Canada-Israel Relations
Israel and Canada have long stood side-by-side as partners on the world stage. Economic, cultural, political, and security ties reflect our mutual interests in peace and prosperity, and are represented in a multitude of bilateral agreements signed by both countries through 75 years of bilateral relations.
Israel and Canada’s friendship is rooted in the shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. As our bilateral relations continue to develop in areas such as science and innovation, the close people-to-people ties that exist on all levels and in all sectors remain constant.
In 2023, trade between Canada and Israel was valued at 1.8 billion USD. The Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA), in force since January 1997, has undergone several updates since that time. The modernized CIFTA will help to further ensure that the benefits and opportunities arising from trade and investment are widely shared.
Canada is also the home to a vast Jewish community of some 350,000 people, maintaining a warm and constant connection with the State of Israel.
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Canada is represented in Israel by the Embassy of Canada in Tel Aviv. The State of Israel is represented in Canada by its Embassy in Ottawa and Consulates in Toronto and Montreal.
Some Highlights:
| May 11, 1949 | Canada grants full recognition to the State of Israel. A week later, Israel’s first Consul General to Canada, Avraham Harman, is appointed. He served in Montreal. |
| September 1953 | Canada opens its Embassy in Tel Aviv, and Michael Comay becomes Israeli Ambassador to Canada. |
| May 1961 | Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion is the first Israeli Prime Minister to make an official visit to Canada. Since that time, many high-level officials from both countries have visited. |
| 1967 | President Zalman Shazar makes the first visit to Canada by an Israeli president during Canada’s centennial at the World Expo in Montreal |
| 1978 | Prime Minister Menachem Begin visits Canada |
| 1989 | President Chaim Herzog visits Canada and addresses the Canadian Parliament |
| 1993, 1994 | Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin makes official visits to Canada |
| 1997 | Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) comes into effect. |
| 2000 | Prime Minister Jean Chétien visits Israel |
| 2001 | Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley visits Israel |
| 2002 | President Moshe Katzav visits Canada Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham visits Israel |
| 2005 | Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew visits Israel |
| 2007 | Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay visits Israel Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livini visits Canada |
| 2008 | Foreign Affairs Minister Maxim Bernier visits Israel |
| 2009 | Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon visits Israel |
| 2011 | Minister of Defence Peter MacKay visits Israel, signs MOU on Defence Relations with Minister of Defence Ehud Barak |
| 2012 | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Canada President Shimon Peres visits Canada |
| 2019 | President Reuven Rivlin visits Canada Modernized CIFTA takes effect |
| 2021 | Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau visits Israel |
| 2023, 2024 | Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly visits Israel during the Swords of Iron war |