At the invitation of the Governor General of Canada, Louise Arbour, To Lam—General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam—is paying a state visit to Canada, accompanied by a high-level Vietnamese delegation.

This is the first visit to Canada by General Secretary and President To Lam following Viet Nam’s successful hosting of the 14th National Party Congress and the elections for the 16th National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels for the 2026–2031 term. The visit has generated strong political momentum, propelling Viet Nam-Canada relations toward more substantive, balanced, and effective development that aligns with the potential, strengths, and needs of both nations.

The visit marks a historic milestone, representing the first official visit to Canada by the head of the Communist Party of Viet Nam since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1973. The event takes place at a time when Viet Nam-Canada relations are converging on favorable conditions to enter a phase of deeper and more substantive cooperation.

NURTURING FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY

Viet Nam and Canada established a Comprehensive Partnership in November 2017, setting out fundamental principles to guide their bilateral relations. This partnership has focused on seven areas of cooperation: politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, development cooperation, defence-security, culture-education, science-technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

After more than half a century of diplomatic relations and nearly a decade of implementing the Comprehensive Partnership framework, the two nations have built an increasingly solid foundation for their relationship. Political trust has been strengthened; economic, trade, and investment cooperation is developing dynamically; and collaboration in education and training, science and technology, defence and security, and people-to-people exchanges has become increasingly substantive. Notably, both sides are striving to make sectors such as science and technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, clean energy, and human resource development new driving forces for the bilateral relationship.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders from both sides maintained contact through various means, including the exchange of letters, telephone calls, and virtual meetings. Immediately after the pandemic was brought under control, in-person delegation exchanges and contacts on the sidelines of multilateral forums resumed and have since been maintained regularly. Both sides have promoted high-level visits while intensifying discussions on further deepening the Comprehensive Partnership.

Regarding economics, trade, and investment, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which entered into force in January 2019, marked a new phase in the economic, trade, and investment relationship between the two nations, with two-way trade growing by 170%. Viet Nam-Canada trade relations have become a highlight of bilateral trade cooperation among CPTPP members. Viet Nam is currently Canada’s leading trade partner in ASEAN and its sixth-largest trade partner among the 40 Indo-Pacific nations. Canada is Viet Nam’s third-largest export partner in the Americas and its seventh-largest export market overall.

Economic cooperation activities between the two countries have increased significantly in recent times; businesses from both sides have stepped up exchange visits and organized numerous events and connection activities—including government-led business delegations—involving ministries, sectors, localities, and enterprises to explore cooperation opportunities.

For Canada, Viet Nam is not only a long-standing friend but also a key partner. Since the two countries established their Comprehensive Partnership framework in 2017, we have witnessed remarkable progress across all areas, from diplomacy and trade to security and defence. We therefore see this visit as an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral ties, reflecting the substantive nature and enormous potential of relations between the two countries. We are confident that the high-level engagements during this visit will lay a solid foundation for closer coordination on regional and global issues.

In terms of investment, Canada currently ranks 14th among countries and territories with foreign-invested projects in Viet Nam, with 294 valid projects and total registered FDI capital of more than 4.9 billion USD. In 2025, 21 new projects were registered, with a total investment value of 34 million USD.

Security and defence cooperation continues to be a bright spot in bilateral relations. Bilateral cooperation in security, intelligence and law enforcement has deepened and achieved positive results.

The number of Vietnamese students in Canada has risen from 14,000 in 2017 to more than 20,000 today, representing the highest increase among ASEAN countries. The two sides maintain cooperation through the Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) programme; a tuition waiver programme for Vietnamese students; and State-funded scholarships under Project 911 and Project 599. The two countries have signed memoranda of understanding on promoting educational cooperation and bilateral exchanges between the Ministry of Education and Training and the governments of British Columbia (November 2021) and Quebec (May 2024).

