鈥楾he visit is the message.鈥� Canada-Mexico summit sets stage for diplomatic reset.
| Mexico City and Toronto
The relationship between Mexico and Canada in 2024 could be described in a word: 鈥渢errible,鈥� says Graeme C. Clark, Canada鈥檚 then-ambassador to Mexico.
The year started with Ottawa, under pressure to reduce record-high Mexican asylum claims, reimposing visa restrictions on Mexican visitors. By year鈥檚 end, with U.S President-elect Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs, some Canadian politicians called publicly for a U.S.-Canada bilateral trade deal 鈥� cutting Mexico out.
Both Canada and Mexico recognize that their strained relationship needs a reset. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney鈥檚 trip to Mexico to meet President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo on Thursday in a rare bilateral state visit provides such an opportunity. But it鈥檚 about more than overcoming a year of diplomatic difficulties.
Why We Wrote This
Canada and Mexico left their relationship untended for decades in favor of ties with the United States. But as the Trump administration throws diplomatic elbows, America鈥檚 two neighbors see a chance to renew connections with each other.
The reflex among Canadians and Mexicans, when talking about North America, is to automatically think of the United States first, dismissing the farther neighbor as a distant afterthought. But with the U.S. now testing the bonds and boundaries with its immediate neighbors, Canada and Mexico see an opportunity to consider the other not as a second-rate partner but as an economic and cultural complement to each other.
No one expects major bilateral deals. Canada and Mexico remain far more integrated with 鈥� and dependent on 鈥� the U.S. than on each other. But 鈥渢he mere fact of the visit taking place is in itself significant,鈥� says Mr. Clark. 鈥淭he visit is the message.鈥�
A functional but not close relationship
While the U.S. and Mexico established diplomatic relations in 1822, Canada and Mexico did not do so until 1944 (though Canada did not have diplomatic relations independent of the British Empire before 1926). And it wasn鈥檛 until 50 years later, when the first North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994, that the relationship could be described as anything more than mutual indifference.
Even since then, it鈥檚 primarily been built around trade, says Alejandro Diaz Bautista, a professor of economic studies at the College of the Northern Border in Tijuana, Mexico. Today, Mexico is Canada鈥檚 third-largest trading partner for merchandise, after China and the U.S. It was only a minor partner prior to NAFTA.
鈥淭he lack of deep historical ties, linguistic and geographical differences,鈥� Dr. Bautista says, 鈥渉ave contributed to a functional but not necessarily close relationship鈥� in the past.
The relationship has been tested in times of strain, such as after 9/11. Late last year, when Mr. Trump threatened tariffs because of the migrants and drugs that cross into the U.S. from both borders, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada鈥檚 most populous province, called comparing Canada to Mexico 鈥渢he most insulting thing I鈥檝e ever heard.鈥� He loudly pushed for a bilateral deal with the U.S. to stave off the threat of tariffs.
That came as no surprise to Laura Macdonald, who specializes in Latin American and North American politics at Carleton University in Ottawa. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a long-standing tradition in Canada of not understanding Mexico and of viewing Mexico as a threat to our friendly relationship with the United States and favoring bilateral action,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of an instinct on the part of many Canadian elites that they don鈥檛 understand Mexico. ... And they just don鈥檛 want to have to deal with Mexico鈥檚 issues.鈥�
Ms. Sheinbaum shot back with her own dig at Canada, though, saying Canada 鈥渃ould only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has.鈥�
Mr. Carney had already put a reset into motion, inviting Ms. Sheinbaum to the Group of Seven industrialized nations summit that he hosted in Alberta in June. It鈥檚 perhaps telling that her main incentive in accepting the invitation was to meet with Mr. Trump. That meeting never happened, though, because the U.S. president left the G7 early.
Many observers see potential in the relationship between Mr. Carney and Ms. Sheinbaum. As a former central banker and a scientist, respectively, both are far more technocratic than their predecessors.
Growing cultural ties
Perhaps more important are the bonds being formed on the ground.
The number of Mexicans traveling abroad for English-language training grew by 35% between 2016 and 2020, , a market research firm focused on international student recruitment. Per , by the end of 2024, nearly 15,000 Mexicans held study permits for Canada, representing 70% growth over five years.
When Romina Zamorano Reyes, a high schooler in the southern Mexican state of Veracruz, traveled to Canada last summer to study English, she was in many ways following family tradition. Her mother and cousin studied in the same program in Toronto when they were students.
But Canada had an added pull this summer. 鈥淲e all agreed the U.S. was less attractive,鈥� given the treatment of foreigners under the Trump administration, she says of her classmates at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto.
During her summer abroad, she was surprised by some of the cultural commonalities shared by Mexicans and Canadians. 鈥淧eople in Canada are really friendly, really polite,鈥� in contrast to her experience when she visited the U.S., she says. 鈥淭hey open doors for you, say 鈥楾hank you鈥� and 鈥榊ou鈥檙e welcome.鈥� In Mexico, we focus on manners a lot, too. You always say, 鈥�Gracias, 辫别谤诲贸苍, buenos d铆as.鈥欌赌�
Such cultural ties help change perceptions, some of which are stuck in the past, says Mr. Clark. 鈥淐anadians think of Mexico as a beach destination, as a source of gangs and bad actors. And they don鈥檛 realize that this is a sophisticated and important commercial partner for us, and potentially a strategic partner for us to deal with a difficult interlocutor in Washington. And the same way, Mexicans don鈥檛 really have a good grasp of what Canada represents.鈥�
Cultural ties between Canada and Mexico are deepening 鈥� and have the potential to grow 鈥� in no small part due to the nature of their economies and environments, says Shauna Hemingway, special adviser for the Business Council of Canada in Mexico, and a former Canadian diplomat.
鈥淚ntegration is very strong with the United States, but [Mexico and Canada] are complementary,鈥� she says, pointing to strong agrifood industries that are producing products at different times of year; weather patterns that bring wildfires to Mexico and Canada in different seasons, allowing their firefighters to assist with each other鈥檚 emergencies; and a supply-demand matchup in the natural gas sector.
鈥淥ur countries have come to resemble each other in ways we didn鈥檛 years ago,鈥� says Ms. Hemingway, pointing to migration as an example. Both Mexico and Canada are now destination countries, not just used for transit to the U.S. 鈥淲e have a lot more to talk about in terms of our similarities.鈥�
