The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT; French: Ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce international or MAECI), more commonly known as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, is the department in the Government of Canada that has responsibility for foreign policy and diplomacy, international trade promotion, and trade policy.
On June 1, 1909, The department was founded as the Department of External Affairs and later became the Department of External Affairs and International Trade, the word "foreign" being deliberately avoided by Commonwealth Dominions such as Canada, since the department was founded while Canada's foreign policy was still controlled by the United Kingdom. The department's name was finally changed to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1993 some 60 years after Canada had gained control over its foreign policy. It is worth noting that Commonwealth nations are not considered foreign to one another.
The change in name was formalized by an Act of Parliament in 1995. DFAIT maintained two separate ministers: the Minister of Foreign Affairs with lead responsibility for the portfolio, and the Minister of International Trade. The Minister for International Cooperation, with responsibilities for agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), also fell under DFAIT.
A separate Department named Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC) and another International Trade Canada (ITCan) were created in December 2003 through an administrative separation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; however, on February 15, 2005 legislation to formally abolish the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and provide a statutory basis for a separate Department of Foreign Affairs and a Department of International Trade failed to pass a first vote in the Canadian House of Commons. The government maintained the administrative separation of the two departments despite neither having been established through an Act of Parliament.
In early 2006, under the new government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada were rejoined to again form a single department known as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. The acronym DFAIT is still used in spite of this merge.
The current leadership of DFAIT is provided by three ministers: Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Minister of International Trade, and The Minister of International Cooperation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for foreign policy matters and, as the senior minister in the department, has overall responsibility for the department. The Minister of International Trade is, as the name suggests, responsible for international trade matters. The Minister of International Cooperation is responsible for certain delegated foreign policy matters. John Baird now serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ed Fast serves as Minister of International Trade and Julian Fantino serves as Minister for International Cooperation. Diane Ablonczy serves as the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs).
There are three Crown corporations that fall under the portfolios of the Ministers: the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is the responsibility of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) fall to the Minister of International Trade.
DFAIT is headquartered in the Lester B. Pearson Building at 125 Sussex Drive on the banks of the Rideau River in Ottawa.
Read more about Department Of Foreign Affairs And International Trade: Nomenclature, Foreign Relations, Current Structure of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
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