Canada established diplomatic relations with New Zealand in 1939. In 2009, Canada and New Zealand will celebrate the 70th anniversary of relations.
In New Zealand, Canada is represented by the Canadian High Commission in Wellington. Canada also has a consulate and trade office in Auckland.
New Zealand is represented in Canada by a High Commission in Ottawa. New Zealand also has consulates in Toronto and Vancouver.
The New Zealand Governor-General, His Excellency Anand Satyanand, made an official visit to Ottawa in May 2008, underscoring the strength of the relationship and the natural affinity between Canadians and New Zealanders.
New Zealand is a stable and economically sound democracy with solid and long-standing bilateral relations with Canada, including political, trade, defence, cultural, and person-to-person links to Canada. Canadians and New Zealanders share much in common and Canadian government officials, academics, indigenous peoples, business leaders, writers and performers enjoy a warm reception.
New Zealand is an important like-minded partner for Canada on a broad range of issues, including security and defence, multilateral trade negotiations, regional cooperation, counter-terrorism, landmines, environment, UN reform, peace support operations, human rights and humanitarian policy, indigenous issues, international fisheries and oceans governance, social development, education and culture. New Zealand has a strong commitment to multilateralism and human rights protections, and is one of the first countries to which Canada turns when seeking support for priorities in the UN, the Commonwealth, APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). These close links are further strengthened by Canada-Australia-New Zealand (CANZ) co-operation within the UN, including joint efforts to secure multilateral representation.
As a major player in the South Pacific, New Zealand assists Canada in understanding regional developments and providing practical support, as Canada does reciprocally in the Caribbean and Africa, where New Zealand has limited representation.
New Zealand’s indigenous Maori and Canada’s First Nations people share a special relationship and are actively engaged in arts, business and cultural exchanges. The Maori King, Tuheitia Paki, led a visit to British Columbia First Nations peoples in June 2007.
New Zealand is a reliable and complementary trade partner for Canada, and the two countries co-operate closely in multilateral trade negotiations and the Cairns group of agricultural exporters. In 2007, New Zealand imports from Canada amounted to $429 million, with machinery, fertilizers, electrical machinery, aircraft, meats, and wood products being Canada's top exports. Canada was New Zealand’s 16th largest source of imports. Canadian imports from New Zealand over the same period amounted to $510 million, with meat, dairy products and machinery as Canada's top imports. New Zealand was Canada’s 46th largest source of imports.
In November 2007, Air New Zealand commenced a direct, non-stop service between Auckland and Vancouver and, as part of the launch, New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff led a trade mission to British Columbia that targeted Canada-New Zealand commercial opportunities in advanced technology sectors (e.g. manufacturing, environmental technologies), thus further enhancing the bilateral relationship.
Canada is interested in New Zealand’s increasing engagement in the Asia-Pacific region; particularly as New Zealand became the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China, in April 2008. Additionally, New Zealand has a 25-year old trade deal with Australia called ‘Closer Economic Relations’ (CER) and other trade agreements with Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Chile.
October 2008