Event Archive

Organized by the Women Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Ottawa (WHDMO) and Gowling WLG, this forum on June 10 will celebrate the International Day for Women in Diplomacy. Representing all 32 women Ambassadors in Ottawa, WHDMO serves as a collective voice advancing collaboration and elevating the role of women in diplomacy.

Aligned with this year’s theme, “Leadership Equality, Advancement and the pursuit of Peace,” the event will explore the broader impact of women’s leadership in diplomacy—highlighting their role in advancing equality, shaping global conversations, and promoting peace. 

Through engaging discussion and shared perspectives, the forum will reflect the growing influence of women leaders across international, economic, and social spheres. We look forward to convening leaders for an inspiring morning dedicated to recognizing and advancing women’s leadership in diplomacy.

APF Canada's Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla will be moderating a discussion on the economic sphere.

Organized by the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam–Canada Business Forum 2026 will follow the Third Vietnam–Canada Joint Economic Committee (JEC 3), held biennially. Building on the outcomes of JEC 3, the Forum serves as the principal platform for translating high‑level policy dialogue into concrete business cooperation and sector‑specific opportunities. 

On this occasion, Vietnam is leading a business delegation of approximately 20 companies representing key sectors such as energy, minerals, infrastructure and construction, food processing, and industrial–technological manufacturing. 

Speakers will outline actionable opportunities for Canadian companies to expand into one of Asia’s fastest‑growing and most strategically positioned markets. 

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada's Vice-President, Research and Strategy, Vina Nadjibulla, will speak on "Canada's Indo-Pacific engagement and economic partnership priorities with Vietnam" as well as moderate a panel focused on the resilient and high quality partnership.

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) is pleased to support the Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Summit 2026 as a non-industry partner. The MDA Summit is organized by the Commonwealth Security & Resilience Group, the Commonwealth’s formal and accredited security institution based on London, U.K.

Following the inaugural Summit in 2025, this event will bring together over 150 senior leaders from the navy and maritime sectors, policymakers, diplomats, and business innovators to forge deeper partnerships and drive practical interventions that strengthen MDA across the Commonwealth. 

Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander, Royal Canadian Navy, will provide welcoming remarks. APF Canada’s Vice-President, Research & Strategy, Vina Nadjibulla, will moderate one of the panel discussions. 

Canada's relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC) is entering a new chapter — and the opportunities are significant. Renewed diplomatic ties, reduced tariffs on key exports, and fresh interest from major Chinese investors signal real momentum. But seizing those opportunities requires more than optimism. It requires understanding how Beijing operates and guardrails to protect Canadian values, as well as economic and national security interests.

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is launching PRC Power Abroad and the Guardrails We Need — a new webinar series unpacking the PRC's evolving foreign policy toolkit. Each session brings leading global experts to offer practical insights for Canadian businesses, policymakers, and advocates looking to engage China strategically — and on Canada's terms.

Session 2: PRC’s Strategy of Economic Statecraft

Trade relationships can become pressure points — and the PRC has proved more systematic about this than most. This session examines the weaponization of trade and investment as tools of authoritarian economic statecraft, exploring how the PRC deploys economic power to achieve geopolitical ends and drawing a sharp contrast with more familiar Western instruments like sanctions. Bethany Allen, author of Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized its Economy to Confront the World will consider where targeted states have found ways to absorb or deflect pressure, and whether existing international institutions offer meaningful recourse — or whether countries are largely on their own. 

Visit our Events page for other sessions in this series in June 2026.

Held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s Asia Regional Office in Singapore will convene a Canada–Southeast Asia Strategic Roundtable with senior Canadian defence officials, leading Southeast Asian strategic thinkers, and regional policy experts for a closed-door exchange on evolving Indo-Pacific security dynamics and Canada’s continued engagement in the region.

Featuring Mr. Kevin Brosseau, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, and Canada’s Fentanyl Czar, the roundtable will examine major geopolitical and security trends shaping Southeast Asia, including maritime tensions, strategic competition, ASEAN centrality, energy and supply-chain disruptions, and the evolving role of middle powers in the Indo-Pacific. Discussions will also explore opportunities for deeper Canada–Southeast Asia defence and strategic cooperation, alongside longer-term institutional partnerships and Track 1.5 Dialogues. The roundtable reflects APF Canada’s broader efforts to expand its regional presence and strengthen policy networks across Southeast Asia.

Please join us for a symposium on Canada-ASEAN Security Alignment: The Case for Building Collective Resilience. In partnership with Canada-ASEAN Initiatives at the Centre for Asian Research at York University, and sponsored by the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, this symposium will feature policy-makers, ambassadors, academics, and security experts exploring areas of alignment in our security interests, and opportunities to deepen our co-operation in building collective resilience, against the backdrop of ruptures in the global order and the repositioning of Canada as a stronger middle power.

APF Canada’s Vice President, Research and Strategy, Vina Nadjibulla, will moderate a fireside chat on Canada–ASEAN security interests.

Please register at info@canada-asean.org using your institutional email by May 21, 2026.  Due to limited capacity, registration will only be confirmed once the organizing team sends a confirmation by email. 

Canada's relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC) is entering a new chapter — and the opportunities are significant. Renewed diplomatic ties, reduced tariffs on key exports, and fresh interest from major Chinese investors signal real momentum. But seizing those opportunities requires more than optimism. It requires understanding how Beijing operates and guardrails to protect Canadian values, as well as economic and national security interests.

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is launching PRC Power Abroad and the Guardrails We Need — a new webinar series unpacking the PRC's evolving foreign policy toolkit. Each session brings leading global experts to offer practical insights for Canadian businesses, policymakers, and advocates looking to engage China strategically — and on Canada's terms.

Session 1: Launch & Overview of PRC Influence Globally (The China Index) and Lessons from Taiwan

How do you measure something that rarely announces itself? This session introduces the China Index, the first cross-regional project to track and visualize PRC overseas influence across nine domains — from media and academia to military, technology, and domestic politics. TTCat, co-founder of Taiwanese think tank DoubleThink Lab will walk through where Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence is deepening, where it has plateaued, and where it has been successfully pushed back, with particular attention to Taiwan's hard-won expertise in recognizing and countering influence operations at scale. 

Explore and sign up for other Sessions in this ongoing series.

The 2025-2026 cohort of the Canada-Asia Young Professionals Fellows program will convene in Vancouver for a capstone event during which they will meet with local experts and stakeholders in Canada's Indo-Pacific relationships. 

Through this program, now in its fourth year, APF Canada selects up to 20 early-career professionals from government (all levels), international organizations, law, academia, and the private sector for a nine-month program of virtual engagement with leading thinkers in Canada and internationally on major developments happening in the Indo-Pacific and their potential implications for Canada.

Speakers for this year’s conference will include Mr. David van Hemmen, Vice President of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade; Professor Kai Ostwald, Director of the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia; Mr. Daniel Baart, Geopolitical Analyst at Maritime Forces Pacific; Ms. Elizabeth Donkervoort, Director of the China Strategic Risks Institute; and Professor Nari Pyo of the Korean National Diplomatic Academy; among others. 

APF Canada is co-hosting a closed-door briefing with the Canada-ASEAN Business Council (CABC) on Wednesday, May 6, at 11:30 a.m. at the Asia Regional Office in Singapore. The session will feature Asia Regional Director Barrett Bingley, alongside June Goh, Senior Oil Market Analyst at Sparta Commodities, both of whom will share insights on regional fuel transport dynamics, including imports and trans-shipments, Singapore landings, Canadian exports, and the broader reserves situation across Southeast Asia.

This discussion builds on themes raised in Bingley's recent Business Times article, in which Goh was also quoted, offering a timely opportunity to further examine developments in regional energy markets.

The briefing will convene representatives from Canadian provinces as well as key stakeholders across the ecosystem, including Global Affairs Canada and Export Development Canada, for an informed exchange on emerging trends and considerations in the sector.

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is organizing a symposium titled Economic Security: The Future of Canadian Trade and Investment with Asia. The event will feature a keynote address and moderated discussion with Lizzi C. Lee of the Asia Society on China’s economic and technological strategy and its implications for Canada. 

The keynote will be followed by two panels bringing together APF Canada’s 2025–2026 John H. McArthur Research Fellows: Ari Van Assche, Danielle Goldfarb, Pascale Massot, and Kati Suominen, along with leading policy experts, scholars, and practitioners, for a focused discussion on the risks and opportunities shaping the future of trade and investment between Canada and the Indo-Pacific. 

Topics to be explored include China’s techno-economic strategy, AI, trade, and Canada’s competitiveness, supply chain resilience and diversification, critical minerals and strategic supply chains, and Indo-Pacific strategic dependencies and resilience.

​Mississauga, Ontario, is one of Canada’s most globally connected cities, with deep and long‑standing trade and investment ties across the Indo‑Pacific—particularly with Japan—and a growing number of firms active in India and other priority markets.

