Explaining Canada’s Unsurprising Response to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, 2022–2023

Abstract

This study argues that Canada’s foreign policy behavior has remained predictably unchanged in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Historically, Canada’s foreign policy has been directed by external considerations, specifically a liberal international order, multilateralism, key allies, and the United States. These orientations have determined Canadian foreign policy for generations. They guide Canada’s foreign policy decision-making but are sometimes contradictory. In the case of Ukraine in 2022, however, these orientations aligned perfectly, allowing the Justin Trudeau government to participate in international efforts to support Ukraine without controversy. This paper surveys four major external orientations and one domestic orientation before describing the country’s contributions to international efforts to support Ukraine. It concludes with a discussion about the troubling implications of a foreign policy that is tightly linked to external consideration: the costs of exit and the fundamental purpose of Canada’s foreign policy in the first place.