CANZUK facts for kids

World map with CANZUK nations shaded.

CANZUK is an acronym for a proposed alliance comprising Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as part of an international organisation or confederation similar in scope to the former European Economic Community. This includes increased trade, foreign policy co-operation, military co-operation and mobility of citizens between the four states, tied together by similar economic systems, social values and political and legal systems, in addition to the majority population of each country speaking English. The idea is lobbied by the advocacy group CANZUK International and supported primarily by conservatives. Other supporters include think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute, the Henry Jackson Society, Bruges Group and politicians from the four countries.

History

The term

The term CANZUK was first coined by William David McIntyre in his 1967 book Colonies into Commonwealth in the context of a "CANZUK Union". The idea of increased migration, trade and foreign policy cooperation between the CANZUK countries was created and popularized in 2015 by CEO and Founder of CANZUK International (formerly the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation), James Skinner.

In the wake of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum and the decision made by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, writers such as Andrew Lilico and James C. Bennett, along with academics such as the historian Andrew Roberts, also advocated that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom merge and form a new entity in international politics. Andrew Roberts suggested that such a bloc could slot into the international order as a third pillar of the West (alongside the United States and the European Union). Beyond this, Roberts argues that due to its territorial scale, geographic scope and advanced economy that it would qualify as a "great power" and potentially a "global power" (or emerging superpower).

Some advocates such as Roberts favour a federal or confederal union. Others, such as Lilico, describe the objective as being the creation of a "geopolitical partnership" akin to the European Economic Community. In the version favoured by Lilico, by the advocacy group CANZUK international and by the Conservative Party of Canada, the proposal would involve the creation of a free-movement zone, a multilateral free trade agreement and a security partnership. The more general concept of deepening trade ties (with or without a multilateral agreement) has many advocates, including figures such as former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former British Prime Minister Theresa May and former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Relationship

Canada, Australia and New Zealand are former dominions of the British Empire where people of British ethnic origin came to constitute the majority of the population. Today, the four CANZUK countries maintain a close affinity of cultural, diplomatic and military ties to one another. The Australian, New Zealand, and former Canadian flags contain the flag of the United Kingdom in their canton; and the Union Flag is also one of two official flags of Canada (referred to as the Royal Union Flag).

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are also Commonwealth realms which share Charles III as their constitutional monarch and their head of state. The countries share a number of institutional, linguistic and religious similarities such as the use of political systems based upon the Westminster parliamentary system of government, and common law. The CANZUK countries form part of the English-speaking world and share a number of Anglosphere military initiatives with each other including the Fincastle Trophy, Five Eyes intelligence, ABCANZ Armies and AUSCANNZUKUS, which are concerned with increased military and naval co-operation. Canada and the United Kingdom are allied through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization while Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are allied through the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

All four nations have diverse, multicultural populations, free and open presses, and are closely aligned on key social issues. Public relations are extremely warm between the four countries, with consistent evidence that people in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom regard each other's countries as their country's closest friends and allies in the world.

Since 1983, Australia and New Zealand have had formal trade ties with the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement.

In 2021 Australia and the United Kingdom agreed to one of the broadest trade agreements in Australia's history, only comparable with a similar deal between New Zealand and Australia. Greatly liberalising free movement of goods and people, the new agreement will reduce technological and digital barriers between the two nations. It is intended that lawyer degrees in Australia and the United Kingdom will have the same legal framework, making it easier for lawyers in both nations to apply for work in each other's countries. The new agreement will reduce visa requirements for unskilled farmworkers and other regional work sectors.

