Australia-Canada: the alliance growing in importance

PHOTO: Adapted from Igor Kyryliuk & Tetiana Kravchenko and Marcus Reubenstein on Unsplash

At the start of 2025, the Liberal Party of Canada looked certain to lose the Canadian election and the Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre, was destined to form government.

Come April, not only did the Liberal Party, led by new leader Mark Carney, complete a stunning turnaround and win re-election, but Poilievre lost his seat in parliament.

A very similar story unfolded across the Pacific in Australia. Labor was behind in the polls until as recently as April and the experts only predicted a narrow Labor victory. However, the Albanese Labor government not only won re-election with over a 2% swing, but Liberal Party leader, Peter Dutton also lost his seat.

The uncanny similarities between the two elections are not a mere coincidence. They are reflective of the political convergence between Australia and Canada in a world that is becoming increasingly uncertain under the second Donald Trump presidency.

Indeed, the two countries share historical, political and cultural ties that date back to over a century ago. Both countries have fought wars together, are members of the British Commonwealth, have diverse multicultural populations and, at least until recently, been staunch allies of the United States.

So, what has changed now?

Both countries are experiencing an uncertain period in global politics following Trump’s ascension to the presidency in January.

The Canada-US relationship has been soured by Trump’s frequent calls to annex Canada as the 51st state and his tariffs. Given the volume of Canada-US trade, these tariffs will have a significant impact on key Canadian industries such as steel, oil and agriculture.

In Canberra, the Australian government appeared to have strengthened its partnership with the US over the last few years, driven by the AUKUS Security Pact, signed in 2021. However, while Australia’s trade relationship has not suffered as badly as Canada’s, they will still be significantly affected by Trump’s tariffs.

It was largely these tariffs, as well as other controversial Trump policies that helped dictate the result of both the Australian and Canadian elections. Both Poilievre and Dutton were seen as too alike to the polarising US leader, leading voters to roundly reject both them and their parties.

With both democracies dismissing Trump-style populism in their countries and instead favouring the ‘safer’ centre-left candidates, it begs the question as to how Canberra and Ottawa manage a rapidly shifting world order where their global interests are rapidly diverging from Washington’s.

Donald Trump has prompted a significant realignment in the politics of both Ottawa and Canberra. PHOTO: Ali Shaker on Wikimedia Commons

What is the current state of the Australia-Canada relationship?

Both Canada and Australia’s government emphasise that their relationship is significant and deep. The Canadian government highlights that they share common interests with Australia regarding defence, migration and social issues.

Ottawa also stresses that Canada’s defence relationship with Australia is the largest in the Indo-Pacific region. This was reflected earlier this year when Australia’s leading radar technology, the Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar (JORN), was purchased by Canada for $6.5 billion, the largest defence export in Australian history. Australia was initially predicted to sell this technology to the US but instead, it went to Washington’s northerly neighbours, underlining the deepening ties between the two countries in the defence sector.

The convergence of defence interests also shows the growing relationship between Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Mark Carney. The two leaders met ahead of the 2025 G7 summit, where Carney reiterated the need to deepen the bilateral relationship with Australia at a time of increasing global uncertainty.

This can be interpreted as a veiled collective balancing against the coercion of the US and Trump. Both leaders have frequently sought to maintain their country’s sovereignty and not be controlled by great powers. Upon winning re-election, Albanese reaffirmed that his government would govern the ‘Australian way’ and not have policy dictated by international forces, an indirect show of strength against the US. Carney was more open in his stand against Trump, denouncing the ‘American betrayal’ and promising to be defiant against Washington’s power. 

The affirmation of national sovereignty from both leaders signifies a change in both countries’ foreign policy. While both nations were heavily aligned with US foreign policy, it seems that both countries have articulated their own independent path for themselves as they face an uncertain world. Further cooperation, therefore, may well assist both countries in reinforcing their newfound international autonomy.

Where are the divergences?

However, while the two countries seem to be getting ever closer, there are some differences that Ottawa and Canberra must address if they are to truly solidify a united alliance.

These differences mainly arise from the most obvious distinction between the two countries: their distance. With Australia being central to the Indo-Pacific region, Canberra’s utmost priority is strengthening relationships with the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia, all in a veiled attempt to counterbalance China’s increasing power.

By contrast, Ottawa is significantly focused on currently amending the strained relationship with their American neighbours as well as enhancing ties with its European allies through NATO. Therefore, their engagement with the Indo-Pacific is not as robust, explaining why they did not join Australia in the AUKUS relationship with Britain and the US, and why Canada is much more circumspect in their interactions with Beijing.

Much like how Australia has a leading role in managing regional affairs in the Pacific, Canada’s foreign policy is significantly focused on managing the Arctic and enhancing cooperations with the Arctic’s Indigenous people.

Australia’s most immediate foreign policy priority is focusing on the Indo-Pacific. PHOTO: Sigmund on Unsplash.

This leads to another divergence to how the countries tackle an issue that is common to both countries: their Indigenous people. The Canadian government has taken on a more active role in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples through a special Truth and Reconciliation Commission and have expressed an explicit desire to best implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. By contrast, Australia is still yet to sign a national formal treaty with its Indigenous people and the failure of the Voice referendum suggests that they still have work to do in reconciliation. While this is ostensibly a domestic issue, the difference between the country’s Indigenous policies limits their cooperation in meaningfully confronting their shared colonial past together.

How might the two countries further enhance their cooperation?

Nonetheless, both countries are closing the distance that the Pacific wedges between them, taking united stances on some very key recent issues. Most notably, both countries have formally recognised the state of Palestine as part of a more active push to end hostilities in Gaza. This is a significant foreign policy milestone for both countries given how both Australia and Canada have historically exercised close ties with Israel. It also signifies the greater autonomy that both countries are exercising in that they are no longer simply following the US’ lead in global politics and are instead focused on affirming key principles of the liberal order such as the respect for self-determination and the protection of human rights.

Furthermore, although Canada has been less active in the Indo-Pacific, they have recently increased their involvement in the region, in conjunction with Australia. The two countries have recently partnered with the Philippines in conducting joint naval exercises in the South China Sea, underlining how Ottawa is increasing their activity in the region where the balance of power is increasingly shifting towards Beijing. The Australia-Canada military partnership is particularly interesting given they are now going to play a more central role in the maintaining of a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific, with Trump playing an active role in undermining liberal institutions and partnerships.

In all, while the Pacific may divide Australia and Canada, they are now experiencing increased unity in international outlook. With both countries rejecting Trump-style populism in their recent elections, the two countries have domestically pledged to pursue a future where they will stabilise and strengthen liberal institutions. In a world which is increasingly uncertain, Ottawa and Canberra are reorienting themselves away from American subordination and towards exercising greater foreign policy autonomy. It will therefore be fascinating to see how the two countries continue to cooperate in the coming years now that they both are playing a much more seminal role in shaping the international order.