441-02425 (Business and trade)

The Government of Canada condemns Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. The war is a blatant violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter, and a threat to global peace and security. President Putin’s war of choice is a war on freedom, democracy, and the rights of Ukrainians, and all people, to determine their own future.

Canada and its like-minded partners have been coordinating closely on responsive measures to enhance support for the people and government of Ukraine and to impose costs on Russian leadership. The Government of Canada’s support to Ukraine has been comprehensive. Since 2022, the Government of Canada has committed over $14 billion in multifaceted assistance to Ukraine, including military, development, humanitarian, security and stabilization and financial assistance.

One aspect of Canadian support to Ukraine is the modernized Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA), a comprehensive, high-standard agreement that will strengthen the foundation on which Canadian and Ukrainian businesses can work together in the economic reconstruction of Ukraine. Building on the original 2017 CUFTA which was a comprehensive goods-focussed agreement, Canada and Ukraine launched negotiations to modernize the Agreement to include various new chapters on trade in services, investment, and other areas. The final modernized CUFTA was signed by the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy in Ottawa on September 22, 2023. The Act to implement the 2023 Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine, Bill-C57, passed Third Reading in the Senate and received Royal Assent on March 19, 2024. The Government of Canada looks forward to entry into force of the modernized CUFTA as soon as possible.

Unfounded concerns were raised about the environmental commitments in the agreement. To clarify the issue, the modernized CUFTA Environment Chapter includes provisions to support collaboration and cooperation on environment issues that are of mutual interest and are important to Canadians and Ukrainians. The Environment Chapter contains an indicative list of possible areas for cooperation on climate change, including on carbon pricing. The modernized CUFTA does not include any provisions requiring either Canada or Ukraine to implement or impose a price on carbon. The objective is not to harmonize policies or approaches, and the Environment Chapter explicitly recognizes the sovereign right of each Party to establish its own levels of domestic environmental protection and priorities. Additionally, carbon pricing has been in place since 2019 in Canada while Ukraine introduced a price on carbon in 2011.