Country comparison

	Canada	Australia	New Zealand	United Kingdom
Flag
Coat of arms
Population	40,769,890 (as of 2024[update])	25,522,169 (as of 2019[update])	5,124,850 (as of July 2021[update])	66,796,807 (as of 2019[update])
Area	9,984,670 km2	7,741,220 km2	268,838 km2	243,610 km2
Population density	3.9/km2	3.3/km2	18.3/km2	270.7/km2
Exclusive Economic Zone	5,559,077 km2	8,505,348 km2	4,420,565 km2	6,805,586 km2
Capital city	Ottawa	Canberra	Wellington	London
Largest urban areas (2021)	Toronto: 6.255 million Montreal: 4.247 million Vancouver: 2.606 million Calgary: 1.581 million Edmonton: 1.491 million Ottawa: 1.408 million	Sydney: 5.3 million Melbourne: 5.0 million Brisbane: 2.6 million Perth 2.2 million Adelaide: 1.4 million	Auckland: 1.630 million Wellington: 417,000 Christchurch: 390,000	London: 9.426 million Manchester: 2.750 million Birmingham: 2.626 million Leeds: 1.902 million Glasgow: 1.681 million Southampton–Portsmouth: 936,000
Form of government	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Head of State	King Charles III
Head of government	Prime Minister Justin Trudeau	Prime Minister Anthony Albanese	Prime Minister Christopher Luxon	Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Official languages	English French	English	English Māori NZ Sign Language	English Scots Gaelic Welsh Irish Cornish
Main religions	53.3% Christian 34.6% Irreligious 4.9% Muslim 2.3% Hindu 2.1% Sikh 1.0% Buddhist 0.9% Jewish 0.9% Other (As of 2021)	43.9% Christian 38.9% Irreligious 3.2% Muslim 2.7% Hindu 2.4% Buddhist 0.8% Sikh 0.4% Jewish 0.9% Other (As of 2021)	55.3% Irreligious 37.3% Christian 2.7% Hindu 1.3% Muslim 1.1% Buddhist 0.9% Sikh 0.1% Jewish 1.3% Other (As of 2018)	46.2% Christian 43.2% Irreligious 6.5% Muslim 1.7% Hindu 0.9% Sikh 0.5% Jewish 0.5% Buddhist 0.5% Other (As of 2021)
Currency	Canadian dollar	Australian dollar	New Zealand dollar	Pound sterling

Economic comparison

Using data from 2019, below is a table comparing the CANZUK countries to each other, as well as their combined size as a percentage of the world.

Country	Population	Area	Exclusive Economic Zone (2017)	Military Expenditures (USD billion - 2020)	Nominal GDP (billions USD)	Nominal GDP per capita (USD)	PPP GDP (billions USD)	PPP GDP per capita (USD)	National Wealth (billions USD)	National Wealth per capita (USD)	Human Development Index (2021)
Canada	38,014,184	9,984,670 km2	5,559,077 km2	22.50	$1,984	$48,774	$1,931	$51,749	$7,407	$202,240	0.936 (very high)
Australia	25,741,500	7,741,220 km2	8,505,348 km2	26.30	$1,500	$61,359	$1,235	$50,522	$7,329	$299,748	0.951 (very high)
New Zealand	5,007,330	268,838 km2	4,420,565 km2	4.30	$206	$42,692	$215	$42,940	$1,162	$240,821	0.937 (very high)
United Kingdom	67,886,004	243,610 km2	6,805,586 km2	55.10	$3,124	$44,367	$2,880	$43,520	$14,073	$212,640	0.929 (very high)
Total	136,649,018	18,238,338 km2	25,290,576 km2	108.2	$6,621	$48,765	$6,261	$45,919	$29,971	$226,913	0.938 (very high)
Total as % of World	1.7%	11.7%	18.3%	5.4%	7.4%	–	4.8%	–	10.7%	–	–

Territories and dependencies

Canada

There are three territories in Canada. Unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay and all islands north of the Canadian mainland (from those in James Bay to the Queen Elizabeth Islands). The following table lists the territories in order of precedence (each province has precedence over all the territories, regardless of the date each territory was created).

Territory	Flag	Arms	Capital	Population	Area (km2)	Official languages
Northwest Territories			Yellowknife	44,982	1,346,106	Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey, Tłįchǫ
Nunavut			Iqaluit	39,486	2,093,190	Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, English, French
Yukon			Whitehorse	41,293	482,443	English, French

Australia

In addition to the six Australian States, Australia also comprises ten territories, whose existence and governmental structure (if any) depend on federal legislation. The territories are distinguished for federal administrative purposes between internal territories, i.e. those within the Australian mainland, and external territories, although the differences among all the territories relate to population rather than location.

Two of the three internal territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which was established to be a neutral site of the federal capital, and the Northern Territory—function almost as states. Each has self-government, through its legislative assembly, but the assembly's legislation can be federally overridden. Each has its own judiciary, with appeal to a federal court. The third internal territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, is the product of Australia's complex relationship with its capital city; rather than having the same level of autonomy as the other internal territories, it has services provided by the ACT.

There are also seven external territories, not part of the Australian mainland or of any state. Three of them have a small permanent population, two have tiny and transient populations, and two are uninhabited. All are directly administered by the federal Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities (or the Department of the Environment and Energy in the case of the Australian Antarctic Territory). Norfolk Island, which is permanently populated, was partially self-governing until 2015.

