Strengthening Canada’s trade ties with the Philippines

by Kevin Lamoureux, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North

Prime Minister Carney is serious about Canada expanding our trade options outside of the USA. Canada is a trading nation. We grow and process far more food than we can eat and we are blessed to have the natural resources that many other nations need. Trade provides all of us a standard of living that people around the world envy and it is what enables us to develop as a nation in many ways. Having said that, over the years we have relied heavily on the USA on the trade file, and because of President Trump, we have left ourselves somewhat vulnerable. This is motivating the current government to be more aggressive on the trade file as a whole.

Canada’s Minister of Agriculture is Heath MacDonald. His decision to have the Philippines be a part of his first international trip pleased me, and I was grateful that he allowed me to join him in Manila earlier this month.

Trade is more than just Canada selling things to other countries. The Philippines is an excellent example of how two countries can develop a closer relationship based on trade and, I would suggest, immigration too in this particular example.

In all three trade missions to the Philippines that I have participated in, I consistently made two fundamental points. First, Canada has over one million people of Filipino heritage and many others who have a desire to see both Canada and the Philippines prosper more by working closer together.

Second, by expanding trade opportunities between our two nations both countries will benefit in many ways.

Minister MacDonald highlighted how we can advance trade opportunities in the areas of agriculture and agri-food. Examples of that include things like Canada expanding exports in pork, cattle, blueberries and pulse crops. On the other hand, Canada does not have warm weather year-round and that requires many commodities that we consume.

Canada’s argi-food and seafood exports to the Philippines were 345.2 million dollars in 2020. Last year it jumped to 591.7 million. In 2024 the Philippines exported 61.2 million dollars’ worth of coconut oil to Canada. The potential growth in agri-food is incredible but we can go beyond that.

There are many industries that have the potential to expand from tourism to widgets of all kinds. Both governments can work on sharing and promoting growth in areas like nuclear power, local infrastructure, military procurement along with training opportunities and, of course, promoting and supporting more trade in general.

Canada has a very special relationship with the Philippines and with the prime minister’s desire to explore more trade opportunities in Asia, I am more convinced than ever that we are moving in the right direction. Now we are exploring the possibility of a trade agreement between Canada and the Philippines. A possible trade deal is very important to me, and I will continue to advocate for that here in Canada and in the Philippines. Our prime minister and ministers like the Honourable Heath MacDonald make our chances a real possibility. I believe it is just a question of time.

I always enjoy visiting the Philippines whether it is walking in a market, riding in a jeepney, talking to and being with people from Winnipeg, dealing with entrepreneurs and politicians, or just being in the Philippines. Being a parliamentarian for several years now, I have grown very fond of the Philippines, I know our efforts now will build a stronger bond between two great nations.