Canada’s intention to recalibrate its relationship with China was formally set in motion following Prime Minister Carney’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in late 2025 and his subsequent visit to Beijing in January 2026. This resumption of dialogue, marked by a new strategic partnership emphasizing trade and investment, signals a decisive shift toward what many are calling “values-based realism”.
Beyond suggesting that canola and electric vehicles have replaced ping-pong diplomacy, Mr. Carney’s visit to China reinvigorated a suite of dormant consultation mechanisms. These serve as practical building blocks for engagement. They help provide predictability, manage risk, and allow sensitive issues to be addressed behind closed doors. Most importantly, this recalibration recognizes a fundamental reality: Canada cannot afford to view China solely through a security lens. To fully realize the promise of re-engagement, Canadians must develop a clearer understanding of China’s role in the global economy and in the international research ecosystem, including its impact on private sector partnerships, universities, research institutions, innovation, and Canadian public opinion.
As Canada moves forward, the “appetite” for re-engagement among Canadians is palpable — a sentiment reflected in the 2025-2026 Canada-China Business Council (CCBC) Business Survey — but it has changed in character. It no longer resembles an all-you-can-eat banquet of unfettered cooperation. Instead, it should resemble dim sum, or a series of selective, intentionally curated, and high-quality engagements that serve specific national interests.
Chinese and Canadian officials have publicly welcomed this bilateral recalibration. This was reflected for example at a discussion on Reimagining Engagement with China, hosted by York University’s Asian Business and Management Program on 12 Feb 2026. Chinese Consul General in Toronto Luo Weidong highlighted the pragmatic tone set during the January 2026 meeting and called for stronger coordination under the Canada–China Economic and Trade Cooperation Roadmap. Similarly, Shamali Gupta, Director of the Greater China Division at Global Affairs Canada, emphasized China’s importance to trade diversification while highlighting the need for narrow security guardrails focused on sensitive areas such as AI, quantum computing, and defence. These guardrails are intended to facilitate research while protecting national interests.
The desire for renewed engagement has been building for some time, but practical concerns remain. Canadian universities, healthcare centers, and research institutions recognize that collaboration with China strengthens education, medical knowledge transfer, and research innovation, especially in areas where China leads globally, such as green energy and advanced clinical training technologies. Student and teacher exchanges are key mechanisms for sustaining these partnerships and fostering people-to-people connections.
From the business perspective, structured engagement with China has long been overdue. Bijan Ahmadi, Executive Director of CCBC argues that Canada is finally moving toward a “pragmatic, well-structured approach” that balances opportunity with risk. Nearly half of growth opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region are in China, making structured engagement critical for Canada’s economic diversification. Momentum is growing in key sectors including electric vehicles, agrifood, energy, and finance. The scale of future deals will depend on effective implementation and Canada’s openness to investment, as well as global economic conditions.
Across public, private, and non-profit sectors, Canadians pursuing opportunities with China must navigate national security frameworks, but these should not become all-encompassing barriers. Security guidelines should act as guardrails, enabling collaboration while protecting sensitive areas. At the same time, Canada must define its own interests rather than defaulting to U.S. policy positions. Frontier sciences, including AI and biotechnology, should not be treated as exclusively American domains. Large-scale collaborations are essential for addressing global challenges such as climate change and pandemic preparedness.
The costs of a near-decade-long downturn in Canada–China relations are visible. Research by York University professor Qiang Zha shows a significant decline in Canada–China research co-publications in fields such as engineering and computer science. While protecting sensitive research is necessary, excessive caution risks slowing scientific progress and weakening Canada’s innovation capacity.
Looking ahead, Canada’s success will depend in part on rebuilding a new generation of “China-savvy” citizens. Strengthening cross-cultural understanding and geopolitical literacy is essential to ensuring that public discourse about China is informed rather than reactive. Rebuilding trust at the sub-national level will also be critical, including collaboration between government and higher education institutions.
Earlier programs such as the Ontario–Jiangsu Education Exchange demonstrated how provincial partnerships can foster people-to-people connections long after exchanges have concluded, even during periods of political tension. For example, several Canadians who studied in Jiangsu under this program thirty years ago later became industry leaders and civil servants whose careers were built on China competencies, including in Fortune 500 companies and in the foreign service. According to participants at the event on Reimagining Engagement with China, partners in Jiangsu have reached out to revive interest in Ontario in exchanges of students, teachers and researchers.
Ultimately, political signalling alone will not sustain Canada’s re-engagement with China. For engagement to be durable, it must extend beyond government rhetoric to engage businesses, universities, community organizations and Canadians at large in a broader public conversation about Canada’s long-term interests. Canadians will benefit from a nuanced understanding of why China matters to Canada’s national interests related to trade, investment, technology, innovation, security, climate change, public health and more.