Territory	Flag	Coat of Arms	Capital (largest settlement)	Population (Jun 2019)	Area (km2)
Internal territories
Australian Capital Territory			Canberra	&&&&&&&&&0426709.&&&&&0426,709	2,358
Jervis Bay Territory			None (Jervis Bay Village)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0405.&&&&&0405	67
Northern Territory			Darwin	&&&&&&&&&0245869.&&&&&0245,869	1,419,630
External territories
Ashmore and Cartier Islands			None (offshore anchorage)	0	750
Australian Antarctic Territory			None (Davis Station)	Less than 1,000	5,896,500 km
Christmas Island			Flying Fish Cove	&&&&&&&&&&&01938.&&&&&01,938	135
Cocos (Keeling) Islands			West Island	&&&&&&&&&&&&0547.&&&&&0547	14
Coral Sea Islands			None (Willis Island)	4	780,000
Heard Island and McDonald Islands			None (Atlas Cove)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&00.&&&&&00	372
Norfolk Island			Kingston	&&&&&&&&&&&01758.&&&&&01,758	35

New Zealand

The Pacific islands of the Cook Islands and Niue became New Zealand's first colonies in 1901 and then protectorates. From 1965 the Cook Islands became self-governing, as did Niue from 1974. Tokelau came under New Zealand control in 1925 and remains a non-self-governing territory.

The Ross Dependency comprises that sector of the Antarctic continent between 160° east and 150° west longitude, together with the islands lying between those degrees of longitude and south of latitude 60° south. The British (imperial) government took possession of this territory in 1923 and entrusted it to the administration of New Zealand. Neither Russia nor the United States recognises this claim, and the matter remains unresolved (along with all other Antarctic claims) by the Antarctic Treaty, which serves to mostly smooth over these differences. The area is uninhabited, apart from scientific bases.

New Zealand citizenship law treats all parts of the Realm equally, so most people born in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency before 2006 are New Zealand citizens. Further conditions apply for those born from 2006 onwards.

Territory	Flag	Coat of Arms	Capital (largest settlement)	Population (Jun 2018)	Area (km2)
Associated states
Cook Islands			Avarua	21,388	236
Niue			Alofi	1,145	260
Dependent territories
Ross Dependency			None (Scott Base)	Scott Base: 10–85 McMurdo Station: 200–1,000 (seasonally)	450,000
Tokelau			Fakaofo	1,405	10

United Kingdom

British Overseas Territories

The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are fourteen territories all with a constitutional link with – but not forming part of – the United Kingdom. Most of the permanently inhabited territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations. Three are inhabited only by a transitory population of military or scientific personnel. They all have the British monarch as head of state.

The term "British Overseas Territory" was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, replacing the term British Dependent Territory, introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981. Prior to 1 January 1983, the territories were officially referred to as British Crown Colonies.

The British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are themselves distinct from the Commonwealth realms, a group of 15 independent countries (including the United Kingdom) each having Charles III as their reigning monarch, and from the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 54 countries mostly with historic links to the British Empire (which also includes all Commonwealth realms).

As of April 2018^[update], three Territories (the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus) are the responsibility of the Minister of State for Europe and the Americas; the Minister responsible for the remaining Territories is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Overseas Territories and Sustainable Development.