​As geopolitical and economic conditions continue to evolve, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is proud to partner with Invest Mississauga for an xpert roundtable designed to deliver timely and strategic insight for industry leaders who are navigating the complexities of international growth, improving supply chain resilience, and exploring emerging global opportunities.

​We believe this roundtable will be an exceptional platform to engage with experts, exchange ideas, and gain valuable perspectives that will help shape successful strategies in today’s rapidly changing landscape.

​Featured Speaker:

​Vina Nadjibulla, Vice‑President, Research & Strategy, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is supporting the Canada–Asia Arctic Dialogue, organized by the Université de Montréal through anAPF Canada Canada–Asia Joint Research Grant, and hosted in Singapore. The dialogue will bring together a group of leading scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from Canada and the Arctic Council Observer states in Asia to exchange perspectives on Arctic governance and regional co-operation.

The Dialogue, taking place on April 27–28, 2026, will provide a platform for in-depth discussions on key policy issues shaping the future of the Arctic, including Arctic shipping and navigation, sustainable development, climate change and environmental protection, security and infrastructure, and the evolving geopolitics of the region.

The objective of the dialogue is to showcase Canada’s expertise and leadership in Arctic governance, foster greater understanding of shared environmental challenges, and explore opportunities for collaboration between Canada and Asian partners while reinforcing a rules-based international order in the Arctic.

Dr. Hema Nadarajah, Program Manager for Southeast Asia at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, will deliver opening remarks.

Diving into 50 years of innovation, A Chip Odyssey traces Taiwan’s remarkable rise at the heart of the global semiconductor industry—now a cornerstone of the AI era and advanced chip manufacturing. The film highlights how this industry has transformed the island into an indispensable technological powerhouse.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with specialists Dr. Olga Alexeeva and Dr. Honghong Tinn, who will examine the sector’s strategic role in Taiwan’s trajectory, its weight in the U.S.–China rivalry, and the systemic risks that a disruption of Taiwanese exports to Western companies would pose in the event of a conflict. A unique opportunity to understand how a single industry can shape the balance of global power.

Dr. James Curran will offer reflections on how Australia and Canada are navigating a rapidly changing global environment marked by intensifying great-power competition, geopolitical fragmentation, and growing pressures on the international order. He will speak to the strategic choices facing both countries as they seek to strengthen resilience, expand their room for manoeuvre, and deepen engagement across the Indo-Pacific. He will also offer reflections on the evolution of Australia’s relationship with China and what it reveals about the opportunities and constraints facing middle powers today.

Dr. Curran is a professor of modern history and an expert in Australian politics and foreign affairs. He is also a columnist at The Australian Financial Review and the author of Australia’s China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear (2022). Prior to joining the University of Sydney, he served in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Defence.

The session will be moderated by the APF Canada's Vice President, Research and Strategy, Vina Nadjibulla.

Please contact events@asiapacific.ca for any questions.

APF Canada is pleased to support the BC Critical Minerals Forum, a timely two-day event examining how British Columbia and Canada are positioning critical minerals within global supply chains, industrial policy, and allied security priorities.

The Forum brings together senior decision-makers from government, First Nations, mining, finance, and infrastructure to address the policy, permitting, and investment challenges shaping the next phase of critical minerals development in B.C.

Taking place April 14–15 in Vancouver, the program features 50+ speakers and participants, including representatives from the Government of BC, NRCan, the Department of National Defence, Canada Growth Fund, Canada Infrastructure Bank, BC Hydro, Indigenous governments, mining companies, and capital providers.

For APF Canada’s network, the Forum offers a valuable opportunity to connect with project developers and policymakers, and to explore potential international partnerships, trade linkages, and investment pathways across the critical minerals value chain. 

Save 20% with code APF20

From April 13-15, APF Canada will host delegates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Jakarta, Indonesia-based think-tank, for a series of meetings and other engagements with Canadian stakeholders from government, the private sector, think-tanks, and academia, on possible areas of co-operation in economics, security, diplomacy, technology, among others.

The engagements will include an invitation-only roundtable discussion at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, on April 15.

Please contact hema.nadarajah@asiapacific.ca for any questions.

APF Canada will host a delegation from the Foreign Policy Strategy Agency (FPSA), a think-tank affiliated with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Indonesian Embassy for a discussion on advancing the Canada-Indonesia relationship. 

Topics of discussion include issues related to strategic autonomy, energy resilience, strengthening middle-power partnerships, and building public awareness of the value of the bilateral relationship in both countries. 

Please contact alexandre.veilleux@asiapacific.ca for any questions.