If Canada’s reawakened appetite for engaging with China truly resembles dim sum — selective and intentional — practical initiatives such as education exchanges and research collaboration will be crucial in cultivating the knowledge and dialogue needed to reinvigorate and sustain constructive relations with China in the years ahead.
The Western powers have failed to effectively manage the increasing threat of proliferation in the Middle East. While the international community is concerned with Iran’s nuclear program, Saudi Arabia has moved forward with developing its own nuclear program, and independent studies show that Israel has longed possessed dozens of nuclear warheads. The former is a member of the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), while the latter has refused to sign the international agreement.
On Middle East policy, the Biden campaign had staunchly criticized the Trump administration’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal and it has begun re-engaging Iran on the nuclear dossier since assuming office in January 2021. However, serious obstacles remain for responsible actors in expanding non-proliferation efforts toward a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
This panel will discuss how Western powers and multilateral institutions, such as the IAEA, can play a more effective role in managing non-proliferation efforts in the Middle East.
Panelists:
– Peggy Mason: Canada’s former Ambassador to the UN for Disarmament
– Mark Fitzpatrick: Associate Fellow & Former Executive Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
– Ali Vaez: Iran Project Director, International Crisis Group
– Negar Mortazavi: Journalist and Political Analyst, Host of Iran Podcast
– David Albright: Founder and President of the Institute for Science and International Security
Closing (5:45 PM – 6:00 PM ET)
What is the current economic landscape in the Middle East? While global foreign direct investment is expected to fall drastically in the post-COVID era, the World Bank reported a 5% contraction in the economic output of the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries in 2020 due to the pandemic. While oil prices are expected to rebound with normalization in demand, political instability, regional and geopolitical tensions, domestic corruption, and a volatile regulatory and legal environment all threaten economic recovery in the Middle East. What is the prospect for economic growth and development in the region post-pandemic, and how could MENA nations promote sustainable growth and regional trade moving forward?
At the same time, Middle Eastern diaspora communities have become financially successful and can help promote trade between North America and the region. In this respect, the diaspora can become vital intermediaries for advancing U.S. and Canada’s business interests abroad. Promoting business diplomacy can both benefit the MENA region and be an effective and positive way to advance engagement and achieve foreign policy goals of the North Atlantic.
This panel will investigate the trade and investment opportunities in the Middle East, discuss how facilitating economic engagement with the region can benefit Canadian and American national interests, and explore relevant policy prescriptions.
Panelists:
– Hon. Sergio Marchi: Canada’s Former Minister of International Trade
– Scott Jolliffe: Chairperson, Canada Arab Business Council
– Esfandyar Batmanghelidj: Founder and Publisher of Bourse & Bazaar
– Nizar Ghanem: Director of Research and Co-founder at Triangle
– Nicki Siamaki: Researcher at Control Risks
The Middle East continues to grapple with violence and instability, particularly in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Fueled by government incompetence and foreign interventions, terrorist insurgencies have imposed severe humanitarian and economic costs on the region. Meanwhile, regional actors have engaged in an unprecedented pursuit of arms accumulation. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have imported billions of both Western and Russian-made weapons and funded militant groups across the region, intending to contain their regional adversaries, particularly Iran. Tehran has also provided sophisticated weaponry to various militia groups across the region to strengthen its geopolitical position against Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel.
On the other hand, with international terrorist networks and intense regional rivalry in the Middle East, it is impractical to discuss peace and security without addressing terrorism and the arms race in the region. This panel will primarily discuss the implications of the ongoing arms race in the region and the role of Western powers and multilateral organizations in facilitating trust-building security arrangements among regional stakeholders to limit the proliferation of arms across the Middle East.
Panelists:
Luciano Zaccara: Assistant Professor, Qatar University
Dania Thafer: Executive Director, Gulf International Forum
Kayhan Barzegar: Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Science and Research Branch of Azad University
Barbara Slavin: Director of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council
Sanam Shantyaei: Senior Journalist at France24 & host of Middle East Matters
The emerging regional order in West Asia will have wide-ranging implications for global security. The Biden administration has begun re-engaging Iran on the nuclear dossier, an initiative staunchly opposed by Israel, while also taking a harder line on Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen. Meanwhile, key regional actors, including Qatar, Iraq, and Oman, have engaged in backchannel efforts to bring Iran and Saudi Arabia to the negotiating table. From a broader geopolitical perspective, with the need to secure its energy imports, China is also expected to increase its footprint in the region and influence the mentioned challenges.
