International Engagement

The Minister of Public Safety works bilaterally with key partners to advance Canada’s security interests, including those tied to key mandate commitments. The Minister also represents Canada at multilateral fora including annual meetings of the G7 and Five Eyes (FVEY) security partnership. Key counterparts will include the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (UK), along with Australia and New Zealand, followed by security ministers of the other G7 countries (France, Germany, Italy and Japan), the European Union (EU), Mexico and Israel.

Public Safety (PS) and the Portfolio support Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) by implementing initiatives related to enhancing Canada’s cyber, intelligence and security capabilities in the region. The IPS is a high government priority entailing 24 new funded initiatives across 17 departments and agencies, totalling almost $2.3 billion.

Canada’s international police peacekeeping program, which PS manages along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) works to deploy police to response to international crisis. Recent high profile deployments include the crises in Ukraine and Haiti.

PS is also responsible for advancing Canadian multilateral commitments on issues relevant to the Department’s mandate through various United Nations bodies – including the General Assembly, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs – as well as (occasionally) the G20 and the Organization of American States. Public Safety’s portfolio agencies each have a broad array of international engagements and partnerships based on their enabling legislation and functions.

Relevant Mandate Letter Commitments

Further Information

United States

As Canada’s closest ally, establishing a strong rapport with the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas is imperative. The key issues of relevance with the U.S. largely involve commitments made under the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership, the horizontal bilateral cooperation framework launched by leaders in February 2021 and reaffirmed in subsequent years, including during President Biden's March 2023 visit to Canada. PS along with portfolio agencies will lead on the following items under the Roadmap’s security and defence pillar:

North American Leaders’ Summit

To advance Canada’s security interests more broadly in the region, PS supports trilateral efforts with the U.S. and Mexico through the North American Leaders’ Summit (NALS), an annual leader-level forum. This year, Prime Minister Trudeau will host President Biden and President López Obrador in fall 2023 (TBC), where a slate of new trilateral NALS commitments will be announced.

Commitments made in recent years at NALS include addressing illicit drugs and human trafficking, combatting online child sexual exploitation, cybersecurity cooperation, and emergency management training. For the upcoming NALS (“NALS XI”), the Department with the portfolio agencies are developing new or updated trilateral security proposals for consideration by U.S. and Mexican officials, and we likewise expect to receive additional proposals from our U.S. and Mexican colleagues later this summer.

United Kingdom

[REDACTED] The Minister of Public Safety will engage regularly with the UK to advance Canada’s security interests both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, such as the G7 and FVEY partnerships. Core, ongoing shared issues of concern include countering foreign interference, online harms such as ideologically motivated violent extremism, child sexual exploitation and abuse, and serious and organized crime.   

The upcoming G7 Interior and Security Ministers’ Meeting will provide a concrete opportunity to meet key interlocutors and discuss ongoing issues.

The Department will work with British officials, principally through the Deputy-level Public Safety-Home Office Strategic Dialogue on National Security, and supporting the Prime Minister’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor in parallel discussions with her British counterpart. The first annual meeting of the Strategic Dialogue  took place in London in April 2023 where Deputy Ministers discussed tech engagement and policy related to national security; state threats/foreign interference; and international criminality.

Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand are essential members of the FVEY security alliance and are important to advance Canada’s security interests in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Both Canada and Australia face similar challenges and implement similar solutions to tackle challenges such as foreign interference and cyber security. Public Safety supports the advancement of engagement with Australia through coordination of quarterly calls between Deputy Tupper and his Home Affairs counterpart.

In New Zealand, the Christchurch Call to Action is an initiative that encourages leaders from government and industry to adopt a series of voluntary commitments to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. Prime Minister Trudeau has been invited to the annual Christchurch Call Summit in September 2023.  Of note, New Zealand will hold a national election in October 2023.

Five Eyes

The Five Country Ministerial (FCM) is the principal mechanism that allows the FVEY security and immigration ministers of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.S. and UK to cooperate on broad security issues of common interest. The Department works closely with IRCC to coordinate Canada’s engagement and messaging.  

