Seizing the Middle-Power Moment: ASEAN and Canada at a Convergence

H.E. Ambra Dickie was appointed Canada’s Ambassador to ASEAN in 2025. Prior to this, she served as Canada’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam. Since joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2006, she has held various roles, including serving as a departmental spokesperson in the Media Relations Office, working on the Afghanistan Task Force, and acting as Senior Adviser in the Defence and Security Relations Division. She has also been posted to Canada’s embassies in Brasília and Tokyo. 

AF: ASEAN and Canada have enjoyed nearly five decades of dialogue relations. How would you characterise the evolution of this partnership, and what distinguishes the current phase of ASEAN-Canada relations from earlier decades? 

Ambassador Dickie: The journey of ASEAN and Canada has followed a path informed by the needs of the region, initially focused on development and technical assistance, followed by deepening political and security cooperation, and now also increasingly looking at supporting ASEAN’s impressive economic growth and diversification efforts. In 2009, we named our first Ambassador to ASEAN, and in 2016, we opened a dedicated mission to ASEAN based in Jakarta. This laid the groundwork for the 2023 launch of our Strategic Partnership, which underscored and formalised the links across Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). 

Canada is invested across all of ASEAN’s lines of effort. This includes support for ASEAN’s security priorities at the ASEAN Regional Forum on themes such as maritime security, cybersecurity, and Women, Peace and Security, and our US$26 million contribution to the Mitigating Biological Threats programme that is helping to keep the region safe from the spread of dangerous diseases. We are deepening our people-to-people ties, including through Canada’s popular Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) programme, which has awarded over 1,000 scholarships to students from all ASEAN member states to study in Canada since 2018. Finally, we’re putting significant focus on mutual economic growth and have committed to concluding a landmark ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement in 2026. We’re rapidly expanding our work in energy and the energy transition, and Canada’s Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office in Manila is helping to support food safety, agricultural technology, and effective regulatory frameworks through capacity-building projects.

One thing I’m excited about is that we recently joined the ASEAN Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting. As members of this group, we have big plans to work with our ASEAN partners on issues like AI governance, cyber security and competitive digital markets. 

In short: we’ve been busy! Still, we know there is so much more we can do together. As we look ahead to commemorating 50 years of Dialogue Partner relations with ASEAN in 2027, I’m excited to find new ways to deepen and strengthen our partnership to benefit all our people. 

AF: Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy identifies ASEAN as central to Ottawa’s regional engagement. How does ASEAN fit within Canada’s broader strategic vision for the Indo-Pacific and where do you see the most promising areas for deeper cooperation in the coming years?  

Ambassador Dickie: I know we say it all the time, but it bears repeating: Canada sees ASEAN Centrality as a key contributor to regional security and prosperity. We orient our initiatives toward strengthening ASEAN’s central role in Southeast Asia to uphold international laws and rules-based trade, which is something that has become even more important in today’s global context. 

Looking ahead, I am focused on advancing three key areas for deeper cooperation. First is economic diversification. As I mentioned earlier, we are at a critical stage with ongoing negotiations towards the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement, which will be instrumental to strengthening our supply chains and diversifying trade and investment. 

Second is resilience and security. We’re going beyond traditional defence cooperation to tackle the most pressing emerging threats, whether it’s through our capacity-building efforts, our new network of cyber attachés across the region, our participation in ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus Expert Working Groups and the ASEAN Regional Forum, our partnership with the AHA Centre on disaster preparedness or our work on food security.

Finally, we will continue to build on Canada’s strong track record of supporting sustainable growth and people-to-people ties. Our SEED scholarship programme is helping to equip the next generation of leaders with the tools they ned to navigate a complex and uncertain world. And our Canada Fund for Local Initiatives is making smart and strategic investments in ASEAN to support inclusivity, human rights and community resilience across the region.

AF: The Indo-Pacific is increasingly shaped by major-power competition, particularly between the United States and China. How does Canada navigate these dynamics in Southeast Asia, and what role can ASEAN and Canada play in maintaining strategic balance and regional stability? 

Ambassador Dickie: I know this is the topic du jour and let’s admit that it’s very easy to focus on the news headlines and feel helpless about the “rupture” in the world order. But I see it differently: if there ever were a time for all our countries to look inwards at our own capacity, outwards at the diversity of our partners and across at the ways we can create the best outcomes for our people, it is now. This is why the concept of strategic autonomy is so important, because it means building a dense and varied web of partnerships so that we can advance initiatives and resist attempts by any single country, organisation or entity to tilt us off-balance. 

The ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement is about putting the concept of strategic autonomy into action. We are identifying niche areas in trade, investment, security and defence, where Canada and ASEAN’s interests align around a concrete objective.

So as tempting as it may be to reduce our complex global landscape to the actions of a few great powers, I prefer to have honest conversations about how the rest of us can take practical steps to address issues we care deeply about. Here in Southeast Asia, I look around and see very willing partners that are ready to roll up their sleeves and work side‑by‑side with us to make real progress.

AF: With the ASEAN–Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations expected to conclude this year, what tangible economic and strategic benefits do you anticipate for both sides beyond higher trade figures? 

