level, multi-sectoral roundtable to explore options to strengthen the international legal framework and architecture to combat corruption globally. Theme: Addressing and Fighting Corruption Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Addressing and Fighting Corruption | Domestic | Completed / ongoing | Canada will support the implementation of a publicly accessible corporate beneficial ownership registry by 2023 with a view to providing safeguards against money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and tax avoidance, while ensuring it remains easy to do business in Canada. Theme: Addressing and Fighting Corruption Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Addressing and Fighting Corruption | Domestic | Completed / ongoing | Canada will strengthen federal procurement and contracting policies by placing human rights, environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles and climate change at the heart of our procurement processes. Theme: Addressing and Fighting Corruption Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Addressing and Fighting Corruption | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will support open and transparent governments and natural resources governance in developing countries. Theme: Addressing and Fighting Corruption Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Addressing and Fighting Corruption | Domestic | Status: Completed / ongoing | Canada will increase the information that government entities proactively publish on contracts to the public so that Canadians are better able to hold their government to account. Theme: Addressing and Fighting Corruption Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | Domestic and international | Completed / ongoing | Canada will support a people-centred approach to justice to advance equality, legal empowerment, and a better understanding of the legal needs of all the people of Canada, including Indigenous peoples, racialized communities and other traditionally underserved populations. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic and international Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | Domestic | Completed / ongoing | Canada will take additional steps to combat racism, racial discrimination and all other forms of social injustice in Canada, including through a National Action Plan on Combatting Hate. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | Domestic | Completed / ongoing | Canada will take further action to combat and eradicate systemic racism against Indigenous peoples, especially in the health-care system, through the co-development of distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation and a mental health and wellness strategy. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will provide $5 million in additional funding to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2021. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | Domestic | Completed / ongoing | Canada will take steps to develop its first-ever federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan with a view to advance the health, social and economic outcomes of 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada and the human rights of 2SLGBTQI+ individuals internationally. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: Domestic Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will increase support for the right to freedom of expression, public interest media, and the safety of journalists, building on its role as co-chair of the Media Freedom Coalition, a partnership of 50 countries focused on enhancing diplomatic coordination to defend media freedom. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will increase support for emergency assistance programs focused on protecting 2SLGBTQI+ persons, religious minorities, and civil society organizations through contributions to the Global Equality Fund, the International Religious Freedom Fund and the Lifeline Embattled CSO Fund. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will continue to implement and expand a new refugee stream for human rights defenders at risk, including people at heightened risk, such as women, journalists and 2SLGBTQI+ human rights defenders. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will advance responsible business conduct (RBC) for Canadian companies operating abroad through a renewed 5-year Responsible Business Conduct Abroad Strategy. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will continue to be a global leader in providing safe haven to the world’s most vulnerable by resettling 36,000 refugees in 2022 and 2023 through our resettlement programs, and an additional commitment to offer protection to 40,000 vulnerable Afghan nationals over the next several years. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Canada will continue to be a leader in refugee solutions by taking steps to increase the number of resettlement spaces and complementary pathways globally, by playing a leadership role on the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (GRSI), and the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility (GTF). Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements:
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Advancing Respect for Human Rights | International | Completed / ongoing | Building on Canada’s implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty human rights commitments, Canada will work with the United States and other like-minded countries to launch an initiative to prevent the misuse of certain dual-use technologies that can facilitate serious human rights violations. Theme: Advancing Respect for Human Rights Status: Completed / ongoing Geographic scope: International Progress/achievements: On December 10, 2021, the White House announced the launch of an export controls and human rights initiative. Canada has since worked with the United States and other like-minded countries to finalize the text of a non-legally-binding “Code of Conduct for Enhancing Export Controls of Goods and Technology That Could Be Misused and Lead to Serious Violations or Abuses of Human Rights.” This Code of Conduct was released at the Second Summit for Democracy. |
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