Canada continues to maintain official development assistance (ODA) projects in Viet Nam. The total value of Canadian ODA provided to Viet Nam since 1990 has reached nearly 2 billion USD, focusing mainly on poverty reduction, protecting the rights of women and girls, agricultural development, capacity building, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and food safety. In the legal and judicial sector, Canada is one of Viet Nam's traditional partners, with a long-standing cooperation relationship with the Ministry of Justice. Since the early 2000s, Canada has been among the first partners to support Viet Nam in efforts to improve its legal system and strengthen law enforcement capacity. Canada has implemented numerous projects supporting Vietnamese agencies in the legal and judicial fields. During the visit to Viet Nam by Canadian Minister of International Development Randeep Sarai in January 2026, Canada pledged more than 58.6 million USD for projects in Viet Nam in the coming period, focusing on climate change, agriculture, justice and support for women.

There are currently around 300,000 people of Vietnamese origin living in Canada, making it the fifth-largest non-European-origin community. They are concentrated in four provinces, namely Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. The Vietnamese community's standing in Canadian society is growing, with successful and prominent scientists, professors, PhD holders and politicians among its members. Vietnamese people in Canada maintain strong national ties and a connection with their homeland, and many hope to have opportunities to return to Viet Nam to invest, do business and contribute to national development.

In terms of people-to-people exchanges and local cooperation, the two sides are promoting cooperation and connections between localities with similar profiles in the two countries, such as Ha Tinh and Langley in British Columbia, Ho Chi Minh City and Toronto in Ontario, and Da Nang and Vancouver. The mechanism for Vietnamese local leaders to promote trade and investment in Canada is also being maintained. Canada has implemented numerous development assistance projects in localities including Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Thai Nguyen, Hau Giang, Vinh Long, Lao Cai and Yen Bai.

The two countries have strengthened close coordination at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, APEC, the Francophonie, and ASEAN, supported each other’s candidacies for membership of the United Nations Security Council, and coordinated in various areas, including disarmament, regional security, international trade, gender equality, and climate change response.

PROSPECTS FOR EXPANDED COOPERATION

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Vinh Quang, given the room for cooperation between Viet Nam and Canada, it is clear that the opportunities for development between the two countries are enormous. The State visit by General Secretary and President To Lam has decisive significance, helping turn opportunities and potential accumulated over the years into specific and substantive orientations and action programmes, bringing bilateral relations into a new era of development.

Sharing his views on the priority areas for breakthrough cooperation that Canada and Viet Nam will focus on promoting in the near future, Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam James Nickel said that Canada sees opportunities for breakthroughs across many strategic pillars. In trade and investment, Viet Nam is currently Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Bilateral trade has increased strongly and continuously over the past five years. Canada is very interested in the international financial centres in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, while encouraging Viet Nam to invest in Canada's energy sector to ensure sustainable energy security.

Regarding energy and net-zero emissions, both countries are committed to achieving net-zero emissions. Canada is currently a clean-energy power, with 82% of its electricity generated from green energy sources, and is ready to share its experience and technologies in power grids, renewable energy, and, particularly, nuclear technology to support Viet Nam in successfully carrying out its energy transition.

In science, technology, and aerospace, Canada has strengths in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductors, which are among Viet Nam's priority areas. In addition, amid the rapid development of Viet Nam's aviation industry, Canadian aerospace and satellite manufacturing companies are seeking opportunities for deeper cooperation.

In human resource training, from 2018 to 2025, Canada awarded 233 scholarships to Vietnamese students under the Canada–ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) programme. According to Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam James Nickel, Canada will continue to provide more scholarships for PhD students and promote cooperation between research institutes and universities of the two countries to train a high-quality workforce ready for the digital economy.

Viet Nam and Canada share many common views on international law, free trade, and the maintenance of peace and stability in the region. The two countries have many complementary strengths. Viet Nam is entering a new era of development, identifying science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and deeper international integration as important drivers for achieving the two 100-year goals by 2030 and 2045. Canada is stepping up market diversification and strengthening its engagement with the Indo-Pacific region.

The state visit by General Secretary and President To Lam contributes to concretising the foreign policy set out at the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, bringing cooperation with important partners into greater depth, substance, effectiveness, and sustainability, including elevating Viet Nam–Canada relations to a new level of development, meeting the long-term interests of the peoples of the two countries, and making positive contributions to peace and stability in the region and the world.