Canada and Philippines Conclude Free-Trade Agreement Negotiations
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. oversaw the formal end of free-trade negotiations at the ASEAN summit in Manila, with a final agreement expected to be signed in 2027.
Canada and the Philippines have concluded negotiations for a bilateral free-trade agreement, which is expected to be formally signed in 2027. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met in Manila at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit to oversee the signing of a document formally ending the talks. The event took place on Saturday in Manila's time zone, corresponding to Friday evening in Canada.
The negotiations for the Philippines-Canada Free Trade Agreement were restarted just over a year ago when Carney rebooted the talks last October. Ottawa had first begun formally exploring the deal in 2015. In 2025, bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and the Philippines totalled $3.4 billion. Canadian pork exports to the Philippines alone amounted to $279 million in 2024.
During consultations leading up to the conclusion of the talks, corporations were broadly supportive of the deal. However, civil society groups raised concerns regarding the Philippines' track record on the environment, labour, and human rights. The Philippines has a population of approximately 110 million people.
Alongside the bilateral agreement, Canada is pursuing a broader trade agreement with the ASEAN bloc, which includes the Philippines and 10 other countries representing roughly 700 million people. According to Ottawa, trade between Canada and ASEAN countries amounted to $52.3 billion last year, a fifth larger than the previous year. Twenty heads of government attended the ASEAN summit in Manila.
The conclusion of these negotiations supports Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy and its stated goal to double non-U.S. exports by 2035.