IM CPTPP Report Cover

Investment Monitor: The Impact of the CPTPP on Canada-Asia Pacific Foreign Direct Investment Flows

Since ratifying the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2018, Canada has strengthened its economic connections with the seven Asia Pacific-based members of the CPTPP, or the AP7, and has seen significant growth in two-way investment flows with these Asian economies. 

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s latest Investment Monitor report explores this growth and highlights how the CPTPP continues to support Canada’s goal of diversifying its investment relationships in the dynamic, fast-growing economies of the Asia Pacific.

According to our Investment Monitor data, which provides information on Canada-Asia Pacific investment flows at the national and sub-national levels, two-way investment flows between Canada and the AP7 have grown from C$82.1B (2014-2018) to C$101.5B (2019-2023) since the CPTPP was ratified, a 23 per cent increase.

Key Takeaways 

At the national level, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand were the largest AP7 recipients of Canadian investment following ratification of the CPTPP; conversely, Australia, Singapore, and Japan were the largest AP7 investors in Canada. Greenfield projects – those in which a company establishes a subsidiary in another economy – have accounted for approximately one-quarter of two-way investment flows between Canada and the AP7 since 2019. 

At the industry level, the AP7 was especially attracted to Canada’s mining and chemicals industry, investing more than C$30B from 2019-2023, with C$343M invested in the chemicals sector and C$30B in the industrial materials and mining sector. Canadian investment in the AP7 was predominantly concentrated in the health care and utilities sectors, totalling around C$20B. 

Australia was the biggest AP7 investor in Canada’s mining and chemicals industry (accounting for 98% of the AP7’s total investment in this industry) and the largest recipient of Canadian investment in health care and utilities (accounting for around 88% of Canada’s total investment in these sectors). 

At the sub-national level, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia have received around 73 per cent of all AP7 investment in Canada in the five years post-CPTPP ratification. The Australian state of Victoria has been the top sub-national source of and destination for Canadian investment (C$42.8B in two-way investment) since CPTPP ratification.

Data 

The database used in this report is publicly available on the Investment Monitor website. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is grateful for the sponsorship and support it has received from Export Development Canada for the Investment Monitor project.

Anastasia Ufimtseva

Anastasia Ufimtseva is a Program Manager, Business Asia, at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She holds a PhD in Global Governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University with a specialization in international political economy. Her dissertation examined Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Canadian and Russian oil and natural gas sectors and she has published widely on trade and investment relations between Asia and Canada, specifically on FDI, governance, and energy policy. Prior to joining APF Canada, Anastasia worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business.

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Charlotte Atkins

Charlotte Atkins is a Project Specialist with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada's Business Asia team. She has a Masters in Political Science and Asian Studies from the University of Toronto, where her research focused on contentious politics in Asia. She has since expanded her research areas to include policy, trade, and investment between Canada and the Asia Pacific through her work at APF Canada.

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Shruti Jhunjhunwala

Shruti Jhunjhunwala is a Research Scholar with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s International Trade and Investment Team. She holds an MSc in International Business from HEC Montreal. Her research interests include private-public partnerships as well as inclusive and sustainable trade.

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Xuemeng Wang

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