Ambassador Dickie: Hold on…Let’s not discount trade figures! In 2025, ASEAN-Canada bilateral trade reached US$37.5 billion – a 23 per cent increase from 2024! The ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement will help to sustain and grow this momentum, opening doors across strategic sectors such as the digital economy, and food and energy security.

For ASEAN, one of the most tangible benefits will be greater supply chain resilience. The conflict in the Middle East is a clear demonstration of how fragile global networks can be, with disruptions rippling across energy markets and shipping routes. By linking Canada’s tech and resource sectors with Southeast Asia’s manufacturing hub, this FTA will help build a more predictable, rules-based trade environment for businesses on both sides to diversify their operations. That is the best insurance policy against global economic shocks.

More than that, the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement will create a permanent ‘strategic bridge’ across the Pacific. That bridge will extend far beyond just Canada. Canada presents a foothold into North America, while our existing free trade agreements cover over 50 countries. That’s over 1.5 billion consumers worldwide, and approximately 61 per cent of the world’s GDP.

What really distinguishes this agreement, though, is its focus on the human side of the economy. We aren’t just looking at big multinationals. We’re prioritising small and medium enterprises which are the backbone of many Southeast Asian economies. It’s a forward-looking agreement designed for the world we live in today and for the world of tomorrow. It will set the bar for emerging issues like digital trade and AI governance – very real issues that businesses and workers are dealing with right now.

In other words, it’s about more than just moving containers. It’s about ASEAN and Canada helping to write the rules of the road for the future drivers of our economies, ensuring that our collective growth is sustainable, inclusive and technologically secure. 

AF: ASEAN–Canada will mark the 50th anniversary of their dialogue relations next year in 2027. The partnership is also rooted in people-to-people connections, education exchanges and vibrant diaspora communities. How can both sides deepen socio-cultural cooperation so that the partnership be more grounded and enduring? 

Ambassador Dickie: We are so excited to celebrate 50 years of relations in 2027! It gives us a moment to pause and reflect on the impact of five decades of partnership. It’s a time to look back, but also to imagine what the next 50 years will look like because there is so much more ahead of us!

Canada firmly believes that our role in ASEAN is not about being the biggest, strongest, or loudest player in the region – it’s about real connections, real relationships and real initiatives that create tangible change.

Canadian companies know this, too. In the tech sector, Canada’s footprint is strong: Blackberry is operating its Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Malaysia, supported by Global Affairs Canada, providing advanced cybersecurity training to enhance cyber resilience in Southeast Asia. Successful Canadian companies like Sun Life and Manulife have become household names in Southeast Asia, while lifestyle brands like Aldo and Lululemon are rapidly expanding in the region. Bombardier recently quadrupled the size of its Singapore service centre, making it the largest facility of its kind in the entire Asia-Pacific. Air Canada has strengthened its presence with direct flights to cities such as Bangkok, Manila and Singapore. Software and AI platforms like Shopify and Cohere are rapidly expanding in Southeast Asia with tailored solutions for businesses, large and small. Canadian expertise and innovation are creating thousands of high-quality local jobs and building a shared economic future.

When you combine this commercial presence with the fact that Canada is home to a vibrant Southeast Asian diaspora of over one million people, you realise that our people-to-people ties aren’t an aspiration, but a lived reality. 

One of the ways we continue to foster this relationship between ASEAN and Canada is through the SEED programme, which has already seen over 1,000 students study in Canada. It was recently expanded to offer even more scholarships for ASEAN students to conduct short-term study or research in Canada. Beyond the SEED programme, thousands of Southeast Asian students choose Canada every year as their destination of choice for education, building bridges between our next generation of leaders and creating a social fabric that is much more resilient than any political agreement.  

It’s this mix of business skin-in-the-game, academic exchanges and deep community ties that will sustain the partnership for the next 50 years. 

AF: Prime Minister Carney’s recent remarks in Davos have renewed attention on the role of middle powers in shaping global order. In your view, what does a “middle power moment” mean in practical terms for ASEAN and Canada, and how can both sides work together to ensure this moment translates into meaningful regional outcomes? 

Ambassador Dickie: Seizing our middle power potential is about being realistic and practical about what is happening in the world and harnessing our autonomy to create better outcomes. It’s not about trying to compete with major powers, but to diversify our networks, reduce dependence on forces outside our control and recognise the power we have in our own countries, regions and partnerships.

Whether it’s through the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement or our work on shared security and defence, through digital cooperation or people-to-people ties, we are building a version of multilateralism that is principled but pragmatic – one that focuses on issue-based coalitions that speak to our shared strengths.

Translating this moment into meaningful outcomes requires what Prime Minister Mark Carney calls ‘variable geometry’ – in other words, building different layers of cooperation where our interests overlap.

For ASEAN and Canada, that means moving beyond simple trade figures to engineering collective resilience in food, energy, digitalisation and supply chains. By aligning Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy with the AOIP, we’re doubling down on the conviction that a world with empowered and engaged middle powers is safer and more prosperous than the alternative.

Once we conclude the milestone ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement in 2026 and continue deepening our security, trade, investment and people-to-people ties, we are proving that middle-powers are not just bystanders. To the contrary, we’re the ones holding the world’s architecture together to the benefit of all of our nations’ peoples.

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Editor’s Note:
ASEANFocus+ articles are timely critical insight pieces published by the ASEAN Studies Centre.