Canada's national security strategy (NSS), released October 29, puts a premium on safeguarding sovereignty and economic security, but may signal that Ottawa is transitioning away from a standalone Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), with the government teasing the release of "a single, global, interest-based approach to foreign policy."
The 13-page "Plan for a Stronger Canada" commits Ottawa to improving capabilities in eight "critical sectors," including emerging technologies, critical minerals, defence, and energy. The government's plan for building these capabilities begins, "deliberately," with economic security, followed by foreign policy, defence policy, public safety, and intelligence.
A preamble by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney states that the strategy's "vision" is a Canada "that controls its own destiny," echoing the English title of the government's budget ("Masters of our Destiny"), set to be released today. The timing of these twin releases is telling, underscoring the links between national security, economic growth, and sovereignty.
The plan — which aims to steel Canada against "great power rivalries, authoritarian aggression, frontier AI, climate change, and pandemics" — also feeds into Carney's overarching view of international relations: strengths have become vulnerabilities, diversification is crucial, and autonomy is paramount.
The fate of the IPS
The strategy states that "peace, resilience, and security in the Indo-Pacific are vital to Canada," pledging to "work" with partners who share a "commitment to resolving disputes through diplomacy, fair economic co-operation, and respect for sovereignty and international law." The plan goes even further when discussing European allies, pledging to "significantly deepen connections" with the continent.
The NSS also lays out a plan to "align Canada’s regional strategies," referencing the IPS, the Africa Strategy, and Arctic Foreign Policy, within "a single, global, interest-based approach to foreign policy." That new foreign policy is expected to be released before the end of the year.
Canada's C$2.3-billion IPS was released in November 2022, with funding for five years. A report released last month by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development recommended that the "Government of Canada publish an updated IPS in 2027."
APF Canada's President & CEO, Jeff Nankivell, told Asia Watch that "security policy has typically been expressed as a subset of foreign policy; this order has now flipped. The NSS is a policy framework within which five dimensions of policy will each have their own strategy. What remains to be seen is to what extent the five policy papers will collectively articulate an Asia-specific strategy (or set of strategies) at the well-resourced level of the IPS."
"In a region where our greatest reputational risk is a feeling among partners that we lack consistent interest and commitment, Canada’s stepped-up engagement efforts under the IPS have been noticed — to good effect, so far," Nankivell said. "Maintaining and growing this momentum in the Indo-Pacific will be essential for Canada to realize the vision of the NSS."
Canada's last national security strategy, "Securing an Open Society," was released in 2004, focusing largely on terrorism and pandemics in the wake of 9/11 and SARS.
Licence to nil
The plan doesn't name China, India, Iran, Pakistan, or Russia, all of which were identified by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as "the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against Canada" in its most recent annual report.
In April 2025, Carney himself named China as Canada's biggest security threat. The lack of any explicit mention of China or India suggests a preference to discuss these issues behind closed doors. Canada and India, for example, discussed bilateral security issues last month in New Delhi.
The NSS also commits to "collecting actionable intelligence" and increasing "sovereign intelligence capabilities, collection, and analysis," leading some to speculate about the advent of a Canadian foreign-intelligence agency, akin to the U.K.'s MI6.
Canada is the only G7 country without a dedicated foreign-intelligence agency, although CSIS does have Foreign Stations in "key locations abroad."
