To Reports & Policy Briefs
Report cover

Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience: Developing Canada–Republic of Korea Early Warning System Co-operation

Ari Van Assche, Seungjoo Lee, Seyyed Milad Shirvani
December 5, 2025
Download the full report

Executive Summary

Global supply chains, once celebrated for driving efficiency and growth, are increasingly recognized as a source of strategic vulnerability. Geopolitical shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate-related disasters, and tariff volatility have exposed the potential fragility of cross-border production networks, particularly in critical sectors such as energy, semiconductors, and medical supplies. For Canada, these disruptions have underscored the need to transition from fragmented, reactive responses to supply chain shocks toward a comprehensive strategy for supply chain resilience.

Canada has in recent years made progress in its development of a national supply chain strategy, through initiatives such as the National Supply Chain Office, the Critical Minerals Strategy, and new investment screening rules. However, these efforts remain siloed. Current policies emphasize product-specific chokepoints (e.g. transport, health products, minerals) but lack an integration system across sectors, foresight in anticipating emerging risks, and strong international partnerships. Without a coherent framework, Canada remains ill-prepared to manage external shocks and coercive pressures.

Supply Chain Early Warning Systems (EWS) represent a promising tool to shift governance from crisis management to proactive resilience. By combining advanced data collection, predictive analytics, and interagency co-ordination, EWS can identify vulnerabilities in real time, trigger preventive action, and mitigate systemic risks before they escalate. 

A partnership with the Republic of Korea (or Korea for short) may help Canada to develop an EWS. Korea has emerged as a global leader in this domain, developing a whole-of-government EWS framework that integrates ministry-level monitoring, artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) risk analysis, public-private collaboration, and international engagement. The Canada-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2022) and Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy both highlight supply chain resilience as a priority. Partnering with Korea offers Canada not only a blueprint for designing its own EWS but also a platform for strengthening bilateral and regional resilience in critical sectors such as critical minerals, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. By combining Canada's resource-based strongpoints with Korea's technology-driven manufacturing networks, both countries can generate complementary capabilities, enhance competitiveness, and reinforce their roles as trusted Indo-Pacific partners.

This paper recommends a phased approach to Canada-Korea supply chain co-operation in the development of an EWS:

  1. 1. Structured Dialogue and Shared Diagnostic
    1. a. Establish a bilateral platform to map goals, vulnerabilities, and critical nodes in key sectors.
    2. b. Launch best-practice exchanges on early warning systems, logistics digitalization, and chokepoint mitigation.
       
  2. 2. Pilot Early Warning Systems
    1. a. Implement joint pilot projects in strategic industries.
    2. b. Align methodologies, share data, and develop joint monitoring tools.
       
  3. 3. Institutionalize Co-operation
    1. a. Elevate supply chain resilience as a core element of summit diplomacy.
    2. b. Create a Track 1.5 dialogue involving officials, experts, and practitioners to generate evidence-based recommendations and build trust.
       
  4. 4. Broaden to Plurilateral Partnerships

    1. a. Extend bilateral co-operation to like-minded partners.
      b. Position Canada and Korea as co-leaders in shaping international standards, interoperability protocols, and joint investment mechanisms.

Developing a Canadian EWS in partnership with Korea offers a pragmatic and forward-looking path to strengthen resilience, enhance competitiveness, and secure Canada's role as a trusted Indo-Pacific partner. By moving from diagnostic rigour to multilateral leadership, Canada and Korea can together help set the rules and standards for transparent, sustainable, and resilient global supply chains in an era of geopolitical volatility.

Ari Van Assche

Dr. Ari Van Assche is Full Professor of International Business at HEC Montréal and Co-Director of the International Institute of Economic Diplomacy. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Business Policy, Fellow-in-Residence at the C.D. Howe Institute, and Director of the Economics Axis at CERIUM’s Chair of Asian and Indo-Pacific Studies. Ari is also a John H. McArthur Research Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Ari Van Assche's latest post:

Trump’s Chokepoint Playbook and How to Deal with It

Seungjoo Lee

Seungjoo Lee is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Chung-Ang University (Seoul, Korea), Chair of the Trade, Technology, and Transformation Research Center at the East Asia Institute, and Senior Research Affiliate at the Berkeley APEC Study Center (BASC) at the University of California at Berkeley. 

Lee is a member of the Advisory Committee on Economic Security and Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea) and a member of the Policy Advisory Board of the Ministry of National Defense. His current research focuses on the economy-security nexus, economic statecraft, the U.S.-China technology competition, and global digital governance. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Seyyed Milad Shirvani

Seyyed Milad Shirvani is a postdoctoral researcher in international business and global strategy at HEC Montréal and Simon Fraser University. He holds a PhD in Management from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. His research examines how the twin transformations of the global economy—sensitive technologies and geopolitical fragmentation—are reshaping the strategies of countries and multinational enterprises. 

Seyyed also conducts related work on the geography of innovation, the structure of global value chains, and international public and private procurement. His work has been presented at Global Affairs Canada, the International Economic Forum of the Americas, and other international policy and research institutions.

Related Content