Canada chaired the 2023 FCM which took place on June 27-28 in Wellington, New Zealand. The meeting produced a series of actionable outcomes related to research security, democratic resilience, cybersecurity and ideologically motivated violent extremism. Information sharing and enhanced collaboration among partners across thematic areas are key deliverables, and the department will continue through a number of Five Country working groups to advance these priorities. The next FCM will be held in Australia (dates TBC).

Group of Seven

The annual Group of Seven (G7) Interior and Security Ministers Meeting (IMM) in Mito City, Japan, (which holds the 2023 G7 Presidency) will take place December 8-10, 2023. The G7 IMM is the cornerstone of international engagement on security issues and will provide an opportunity to develop concerted responses and public positions with many of Canada’s most important like-minded partners on shared security concerns. Presently, the 2023 IMM is expected to cover:  

In 2024, the G7 will be chaired by Italy and by Canada in 2025.

International Police Deployments

Along with the RCMP and GAC, PS co-manages the Canadian Police Arrangement (CPA), which deploys Canadian police and civilian experts to peace operations around the world, including UN missions in Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Institute for Training and Research, and Kosovo. Canadian police and civilian experts are also deployed to non-UN missions including in the West Bank and the International Criminal Court. The Program receives $46.9 million per annum in ongoing funding, disbursed by the RCMP and GAC. As of July 2023: 51 officers were deployed in total; roughly half are women; and 55% come from partner police agencies across Canada, with the other 45% from the RCMP. The Minister of Public Safety is one of the three CPA Ministers who approve major CPA missions, along with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Other Key Multilateral Organizations and Initiatives

Public Safety and the portfolio work to support the  advancement of Canada’s responses to international crises such as those affecting Ukraine and Haiti. On Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, this includes efforts to hold Russia accountable, enforcing sanctions (RCMP/CBSA) and providing actionable intelligence and material support. The Government of Canada’s response may increase should the conflict move beyond combat operations to reconstruction. This could result in the full re-establishment of a CPA mission in Ukraine (which had been suspended following Russia’s invasion).

Regarding Haiti, PS has supported the GAC-led Interdepartmental Task Force on Haiti; the creation of the Integrated Intelligence Cell, which is hosted at the RCMP; and the deployment, through the CPA, of police officers to the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). Currently,  there are two personnel at the UN Integrated Office; and six temporary liaison officers in countries surrounding Haiti. More CPA deployments are being planned for the future, including:

Memoranda will be sent shortly to the CPA Ministers to seek approval for these deployments. Some of these deployments will take time before they are actioned given the complexity of the security situation and necessary agreements with host countries.

The Indo-Pacific Strategy

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) aims to give stability in this region, which directly impacts the safety, prosperity and security of Canadians. As a region, the Indo-Pacific comprises 40 countries and economies, including Australia, the two Koreas, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Pacific Island Countries (14), Pakistan, People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Philippines, amongst many others. Under the IPS, PS has received $2 million in funding for a cyber diplomacy and security initiative. Led by GAC, this whole-of-government effort will expand cyber engagement with priority countries and enhance domestic cyber resilience and response capacity. Other funding received will support augmented intelligence capacity for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and partners, and support the CBSA and RCMP’s capacity building efforts. This initiative aims to enhance law enforcement in the region and mitigate threats (i.e. irregular migration, forced labour, migrant smuggling) from the region.

Potential travel to the region and engagement with many of the above-mentioned security partners (including Australia, New Zealand and Japan) will support this engagement.

Women, Peace and Security

Public Safety is an implementing partner to Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, which is led by GAC. Department officials are currently developing input to a new 6-year Action Plan expected to be launched in fall/winter 2023 (TBC).

Past public safety-related efforts under the previous Action Plan, which included combatting human trafficking, preventing and countering radicalization to violence, and supporting women in correctional settings, are expected to continue, along with possible new initiatives.

Date modified: