Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

maintain diplomatic relations. Canada has an embassy in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, while the Czech Republic has an embassy in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, a consulate general in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and an honorary consulate in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. Both countries are full members of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

. There are around 94,000 Canadians of Czech descent.

Trade

In 2013, Canadian exports to the Czech Republic (CR) totalled (CAD) $134.8 million. Canadian goods sent to the CR made up of aircraft, helicopters and parts, machinery, turbojets, turbo-propellers, medical instruments, pet food, pharmaceuticals, vitamins,

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, plastics and non-alcoholic beverages. Exports from the CR totalled $446.6 million. Czech goods included machinery, iron and steel products, auto parts, tractors, tires, medical instruments, sports equipment,

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

, glass and beer.

Visa dispute

In July 2009, Canada reinstated the requirement for people from the Czech Republic to have visas before entering Canada due to a high number of asylum seekers from the Czech Republic, mainly

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, who allegedly abused the Canadian asylum system.CeskeNoviny: Canada to announce lifting visas for Czechs today
/ref> The Czech Republic reciprocated by recalling its ambassador to Canada for consultations, imposing visa requirement for holders of Canadian diplomatic and official passports, and asking the European Commission to require visas for Canadian citizens to enter the European Union. (The Czech Republic, as a member of the

Schengen Zone The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

, cannot unilaterally implement visa requirements or controls for Canadian citizens). On 6 May 2009 at the Canada-EU Summit in

(Czech Republic's capital) started negotiations of

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA; French: ''accord économique et commercial global'', AECG; German: ''Umfassendes Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommen'') is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union and its ...

(CETA), a proposed

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

and

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

agreement between Canada and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Signing and

ratification Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

by the Czech Republic are required for CETA to come into effect. Czech Republic declared it won't do either until the visa requirements by Canada are lifted. On 14 November 2013 the Canadian ambassador to the Czech Republic

Otto Jelinek Otto John Jelinek (Czech: Otakar Jelínek; born May 20, 1940) is a businessman, former figure skater, and Canadian politician. Jelinek's family fled to Switzerland, then to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1948, following the Communist coup d'� ...

announced reinstatement of visa-free regime for Czech citizens.

Notes

External links

Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade about relations with the Czech Republic

Canadian embassy Prague

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa

Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Czech Republic Relations

Bilateral relations of the Czech Republic

Trade

Visa dispute

See also

Notes

External links