In this evolving landscape, Western powers will be compelled to redefine their strategic priorities and adjust their policies with the new realities in the region. In this panel, we will discuss how the West, including the United States and its allies, can utilize multilateral diplomacy with its adversaries to prevent military escalation in the region. Most importantly, the panel will discuss if a multilateral security dialogue in the Persian Gulf region, proposed by some regional actors, can help reduce tensions among regional foes and produce sustainable peace and development for the region.
Panelists:
– Abdullah Baabood: Academic Researcher and Former Director of the Centre for Gulf Studies, Qatar University
– Trita Parsi: Executive Vice-President, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
– Ebtesam Al-Ketbi: President, Emirates Policy Centre
– Jon Allen: Canada’s Former Ambassador to Israel
– Elizabeth Hagedorn: Washington correspondent for Al-Monitor
Military interventions, political and economic instabilities, and civil unrest in the Middle East have led to a global refugee crisis with an increasing wave of refugees and asylum seekers to Europe and Canada. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has, in myriad ways, exacerbated and contributed to the ongoing security threats and destabilization of the region.
While these challenges pose serious risks to Canadian security, Ottawa will also have the opportunity to limit such risks and prevent a spillover effect vis-à-vis effective humanitarian initiatives in the region. In this panel, we will primarily investigate Canada’s Middle East Strategy’s degree of success in providing humanitarian aid to the region. Secondly, the panel will discuss what programs and initiatives Canada can introduce to further build on the renewed strategy. and more specifically, how Canada can utilize its policy instruments to more effectively deal with the increasing influx of refugees from the Middle East.
Panelists:
Erica Di Ruggiero: Director of Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto
Reyhana Patel: Head of Communications & Government Relations, Islamic Relief Canada
Amir Barmaki: Former Head of UN OCHA in Iran
Catherine Gribbin: Senior Legal Advisor for International and Humanitarian Law, Canadian Red Cross
In 2016, Canada launched an ambitious five-year “Middle East Engagement Strategy” (2016-2021), committing to investing CA$3.5 billion over five years to help establish the necessary conditions for security and stability, alleviate human suffering and enable stabilization programs in the region. In the latest development, during the meeting of the Global Coalition against ISIS, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau announced more than $43.6 million in Peace and Stabilization Operations Program funding for 11 projects in Syria and Iraq.
With Canada’s Middle East Engagement Strategy expiring this year, it is time to examine and evaluate this massive investment in the Middle East region in the past five years. More importantly, the panel will discuss a principled and strategic roadmap for the future of Canada’s short-term and long-term engagement in the Middle East.
Panelists:
– Ferry de Kerckhove: Canada’s Former Ambassador to Egypt
– Dennis Horak: Canada’s Former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
– Chris Kilford: Former Canadian Defence Attaché in Turkey, member of the national board of the Canadian International Council (CIC)
– David Dewitt: University Professor Emeritus, York University
While the United States continues to pull back from certain regional conflicts, reflected by the Biden administration’s decision to halt American backing for Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen and the expected withdrawal from Afghanistan, US troops continue to be stationed across the region. Meanwhile, Russia and China have significantly maintained and even expanded their regional activities. On one hand, the Kremlin has maintained its military presence in Syria, and on the other hand, China has signed an unprecedented 25-year strategic agreement with Iran.
As the global power structure continues to shift, it is essential to analyze the future of the US regional presence under the Biden administration, explore the emerging global rivalry with Russia and China, and at last, investigate the implications of such competition for peace and security in the Middle East.
Panelists:
– Dmitri Trenin: Director of Carnegie Moscow Center
– Joost R. Hiltermann: Director of MENA Programme, International Crisis Group
– Roxane Farmanfarmaian: Affiliated Lecturer in International Relations of the Middle East and North Africa, University of Cambridge
– Andrew A. Michta: Dean of the College of International and Security Studies at Marshall Center
– Kelley Vlahos: Senior Advisor, Quincy Institute
The security architecture of the Middle East has undergone rapid transformations in an exceptionally short period. Notable developments include the United States gradual withdrawal from the region, rapprochement between Israel and some GCC states through the Abraham Accords and the rise of Chinese and Russian regional engagement.
With these new trends in the Middle East, it is timely to investigate the security implications of the Biden administration’s Middle East policy. In this respect, we will discuss the Biden team’s new approach vis-à-vis Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. The panel will also discuss the role of other major powers, including China and Russia in shaping this new security environment in the region, and how the Biden administration will respond to these powers’ increasing regional presence.
Panelists:
– Sanam Vakil: Deputy Director of MENA Programme at Chatham House
– Denise Natali: Acting Director, Institute for National Strategic Studies & Director of the Center for Strategic Research, National Defense University
– Hassan Ahmadian: Professor of the Middle East and North Africa Studies, University of Tehran
– Abdulaziz Sagar: Chairman, Gulf Research Center
– Andrew Parasiliti: President, Al-Monitor
