Today the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, met with President Joe Biden of the United States of America and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico for the North American Leaders’ Summit. In a joint statement, they recognized the  strong ties between our countries and how closely we are integrated, and expressed a willingness to chart a new path for our partnership at a time when we face incredibly complex global challenges. The Leaders pledged to take concrete actions in support of our common goals.

Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic and Advancing Global Health

Leaders affirmed their vision of a world safe and secure from global health threats posed by infectious diseases:

• Canada and Mexico committed to increasing vaccination coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean, including by paying forward vaccine loans from the United States.
• To ensure that we are ready to face the next pandemic and other health threats, they pledged to re-envision and update our North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza (NAPAPI). 
• The Leaders reiterated their pledge to shore up our medical supply chains by exploring ways we can make the components of vaccines and other public health supplies here in North America. 
• They pledged to work together to increase commitments to COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), improve vaccine distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as globally, invest in our health workforce, and combat counterfeit medical supplies.    
• They also pledged to support the Global Health Security Agenda, including improving capacity and leadership to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. 
• To address the overdose crisis and its related harms, they also pledged to continue the North American Drug Dialogue (NADD) with updated and strategic objectives that encompasses a comprehensive approach in addressing the global illegal drug environment and its serious consequences.

Fostering Competitiveness and Creating the Conditions for Equitable Growth

To build back together as North America, and for our economies to enhance our competitiveness and propel our future growth, Leaders affirmed the need for the right conditions for businesses and workers to thrive: 

• Recognizing that North America needs resilient, sustainable, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure our economic prosperity and security, Leaders pledged to strengthen North American supply chains by creating a trilateral supply chain coordination mechanism, with a goal to define essential industries to minimize future disruptions. 
• The backbone of our economy, Leaders pledged to strengthen small and medium enterprise (SME) linkages by connecting SME centers across North America and promote women’s entrepreneurship through expert exchanges focused on economic recovery. They committed to promoting innovation by supporting creators and reducing trade in counterfeit and pirated goods.
• The Leaders pledged to promote good regulatory practices to achieve long-term and durable growth that delivers greater transparency, inclusivity, and accountability.
• The Leaders reaffirmed support for strong labour rights protection and underscored their trilateral commitment to implement the prohibition on the import of goods produced with forced labour under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)
• Since an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet and strong critical infrastructure will also propel growth, Leaders committed to holding a Trilateral Cyber Experts Meeting to address 21^st century cyber issues, and plan to counter ransomware via the multilateral Counter Ransomware Initiative.
• The Leaders also pledged to explore opportunities with the private sector and universities to ensure our people are equipped with education and training for a 21^st century workforce.

Recognizing the incredible challenges posed by the climate crisis to the world and North American region, Leaders pledged to take concrete actions such as:

• Creating a North American Pledge on Methane and Black Carbon to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 60-75 percent by 2030, and also focusing on reducing black carbon from diesel vehicles and engines, flaring, wood-burning appliances, and shipping.
• Joining diplomatic efforts to encourage others in the Americas to put forward ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution enhancements in 2022.
• Collaborating to accelerate renewable energy deployment across North America, including technical assistance, best practices exchanges, and efforts to catalyze finance and technology.
• Accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation, including more rapid deployment of electric vehicles, efforts toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from aviation by 2050, and cleaner fuels in the rail, aviation and marine transportation sectors.
• Committing to conservation and enhancing natural carbon sinks to also include support for climate-smart agriculture and forestry. The three countries will work toward ending deforestation and a commitment to conserve 30 percent of North American land and waters by 2030.
• The three countries plan to preserve knowledge and practices of indigenous and local communities via the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
•  The three countries will convene states and cities as key contributors to national climate efforts.

In order to realize our full potential, Leaders affirmed their support to press for full and meaningful North American participation in our democracies and economies. To that end, the Leaders committed to:

• Create a North American Partnership for Racial Equity and Inclusion.
• Convene a meeting of Indigenous women leaders as part of the Trilateral Working Group on Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls, which seeks to increase access to justice and services.
• Protect LGBTQI+ human rights through the Global Equality Fund to support frontline activists, and support and increase membership from the Americas in the United Nations LGBTQI Core Group and the Equal Rights Coalition, which coordinates diplomacy in support of human rights.

Migration, Development and a Secure North America

Prime Minister Trudeau, President López Obrador, and President Biden recognized the complex factors that have driven an increase in irregular migration through the hemisphere, and acknowledged that they require a coordinated regional response with respect for law, rooted in solidarity with migrants and among States, prioritizing orderly, safe, and regular migration. Leaders pledged to:

• Develop a regional compact on migration and protection for the Americas.
• Promote pathways to labor mobility, by committing to promote temporary seasonal worker visas, increasing industry education about the programs and their regulations, and expanding centralized migration resource centers in Central America. They also committed to announce additional programs and funding to create jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Dedicate additional assistance to address the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement, and consider a trilateral development partnership between the Mexican Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AMEXCID), Global Affairs Canada, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
• Strengthen asylum systems and refugee resettlement programs to provide international protection for those fleeing persecution, with each country expected to make new commitments to take in more refugees.
• Improve capacity to identify human trafficking and other crimes, and create a trilateral migrant smuggling and human trafficking task force.
• Commit to promoting voluntary returns along the migratory route, in accordance with international and national laws.

To support our joint goals to combat transnational crime and terrorism, and to strengthen our defence collaboration, Leaders pledged to:

• Take a consistent approach to collect, store, use, retain, and share Passenger Name Records per the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
• Restart the Trilateral Working Group on Trafficking in Persons, to combat labor and sex trafficking in the region.
• Affirm our North American Defense Ministerial (NADM) commitments such as regional defense, security cooperation, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance.

The Leaders also committed to trilateral stakeholder outreach as an integral feedback loop with private sector, civil society, and others, as well as to promote North American culture via arts programming and engagement that celebrates freedom of expression and creativity.