Why is APEC important to Canada?
The APEC region encompasses countries critical to Canada’s future economic prosperity and security interests. It remains the only trans-Pacific regional organization that hosts a leaders-level meeting at which Canada is present. APEC brings together leaders, ministers, senior officials and business representatives, who meet regularly to drive the APEC agenda forward and implement policies and projects across a wide range of issues, from trade and investment facilitation to economic cooperation to counter-terrorism. The breadth of APEC’s agenda allows for a cross-disciplinary approach to issues, for example, “secure trade” (the economic impact of disruptions in the movement of people and goods). APEC allows Canada to further engage in bilateral and multilateral discussions and negotiations in one of the world’s largest economic zones, where many of our key trade partners are also members. Trade in goods and services between APEC economies have more than tripled, in dollar terms, since t
