Events

Recent years have seen Canada and Japan increasingly collaborate and express the need to maintain long-standing and stable ties while diversifying and deepening the bilateral relationship. For example, in October 2021, the governments of Canada and Japan announced the Canada-Japan Action Plan for contributing to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which the two countries agreed to work together on six shared priorities: the rule of law, peacekeeping, health security, energy security, trade, and climate change. In November 2022, the Government of Canada released its Indo-Pacific Strategy, which outlines a policy of strengthening co-operation in the Indo-Pacific in a wide range of fields; it explicitly discusses the importance of partnering with Japan. And in May 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participated in the G7 Hiroshima Summit held in Japan.

Our multi-partner event will commemorate the 95th anniversary of Canada-Japan diplomatic relations by discussing the G7, Japan’s new Free and Open Indo-Pacific outlook, Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, and what these initiatives mean practically for deepening Canada-Japan ties. The September 27 event will include presentations by academics detailing their respective visions for collaboration between Canada and Japan in the region. The academic presentations will be followed by a panel of experts that will review key elements of each country’s approach to the Indo-Pacific region to identify areas of mutual interest and potential for further collaboration.

A Q&A session will follow the panel discussion.

Agenda

8:30-9:10 – Informal networking before event begins

9:10-9:15 – Welcome, traditional land acknowledgement, introduction of event topic and speakers (APF Canada CEO & President, Jeff Nankivell)

9:15-9:25 – Background to Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (APF Canada CEO & President Jeff Nankivell)

9:25-9:40 – Presentation: Takes on the future of Japan-Canada relations in the Indo-Pacific – Part 1  (Prof. Stephen Nagy, International Christian University, Tokyo)

9:40-9:55 – Presentation: Takes on the future of Japan-Canada relations in the Indo-Pacific – Part 2 (Prof. Tsuyoshi Kawasaki, Simon Fraser University)

9:55-10:05 – Change of speakers / Break

10:05-10:35 – Panel Discussion: What do key elements of each country’s approach to the Indo-Pacific region mean for practically deepening further collaboration and people-to-people ties

• Moderator: APF Canada CEO & President Jeff Nankivell
• Professor Stephen Nagy, International Christian University, Tokyo
• Professor Tsuyoshi Kawasaki, Simon Fraser University
• Ms. Kyoko Kuwahara, Visiting Fellow, Macdonald Laurier Institute

10:35-11:15 – Audience Q & A with moderator and panellists

11:15-11:20 – Closing Remarks (APF Canada CEO & President Jeff Nankivell)

11:20-12:00 – Networking light lunch / snacks

This event is presented with support from the Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver. 

By invitation only.

Wednesday September 27, 2023 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PT

Please contact events@asiapacific.ca for more information. 

Japan Studies Association of Canada's 2023 annual conference (JSACAC 2023) will be held at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon from September 28 to October 1, 2023. The conference will begin in the late afternoon of Thursday September 28 with a keynote address. The conference will run all day Friday September 29 and Saturday September 30 and for the morning of Sunday October 1. 

APF Canada's President and CEO, Jeff Nankivell will be speaking at the event, as will two members from our Northeast Asia research team – Senior Program Manager, Dr. Scott Harrison, and research analyst Momo Sakudo.

Friday September 29, 2023

10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: Scott Harrison and Momo Sakudo from our Northeast Asia research team will present their recent report: Japan Needs More Labour. Is Immigration the Answer?

3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: APF Canada’s President and CEO Jeff Nankivell will participate in the Canada Japan Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Think-Tank Panel.

Saturday September 30, 2023

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Scott Harrison, Senior Program Manager, Northeast Asia, will chair a panel on Tourism in Japan and Canada.

Sunday October 1, 2023

9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Scott Harrison, Senior Program Manager, Northeast Asia, will participate in a panel titled, 'Reconciliation and Symbiosis in East Asia from Comparative Perspectives.'

College of Arts & Science University of Saskatchewan

9 Campus Drive Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A5

Thursday September 28th, 2023 at 2 p.m. PT - Sunday October 1, 2023 at 11 a.m. PT

For more information, please click here. 

