Background: the 2023 Canada-CARICOM Summit and the Strategic Partnership it created

Much of today’s Canada–Caribbean agenda traces back to October 2023. As CARICOM marked 50 years since its creation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, then Chair of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government, co-chaired the Canada-CARICOM Summit in Ottawa under the theme “Strategic Partners for a Resilient Future.” It was the first Canada-CARICOM Summit held in Canada.

A permanent mechanism

Leaders launched a Strategic Partnership, described in the communiqué as a new permanent mechanism for structured high-level engagement and follow-through on joint actions. Discussions focused on climate change, access to finance, regional and global security, and trade and investment.

Trade and investment commitments

• Canada expanded the Commonwealth Caribbean Countries Tariff program, which gives the region duty-free access to the Canadian market, to include textiles and apparel.
• A new foreign labour program for agriculture and fish processing was announced under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
• Shared priority sectors for trade and investment: agriculture, renewable energy and infrastructure.
• Leaders discussed supply chain issues, the movement of people, goods and investments, and educational exchanges.
• On climate, CARICOM leaders welcomed $64.5 million in new Canadian climate financing and $10 million for resilient agriculture systems.

Why it matters for the CACT community

The 2023 summit put the Caribbean diaspora in Canada into the text of a leaders’ communiqué, and the Strategic Partnership it created is the framework under which foreign ministers endorsed a new Action Plan in June 2026. For Caribbean-Canadian apparel brands in particular, the widened duty-free access is worth checking against current sourcing and rules of origin.