Name	Flag	Arms	Capital	Population	Area	Location	GDP (nominal)	GDP Per Capita (nominal)
Anguilla			The Valley	14,869(2019 estimate)	91 km2 (35.1 sq mi)	Caribbean, North Atlantic Ocean	£141.62 million	£9,850
Bermuda			Hamilton	62,506(2019 estimate)	54 km2 (20.8 sq mi)	North Atlantic Ocean between the Azores, the Caribbean, Cape Sable Island and Canada	£4.5 billion	£69,240
British Antarctic Territory			Rothera (main base)	50 non-permanent in winter, over 400 in summer (research personnel)	1,709,400 km2 (660,000 sq mi)	Antarctica
British Indian Ocean Territory			Diego Garcia (base)	3,000 non-permanent (UK and US military personnel; estimate)	60 km2 (23 sq mi)	Indian Ocean
British Virgin Islands			Road Town	31,758 (2018 census)	153 km2 (59 sq mi)	Caribbean, North Atlantic Ocean	£870 million	£28,040
Cayman Islands			George Town	68,076 (2019 estimate)	264 km2 (101.9 sq mi)	Caribbean	£4.15 billion	£146,250
Falkland Islands			Stanley	3,377 (2019 estimate) 1,350 non-permanent (UK military personnel; 2012 estimate)	12,173 km2 (4,700 sq mi)	South Atlantic Ocean	£132.82 million	£57,170
Gibraltar			Gibraltar	33,701(2019 estimate) 1,250 non-permanent (UK military personnel; 2012 estimate)	6.5 km2 (2.5 sq mi)	Iberian Peninsula, Continental Europe	£1.89 billion	£74,960
Montserrat			Plymouth (abandoned – de facto capital Brades)	5,215 (2019 census)	101 km2 (39 sq mi)	Caribbean, North Atlantic Ocean	£130.72 million	£25,060
Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands			Adamstown	50 (2018 estimate) 6 non-permanent (2014 estimate)	47 km2 (18 sq mi)	Pacific Ocean	£84,870	£1,700
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, including:			Jamestown	5,633 (total; 2016 census)	420 km2 (162 sq mi)	South Atlantic Ocean	£18.65 million	£4,570
Saint Helena				4,349 (Saint Helena; 2019 census)
Ascension Island				880 (Ascension; estimate) 1,000 non-permanent UK military personnel (estimate)
Tristan da Cunha				300 (estimate) 9 non-permanent (weather personnel)
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands			King Edward Point	99 non-permanent (officials and research personnel)	3,903 km2 (1,507 sq mi)	South Atlantic Ocean
Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia			Episkopi Cantonment	7,700 (Cypriots; estimate) 8,000 non-permanent (UK military personnel; estimate)	255 km2 (98 sq mi)	Cyprus, Mediterranean Sea
Turks and Caicos Islands			Cockburn Town	38,191 (2019 estimate)	430 km2 (166 sq mi)	Lucayan Archipelago, North Atlantic Ocean	£830 million	£21,920

Crown Dependencies

The Crown Dependencies (French: Dépendances de la Couronne; Manx: Croghaneyn-crooin) are three island territories off the coast of Great Britain that are self-governing possessions of The Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Isle of Man. They do not form part of either the United Kingdom or the British Overseas Territories. Internationally, the dependencies are considered "territories for which the United Kingdom is responsible", rather than sovereign states. As a result, they are not member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. However, they do have relationships with the Commonwealth, the European Union, and other international organisations, and are members of the British–Irish Council. They have their own teams in the Commonwealth Games.

As the Crown dependencies are not sovereign states, the power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with the government of the United Kingdom (though this is rarely done without the consent of the dependencies, and the right to do so is disputed). However, they each have their own legislative assembly, with the power to legislate on many local matters with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council, or in the case of the Isle of Man in certain circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor). In each case, the head of government is called the Chief Minister.

Name	Flag	Coat of Arms	Capital	Population	Area	Title of Monarch
Bailiwick of Guernsey	Alderney		Saint Anne	65,849	78 km2 (30 sq mi)	Duke of Normandy
	Guernsey		Saint Peter Port (capital of the whole Bailiwick and of Guernsey)
	Sark		The Seigneurie (de facto; Sark does not have a capital city)
Bailiwick of Jersey			Saint Helier	106,800	118.2 km2 (46 sq mi)
Isle of Man			Douglas	84,997	572 km2 (221 sq mi)	Lord of Mann

Including Alderney, Guernsey, and Sark.

Supporting views

Several organisations have been set up that promote, to varying degrees, much closer associations between the CANZUK nations. CANZUK International has, as its stated aim, the desire to establish an area of freedom of movement akin to that which existed before the European Communities Act 1972, or as a mirror to the rights of free movement as seen within the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. Other organisations are largely voluntary groupings of those who advocate the more specific idea of transnational union, such as "CANZUK Uniting".

Canada

Several members of parliament voiced their support for the CANZUK initiative during the Conservative Party of Canada's 2017 leadership election. The eventual winner of the leadership election, Andrew Scheer, stated his support for a CANZUK free trade deal in March 2017. At a debate in Vancouver, British Columbia, Scheer stated, "I very much support a trade deal with those countries. Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have a similar basis of law, they have a common democratic system, they have the same types of legislation and regulations around investment and trade. Those are the types of things we don't enjoy with China".

Other candidates for the Conservative Party leadership also adopted CANZUK free trade and free movement as a part of their campaigns platforms, including Erin O'Toole and Michael Chong. In April 2017, O'Toole released a video with CANZUK International, describing the CANZUK initiative as "a no brainer", stating that Canada already offers free trade and free mobility with citizens of the United States and should therefore offer such benefits to "our other closest allies". O'Toole again supported CANZUK during his successful campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2020.

