The agreement follows positive talks between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MbS) on the sidelines of last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bangkok.
At the time, the two leaders reportedly wanted to restore ties.
“It has been decided to restore the level of diplomatic relations with Canada to its previous state,” the kingdom’s foreign ministry announced in a statement.
An anonymous Canadian government source said, “Punitive trade measures will be lifted.”
“Empty chairs at the end of the day don’t push our interests forward, and they don’t push things like human rights forward,” the source said, adding that Canada must “have conversations with people we don’t always agree with on everything to find global solutions to global problems.”
The dispute between Riyadh and Ottawa began in 2018, prior to the kingdom’s killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi that year.
The Canadian embassy in Saudi Arabia released a tweet calling for the immediate release of women’s rights activists held in Saudi jails.
Saudi Arabia responded by recalling its ambassador in Canada, expelling Ottawa’s envoy in the kingdom, and freezing trade.
The decision comes as Saudi Arabia is shifting away from the west in favor of diplomacy and greater regional integration. This has seen the kingdom restore its ties with long-time foes such as Iran and the government in Syria, which it spent years trying to overthrow.
“Saudi Arabia is pivotal within its region. It’s an important player,” Trudeau’s former foreign policy advisor and professor of international affairs, Roland Paris, said.
“It only makes sense to have ambassadors back in place in order to keep channels of communication open,” he added.
Despite the lack of diplomatic ties, Canada continued to sell arms to Saudi Arabia.
As a result, the Canadian government faced accusations of complicity in Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen.
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