APF Canada, with the co-operation of the Japan Foundation, Toronto, is pleased to invite you to join us for our first in-person Kakehashi Alumni Network event as we celebrate the Canadian release of Catfish Rolling, the highly acclaimed debut novel from Japanese Canadian author and Kakehashi alumna Clara Kumagai.

The event will feature a reading and moderated Q&A in which Clara will discuss her novel, process, inspirations, and much more. The discussion will be moderated by Toronto-based author Rui Umezawa. Copies of Catfish Rolling will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

This is an open event. All Kakehashi Project Alumni and members of the public are welcome to attend. Advance registration is required.

This event is made possible through the kind co-operation of the Japan Foundation, Toronto.

Clara Kumagai is from Canada, Japan, and Ireland. Her fiction and nonfiction for children and adults has been published in The Stinging Fly, Irish Times, and Kyoto Journal among others. Her novel Catfish Rolling was described by The Guardian as “an outstanding debut” and selected as one of the CBC’s 25 Canadian YA Books to Read in 2023. Clara is a recipient of a We Need Diverse Books Mentorship and a finalist for the 2020 Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award. She is an alumna of the 2015-16 Kakehashi Project and recently relocated to Ireland after five years living and working in Japan.

Toronto writer Rui Umezawa’s books include The Truth About Death and Dying, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize for Best First Book (Canada & the Caribbean), and Strange Light Afar; Tales of the Supernatural from Old Japan, chosen as one of CBC’s best books of 2015. His essays and short fiction have appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Canadian Notes and Queries, among others. As a storyteller, he has recounted traditional and original tales in front of live audiences with Katari Japanese Storytellers and in collaborations with the acclaimed Nagata Shachu taiko (drum) ensemble.

Japan Foundation, Toronto

2 Bloor St E, Suite 300, Toronto, ON M4W 1A8

Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET

Click here to register. For further information please contact Siân Jones, Program Manager, Kakehashi Project

APF Canada, with strong support from the public and private sectors, will lead Smarter Living: The Canadian Women-only Business Mission to South Korea and Thailand in late Fall 2023. 

This mission is part of the Foundation’s 2023-2025 mission series, Northeast X Southeast: Advancing Partnerships Between Canada and Asia, and will focus on the cleantech, health tech, and information and computer technology (ICT) sectors to spotlight the innovations Canadian women entrepreneurs bring to these sectors. The seventh mission in APF Canada’s Women’s Business Missions to Asia Series, this unique opportunity brings together Canadian women entrepreneurs with businesses in South Korea and Thailand to promote gender-inclusive trade, support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and catalyze international partnerships between Canadian companies and these key markets in Asia.

The Canadian Women-only Business Mission to South Korea and Thailand is generously supported by contributions from the Government of Canada through Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. 

Bangkok and Seoul

November 26-December 1, 2023

For more information, please click here. 

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada), in partnership with Universities Canada, is excited to host the first two thematic Canada-in-Asia Conferences (CIACs) back-to-back in February 2024 in Singapore: 

• CIAC2024: Agri-food on February 26-27

• CIAC2024: Climate Solutions on February 28-29

CIAC2024: Agri-food and CIAC2024: Climate Solutions will bring together experts, investors, policy-makers, researchers, business leaders, and innovators from across Asia and Canada to exchange perspectives, knowledge, and ideas and to create collaborative partnerships in these two critical sectors.

CIAC2024: Agri-food and CIAC2024: Climate Solutions will be bridged by the CIAC2024: Gala Dinner on the night of February 27. All conference delegates will be automatically registered for the Gala Dinner, which is also open to registered guests not attending either CIAC2024 conference. The annual CIAC: Gala Dinner is an opportunity for Canada-connected people, organizations, and institutions from across Asia to convene, build networks, and celebrate all things Canada-in-Asia.

Singapore

Monday February 26 – Thursday February 29, 2024

For more information, please click here or email events@asiapacific.ca