The Pacific Alliance is a regional initiative created in 2011 by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The alliance’s goals are to promote the free movement of goods, services, capital and people and to promote greater competitiveness and economic growth in member countries.
The Pacific Alliance is not only a platform of commercial integration: it also develops common objectives and shares best practices in a number of areas, such as tourism, intellectual property, regulatory frameworks, gender, innovation, mining and climate change.
The Joint Declaration on a Partnership Between Canada and the Members of the Pacific Alliance, signed in June 2016, identifies six areas for increased cooperation.
Since 2016, Canada has invested in four cooperation projects with the Pacific Alliance, which support the joint declaration.
The Pacific Alliance is not only a platform of commercial integration: it also develops common objectives and shares best practices in a number of areas, such as tourism, intellectual property, regulatory frameworks, gender, innovation, mining and climate change. With a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion and 230 million inhabitants, the alliance constitutes an important market for Canada. Of the 61 observers of the Pacific Alliance, Canada is considered one of the most active in developing dynamic and productive ties with the alliance. Canada has deepened its engagement with the alliance since becoming the first non-Latin American observer, in 2012, and the first observer to sign a joint declaration on a partnership with the alliance, in 2016. In June 2017, the Pacific Alliance invited Canada to become an Associated State, along with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, which requires each country to negotiate a comprehensive free trade agreement with the Pacific Alliance.
Since 2016, Canada has invested in four cooperation projects with the Pacific Alliance, which support the joint declaration:
Canada has comprehensive and ambitious bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with all four Pacific Alliance members. In October 2017, Canada launched FTA negotiations with the Pacific Alliance, with a view to becoming an Associated State. Canada’s total merchandise trade with Pacific Alliance countries totalled a value of $52.1 billion in 2021—77% of Canada’s two-way trade with Latin America (excluding the Caribbean). Canada also has major investments in the four countries, with $65 billion of Canadian direct investment in 2021—73% of Canada’s total investment in Latin America (excluding the Caribbean).
