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Sam Beltran

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s trip to Canada highlights deepening ties at a time when Ottawa is seeking to court middle powers and establish its presence in the Indo-Pacific.
Marcos is in the Canadian capital for a four-day visit that started on Wednesday, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in an effort to strengthen cooperation on trade, labour, energy and tourism, and enhance defence and maritime ties.
He is also slated to meet Canadian business leaders and investors to explore opportunities in sectors such as mining, information technology, business process management, telecommunications, nuclear energy and financial services.
Marcos also plans to meet the overseas Filipino community in Vancouver, home to one of the largest concentrations of the diaspora in the country.
The visit comes as Ottawa looks to deepen ties with Asia’s middle powers – Japan’s Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are both set to meet Carney in Canada later this year.

“The Philippines is an important place to begin because it is where Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy has arguably had its greatest impact,” Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president for research and strategy of the Asia Pacific Foundation Canada, wrote in an article posted on the foundation’s website on Monday.
“Since the strategy was launched in 2022, a relationship once anchored primarily in deep people-to-people connections has broadened into a more consequential partnership spanning trade, investment, energy, maritime security, cybersecurity and defence.”
Last November, the countries signed a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement allowing joint drills and troop deployments on each other’s soil. Cooperation between them “has expanded both in breadth and depth across all areas of defence”, according to the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs.
This follows Canada’s decision in 2023 to grant the Philippines access to its dark-vessel detection system, allowing Philippine authorities to identify vessels engaged in illegal or unreported activity at sea.
Canada has also confirmed it will join the Luzon Economic Corridor, a project backed by the United States and Japan, with Ottawa expected to invest C$2 million (US$1.4 million), including potential investments in data centres, logistics and energy.
“The Visiting Forces Agreement points to closer cooperation between the two countries and indicates seriousness that Canada would like to play a much larger role in defence issues in Southeast Asia,” said Julio Amador, a distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House think tank.

Marcos’ visit reflected Manila’s intention “to deepen cooperation in defence, trade, investment, clean energy, critical minerals and people-to-people ties”, said Gary Ador Dionisio, dean of the De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde’s School of Diplomacy and Governance.
“It also underscores Canada’s growing importance as a trusted Indo-Pacific partner that can contribute to the Philippines’ long-term economic growth and regional security objectives.”
Tapping the diaspora
Analysts expect the large overseas Filipino community in Canada to help with bilateral relations.
“Nearly 1 million Canadians of Filipino descent continue to form the backbone of the relationship, while expanding economic and defence partnerships are giving it greater strategic weight,” Nadjibulla wrote.
Rachael Gurney, a senior project specialist in international trade and investment at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said the Filipino diaspora’s “deep integration” gave any foreign policy goals between Canada and the Philippines “a strong foundation to build on”.
“President Marcos is visiting Vancouver, which has the third largest Filipino community in Canada,” she said. “Filipinos are the third largest immigrant group in the Metro Vancouver area, making his visit very significant for promoting Canada-Philippines ties.”

Trade between the two nations grew to US$3.4 billion in 2025, a 7.4 per cent rise from US$3.2 billion in 2024, according to government data.
Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy “aims to explicitly leverage its diaspora from the Asia-Pacific region to build lasting diplomatic and economic ties,” Gurney said, adding that “the Philippines represents the largest diaspora where this is most advantageous and likely to be most successful”.
She added that Canada “should leverage domestic cultural ties and understanding to build resilient, stable foreign policy with a like-minded middle-power partner such as the Philippines”.
Marcos’ visit also reflects the wider middle-power diplomacy at play. During a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Carney called on middle powers to work together and counter the rise of hard power.
“The partnership is rooted in a shared desire for greater agency and choice in an increasingly dangerous world. Although the Philippines remains a US treaty ally, it is seeking a wider range of economic, defence and security partners,” Nadjibulla wrote.


