Canada Sent Over $1 Billion in Arms to Saudi Arabia in 2024 Despite Human Rights Abuses
(Courtesy of Canadian Armed Forces)
In 2024, Saudi Arabia was once again Canada’s largest non-US destination for military exports.
According to Global Affairs Canada’s latest report, Canadian companies shipped more than $1.15 billion in controlled military goods to the kingdom, and while the federal government maintains that each export permit is subject to rigorous human rights assessments, arms shipments to Saudi Arabia have continued steadily — despite the kingdom’s documented record of human rights abuses.
The 2024 figures reinforce a pattern that has persisted since at least 2015, when the Liberal government gave final approval to a controversial $15-billion arms deal originally brokered under Stephen Harper. While the government has never publicly disclosed the full contents of the agreement, export records and investigative reporting indicate that a substantial portion likely consists of light armoured vehicles (LAVs). These vehicles are believed to be manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada, a subsidiary of the US-based General Dynamics Corporation. In August 2022 alone, Statistics Canada reported $132 million in exports of tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights
(Courtesy of CBC)
Canada’s ongoing military export relationship with Saudi Arabia continues despite the kingdom’s well-documented record of repression and its role in the war in Yemen. Amnesty International’s 2024 report cites mass executions, unfair trials, and the detention of peaceful dissidents. Human rights are a repeatedly stated priority of Canadian foreign policy, but their relevance tends to shift when significant commercial or strategic interests are involved.
In fact, Canada's relationship with the Saudi regime has only grown stronger. In May 2023, Canada announced the full restoration of diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, five years after a high-profile diplomatic spat triggered by a tweet from then-Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland calling for the release of imprisoned human rights activists. During the years of limited diplomatic engagement, arms exports continued largely unabated. An investigation by The Breach later revealed that during the diplomatic standoff, the Canadian government purchased two aircraft for the Prime Minister’s fleet from a company controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s family.
Documents obtained by The Breach further illuminate Canada's rationale for maintaining arms exports to the kingdom. An annex to Global Affairs Canada’s 2020 export review identifies Saudi Arabia as a "principal guarantor" of global energy security and a valued partner in maintaining geopolitical stability in the Middle East. The document outlines how arms sales support Canadian corporate interests and supposedly reduce the need for direct Western military interventions.
‘Feminist’ Foreign Policy
Though human rights concerns are acknowledged, they take a backseat to strategic and economic priorities, which is a contradiction to the federal government’s own long-standing rhetoric around a “feminist” foreign policy. The contradiction is most jarring when viewed alongside Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women and dissidents. In 2024, Amnesty reported the case of Manahel al-Otaibi, a fitness instructor sentenced to 11 years in prison for social media posts advocating women’s rights. Others faced even harsher punishment: in 2024, Saudi Arabia carried out at least 330 executions, many for non-violent drug offences and crimes allegedly committed as minors.
In 2024, the UK High Court granted Saudi dissident Yahya Assiri permission to bring a case against the Saudi government over its alleged use of Pegasus spyware, developed by NSO Group, an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm. Assiri, a political exile living in the United Kingdom, had previously been targeted with bait content tied to Pegasus, according to a 2018 investigation by Amnesty International. The case highlights the Saudi regime’s use of advanced surveillance tools to monitor and suppress dissent beyond its borders.
While Canada’s arms control framework is meant to prevent exports that could be used in human rights violations, enforcement has been inconsistent. In 2019, the Trudeau government temporarily froze new permits and commissioned a review of Saudi-bound exports. But the final report—criticized by rights groups—concluded there was "no substantial risk" that Canadian goods would be misused. Since then, both permits and exports have resumed at scale.
The rationale for continued sales often rests on domestic job protection. In 2020, then-Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne warned that cancelling the LAV deal would endanger thousands of Canadian jobs across the defence industry supply chain. Yet critics argue that this logic prioritizes short-term economics over ethical consistency. Civil society groups, including the Canadian Labour Congress, have called for an economic conversion strategy to support diversification into sectors less reliant on international arms sales.
Today, the Canadian government says export permits are carefully reviewed and that it monitors developments in the region. But continued shipments, even as executions and repression persist, suggest its “feminist” foreign policy is little more than branding rhetoric.
