Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

enjoyed friendly relations and coordination on the international field, long before Qatar's Embassy opened in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

in 2011, including their joint military collaboration during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and in the international intervention in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. Diplomatic relations between the two nations were established in 1974.

Diplomatic visits

The Governor General of Canada, David Johnston and his wife visited

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

in 2011, and a parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of the Senate,

Noël Kinsella Noël Augustus Kinsella, (born November 28, 1939) is a Canadian politician and was Speaker of the Senate of Canada from 2006 to 2014. Education Kinsella was born in Saint John, New Brunswick. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Univ ...

visited Qatar in the same year. In 2012, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird opened Canada's Embassy in Doha and conducted another official visit in 2013.

Diplomatic relations

Canada and Qatar were involved in a dispute over Qatar's bid to relocate the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...

from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 2013. In May of that year, Qatar withdrew its bid, stating that it did so to "preserve the close and historic friendship" between the two countries. In August 2018, Canada was embroiled in a spat with Saudi Arabia over a tweet by Canadian Foreign Minister

Chrystia Freeland Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician serving as the tenth and current deputy prime minister of Canada since 2019 and the Minister of Finance (Canada), minister of finance since 2020. A member of the Libe ...

who advocated for the release of detained human rights activists in Saudi Arabia, particularly

Samar Badawi Samar bint Muhammad Badawi ( ar, سمر بدوي; born 28 June 1981) is a Saudi Arabian human rights activist. She and her father filed court cases against each other. Badawi's father accused her of disobedience under the Saudi Arabian male gua ...

and Raif Badawi. In response, Saudi Arabia imposed punitive measures on Canada which involved freezing trade and investment relations and recalling its ambassador while concurrently expelling the Canadian ambassador in Riyadh. The secretary general of the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, interg ...

(GCC)

Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani , honorific-suffix = , order = , office = Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain , term_start = 11 February 2020 , deputy = , monarch = Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa , primeminister = Salman b ...

announced his support for Saudi Arabia's actions, as did GCC member states

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. However, Qatar, which is also a GCC member, distanced itself from the remarks made by Al Zayani and stated that his comments "do not reflect its opinion" while mentioning that it maintains cordial relations with Canada.

Economic relations

Qatar Airways operates 3 flights weekly to

and 3 weekly flights to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

from

. Prominent Canadian companies such as Bombardier, Forrec, and SNC-Lavalin are participating in Qatar's growth and wide-scale projects.

Military relations

During the 1991

, Qatar allowed coalition troops from Canada to use the country as an airbase to launch aircraft on CAP duty. Roughly 500 Canadians were stationed in and conducted operations from

Canada Dry Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks founded in 1904 and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though ...

bases in Qatar.

Educational and medical relations

Two prestigious Canadian universities are currently based in Qatar. The first, the College of the North Atlantic in Qatar, is the single biggest foreign-based Canadian university.

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

in Qatar is the second Canadian university, and comprises the first-ever nursing school to be established in the state of Qatar. Furthermore, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Qatar University (QU) and Dalhousie University, Canada, has formalized collaboration in the field of ocean sciences and cooperation in the development of research and training opportunities. Toronto Sick Kids have five-year partnership with

Hamad Medical Corporation Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is Qatar’s main not-for-profit health care provider, and is based in Doha. It was established by Emiri Decree No. 35 in 1979. HMC manages several hospitals, as well as emergency, specialized, and ambulatory care c ...

to provide advisory services for the development and operation of the new 217-bed, 45,000 square foot children's hospital located in Hamad Medical City, a large, not-for-profit health-care complex in the heart of Doha, Qatar's capital city.

Migration

As of 2016, there were approximately 8,000 Canadian expats living in Qatar.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Canada has an embassy in

. * Qatar has an embassy in

.Embassy of Qatar in Ottawa
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Qatar relations

Bilateral relations of Qatar