Dionisio said that the warming bilateral ties “reflect the growing role of middle-power diplomacy in today’s international system”.
“While both the Philippines and Canada maintain strong alliances with the United States, they also recognise the importance of expanding partnerships with like-minded countries,” he said.
“Strengthening bilateral relations enhances their strategic autonomy, promotes a rules-based international order, and creates more opportunities for economic cooperation without relying excessively on any single major power.”
Carney’s speech “electrified a lot of people, because it seems to be an effective counter to what many see as unacceptable US behaviour”, Amador said.
Still, “Manila does not have the same economic heft as Canada, so the way it chooses its partners will also be limited”, he said.
Manila had to be “very careful” about ensuring that closer ties with Canada “should support Philippine priorities and not only advance what Canadians want”, Amador added.
“The dark vessel detection system … is actually an example of where Canadian investments in technology can really help the Philippines. Aside from that, we are also looking at critical minerals, energy, including nuclear energy, and submarine cables as priority areas.”


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What Philippine president’s visit reveals about Canada’s Indo-Pacific ambitions

Canadian Minister of National Defence David McGuinty (left) and Philippine Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro take part in a signing ceremony in Ottawa on June 11. Photo: AP

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr salutes military honour guards at a ceremony marking the 79th founding anniversary of the Philippine Air Force at Villamor Air Base on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Philippine navy personnel watch Canadian vessel HMCS Montreal during the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity in the West Philippine Sea on August 7, 2024. Photo: Public Affairs Office Armed Forces of the Philippines/AP

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20. Photo: AFP

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The West Cebu Industrial Park in Balamban town, Cebu, the Philippines. Photo: Handout

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shake hands before a summit meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on May 28. Photo: EPA

West Cebu Industrial Park is one of the Philippines’ key shipbuilding and heavy-industry hubs. Photo: Handout

A truck arrives at a container terminal in Navotas, Metro Manila. Shoring up the shipbuilding industry could also help strengthen the Philippines’ self-reliant defence posture, analysts say. Photo: Reuters

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Members of religious group  Iglesia ni Cristo stage a protest at the People’s Monument in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

Philippine Senators Rodante Marcoleta (left) and Alan Peter Cayetano (right) attend a hearing related to anomalous flood control projects at the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, Metro Manila, on June 4. Photo: EPA

Members of the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo protest in Quezon City, Metro Manila on Tuesday in support of a senator and church member who is facing looming arrest. Photo: AFP

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Filipino domestic workers collect their bags from a baggage carousel at Manila’s airport in 2006 after taking an emergency flight home to avoid war in Lebanon. Photo: AFP

Overseas Filipino workers relax at the Philippine Consulate’s newly opened OFW Centre at United Centre in Hong Kong on May 27. Photo: Dickson Lee

A “balikbayan” (back home) box shipper picks up boxes from a home in Carson, California, to send to the Philippines. Photo: TNS

An volunteer distributes food aid to people in need in the Philippines. Photo: International Care Ministries

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Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Alderguer-Roque speaks at SCMP’s GBA-Asean Summit 2026 on Tuesday. Photo: Handout

Tugboats assist a container ship as it prepares to dock in the Philippine capital last year. Photo: AP

Delegates at the South China Morning Post’s GBA-Asean Summit 2026 on Tuesday. Photo: Handout

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr will head to Kazan from June 17 to 18 for the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit. Photo: Pool via Reuters

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (centre) arrives for the 19th East Asia Summit as part of the Asean summit in Vientiane, Laos, in 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

An attendant at a petrol station in Quezon City on May 5. The Philippines is exploring ways to diversify fuel supplies and reduce its exposure to global price shocks. Photo: EPA

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While the Philippines and Canada are US allies, both are looking to expand partnerships with other middle-power countries, analysts say


While the Philippines and Canada are US allies, both are looking to expand partnerships with other middle-power countries, analysts say.


What Philippine president’s visit reveals about Canada’s Indo-Pacific ambitions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While the Philippines and Canada are US allies, both are looking to expand partnerships with other middle-power countries, analysts say

While the Philippines and Canada are US allies, both are looking to expand partnerships with other middle-power countries, analysts say