Canada-Japan Relations: A Historic Turning Point

The Canada-Japan relationship stands at a pivotal moment. Canada recently announced its much-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy, which promises a “generational Canadian response” to the rising influence of the region. For its part, Japan has emerged as a key defender of the rules-based order, and the Kishida government is overseeing a transformational shift of the country’s national security strategy. Both countries face major challenges in retooling their domestic and foreign policies to align with 21st century challenges such as economic and technological disruptions, the rise of China, climate change, and global democratic backsliding. How should we understand recent policy transformations in each country? How can the two countries cooperate to address regional and global concerns? This event assembled a panel of leading experts to address these questions on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan at the University of Toronto.