Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told her Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, by phone this week that Ottawa now considers Morocco’s 2007 autonomy proposal “a credible and serious basis” for resolving the half-century dispute over the Sahara, ending Canada’s long-standing neutrality on the file.
Canada becomes the fifth member of the Group of Seven to publicly endorse the proposal as a basis for negotiations.
G7 alignment carries weight at the U.N. Three of its seven members, the United States, France and Britain, hold permanent Security Council seats, and the bloc pays the largest share of the regular U.N. budget.
When G7 capitals align on language, UN Security Council resolutions tend to follow, and while the bloc was long divided on the Sahara, that gap has now narrowed.
The strongest language came from US President Donald Trump in December 2020. His Proclamation called the plan “the only basis” for a solution. Trump reaffirmed it after returning to office in 2025.
French President Emmanuel Macron used the same wording in a July 2024 letter to King Mohammed VI, adding that the territory’s “present and future” lie within Moroccan sovereignty. France updated its official maps three months later.
Britain’s David Lammy followed in June 2025, calling it a “credible basis” in a joint communique with Rabat. Germany has called it “a good basis” since August 2022.
Italy and Japan endorse Morocco’s “serious and credible efforts” but stop short of calling the plan the basis for talks. Italy used that wording in a 2023 bilateral action plan; its lawmakers reaffirmed support in October.
Italy depends on Algeria’s TransMed gas pipeline, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni signed more than 40 bilateral agreements with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in 2024.
Japan used identical wording at a 2023 ministerial meeting and rejected Polisario recognition three times at the August 2025 Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
Algeria has retaliated against past recognitions. Spain’s policy shift in March 2022 prompted an ambassador recall and a near-900-day trade freeze that cost Spanish firms more than 600 million euros.
France’s recognition in July 2024 triggered an ambassador recall, a canceled state visit and a sharp Security Council rebuke. Tebboune called relations with Paris “frozen” by December.
Canada is less exposed, with bilateral trade with Morocco reaching $1.82 billion in 2024, and about 85,000 Moroccan Canadians live in Quebec.
The U.N. Security Council voted 11-0 with three abstentions in October to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping mission, MINURSO, until Oct. 31, 2026. China, Russia and Pakistan abstained.
Resolution 2797 takes the autonomy proposal as the basis for negotiation. Canada is not currently on the Council, but Ottawa is campaigning for the 2027-28 elected-member seat.
The next renewal vote is scheduled for October.
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