HIGH-LEVEL EXCHANGE: President Tô Lâm receives Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil in Hà Nội in August 2024. VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

More than half a century has passed since Việt Nam and Canada established diplomatic relations in 1973. In the decades since, the two countries have built a Comprehensive Partnership that has developed steadily across a widening range of fields, serving the long-term interests of both peoples while contributing to peace and stability in the region and beyond.

MEET AND GREET: National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn (centre) met with Speaker of the Canadian Senate Raymonde Gagné at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, in July 2025, on the sidelines of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. VNA/ VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

The relationship has deepened in stages. What began as formal diplomatic ties during the final years of the war in Việt Nam has grown into cooperation spanning trade and investment, education and training, science and technology, development assistance, defence and security and people-to-people exchanges. The elevation of ties to a Comprehensive Partnership gave that cooperation a formal framework and a shared ambition to build on it.

START TIME: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at the HCM City Stock Exchange in 2017. VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

Trade has been among the most visible areas of growth, helped by both countries' membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada has become one of Việt Nam's significant trading partners in the Americas, while Vietnamese goods have found a steady market across Canada.

EXPORTING: Vietnamese catfish is exported to Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the United States and other markets across the Americas. VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Nhung

Education has proved another durable bridge. Thousands of Vietnamese students study at Canadian universities and colleges each year, and the Vietnamese community in Canada – numbering hundreds of thousands – have become an important link between the two societies.

As the partnership moves through its sixth decade, both sides have signalled their intention to lift ties to a new level, with continued cooperation in areas including clean energy, climate action, digital transformation and agriculture.

GIFTS: Leigh McCumber, political counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Việt Nam, visits and presents gifts to people affected by floods in Phong Điền District of the then Thừa Thiên Huế Province, in cHIGH-LEVEL EXCHANGE: President Tô Lâm receives Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil in Hà Nội in August 2024. VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh 2024. VNA/VNS Photo Mai Trang

The images here trace that journey: a relationship built patiently over more than 50 years and one that both capitals now say has further to go. VNS

JOINT EFFORT: The third meeting of the Việt Nam-Canada Joint Economic Committee was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thị Thắng and Canadian Deputy Minister for Global Affairs Arun Thangaraj in June. VNA/VNS Photo

PEACEBUILDING: A youth forum on female leadership and peacekeeping was held in Hà Nội in October 2025. VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Anh

NEW FRIENDS: The Canadian Navy's HMCS Charlottetown, led by Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, docked at Tiên Sa Port, beginning a visit to Đà Nẵng in May. eMEET AND GREET: National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn (centre) met with Speaker of the Canadian Senate Raymonde Gagné at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, in July 2025, on the sidelines of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. VNA/ VNS Photo Doãn Tấn VNA/VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

ON THE MOVE: Speciality coffee from Aeroco Coffee Farm in Đắk Lắk Province has entered markets in Europe and Canada. VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Anh

RESEARCH: Canadian graduate student Tijana Polich studies at the International University, Việt Nam National University, HCM City. VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

BREAKING THE ICE: A friendly ice hockey match between Việt Nam and Canada at Royal City in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt