Canada-Mongolia relations
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Bilateral relations
With over 3 million people in an area slightly smaller than Quebec, Mongolia is the least densely populated country in the world. Similarities between Canada and Mongolia abound: cold climates, vast landscapes with small populations, large neighbours, and abundant natural resources.
Canada and Mongolia established diplomatic relations in 1973. Mongolia opened its embassy to Canada in 2001, and the Embassy of Canada to Mongolia was opened in Ulaanbaatar in September 2008.
Mongolia’s foreign policy
As a landlocked country, Mongolia’s domestic and foreign policy is shaped by its two neighbours: Russia and China. To balance this, Mongolia has actively pursued a “third neighbour” policy, which involves expanding political, economic and defence relations with regional democracies such as India, Japan and South Korea and with select Western countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., Germany and France.
Development assistance
An MOU for bilateral development assistance was signed in September 2016. Canada's international assistance supports Mongolia’s goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2030 and is articulated around three themes: inclusive governance, gender equality, and environmental sustainability. These development priorities are in line with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. Canada’s development efforts in Mongolia focus on:
- Supporting policy reforms and strengthening the capacity of Mongolia’s public service to manage its natural resources sector;
- Supporting key Mongolian public service institutions to assist the Government of Mongolia in implementing its public service reform;
- Strengthening the independence, impartiality and transparency of the Mongolian judiciary as well as incorporating gender equality into the judicial system;
- Enhancing Mongolia’s response to gender-based violence and empowering survivors of domestic violence;
- Providing support to women entrepreneurs and helping Mongolian civil society organizations develop their strategies to promote women’s economic empowerment.
Since 1997, Canada has also provided more than $7.8 million to approximately 490 projects in Mongolia through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. Many of these projects help to advance human rights and economic development, and involve civil society organizations and local governments.
Commercial relations
Two-way trade between Canada and Mongolia is limited at $17.1 million. In 2022, Canadian merchandise exports to Mongolia amounted to approximately $14.4 million. Merchandise imports from Mongolia amounted to approximately $2.7 million in the same period. Mining is the engine of the Mongolian economy, accounting for 26% of its GDP. Within the mining sector, there are potential opportunities for deeper commercial cooperation in green and digital mining solutions, mineral exploration technologies and mine site productivity. In addition to mining, other sectoral opportunities for Canadian companies are in green building, climate-smart agriculture, energy efficiency, and green infrastructure. In 2017, the Canada-Mongolia Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), which aims to provide a more transparent and predictable regulatory environment for Canadian investors in Mongolia, entered into force.
Partnerships and organizations
To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and Mongolia work closely in multilateral fora, such as:
- International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Open Government Partnership (OGP)
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- United Nations
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- World Trade Organization (WTO)
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