In August 2018, the Conservative Party of Canada adopted CANZUK as official party policy at their 2018 party convention by 215 votes to 7. The party presently serves as the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada.

After his victory in the August 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, Erin O'Toole, made CANZUK a priority in his platform.

Australia

In August 2017, Liberal Senator for Victoria, James Paterson, published an opinion-piece in the Australian Financial Review declaring support for CANZUK free trade and free movement, stating "With Australia, New Zealand and Canada all lining up to sign post-Brexit trade agreements with the United Kingdom, we have an opportunity to push for a wide-ranging agreement between all four Commonwealth nations...It's an idea whose time has come."

New Zealand

In New Zealand, ACT New Zealand has expressed support for a "free-movement zone", with leader David Seymour stating, "Successful nations like Britain and New Zealand shouldn't be putting up walls and shutting off from each other when it's the exchange of ideas that has made our nations so prosperous. Brexit provides new options as Britain pivots away from European immigration. Let's approach Britain with a proposal for a two-way free movement agreement".

In April 2018 Simon Bridges MP, then Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the National Party, announced his support for CANZUK.

Leader of the New Zealand First political party Winston Peters called in February 2016 for a Commonwealth Free Trade Area modelled on the one in existence between Australia and New Zealand. In his comments, he suggested the inclusion of the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in this area, with the possibility of adding others, referring to the putative free trade area as a 'Closer Commonwealth Economic Relations' area, or CCER. CCER was included as New Zealand government policy in the Labour-NZ First coalition agreement.

United Kingdom

On 11 July 2012, Andrew Rosindell MP for Romford put forward a private members' bill to the UK Parliament which would involve allowing "subjects of Her Majesty's realms to enter the United Kingdom through a dedicated channel at international terminals", "display prominently a portrait of Her Majesty as Head of State" and the Union flag, and other provisions, which would include citizens of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with the stated aim of introducing reciprocal border agreements between the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms in the future. The bill was supported by MPs Nigel Dodds (DUP), Rory Stewart (Conservative), Bob Blackman (Conservative), Steve Baker (Conservative), Priti Patel (Conservative), Mark Menzies (Conservative), Kate Hoey (Labour), Ian Paisley (DUP), John Redwood (Conservative) and Thomas Docherty (Labour). The "Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session ... and [made] no further progress."

The Adam Smith Institute expressed its support for CANZUK in early 2018.

Then Conservative Party MEP for South East England Daniel Hannan expressed his support for CANZUK as a guest speaker at the 2018 Canadian Conservative Party convention in Halifax. Scottish Conservative MP Bill Grant also expressed his support for increased ties between the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand on his webpage in 2018 and stated that British Ministers are aware of CANZUK and "are very enthusiastic about our future relationships and trade with each of the countries involved".

Since early 2020, the grassroots Conservative Party movement Conservatives for CANZUK has influenced MPs to build support for a post-Brexit realignment of British foreign policy among Conservative Party members, other MPs, peers and policy makers. Open supporters includes 23 MPs among whom notably include Jeremy Hunt and Paul Bristow - chairman of the CANZUK APPG.

Opposing views

Critics have suggested that the CANZUK project would not make sense as a geopolitical construct in the 21st century. Nick Cohen wrote in April 2016 that "It's a Eurosceptic fantasy that the 'Anglosphere' wants Brexit", and emphasises the gradual separation that has occurred between each of the states in both legal and political culture since the end of the British Empire.

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd reiterated this sentiment, stating that "much as any Australian, Canadian and New Zealand governments of whichever persuasion would do whatever they could to frame new free-trade agreements with the UK, the bottom line is that 65 million of us do not come within a bull's roar of Britain's adjacent market of 450 million Europeans".

Economic, geographical, political and social complexities would limit the influence that this bloc could exert. Only one of the countries (the United Kingdom) has significant military capabilities, and it is the only one with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The UK's economy is considerably bigger than those of each of the three other countries.

Chris Randle wrote in the American, left-wing Jacobin that "Anglo-conservatives sometimes fantasize about reuniting the dominions under “CANZUK,” a trade bloc where workers could be exploited freely. In Europe's most regionally unequal economy, the United Kingdom, desiccated from years of austerity, this is what passes for political ambition: necromancers sewing each other's zombies together."

Official views

On a visit to Australia in September 2019, Liz Truss, then the UK International Trade Secretary, stated that the British government would raise free movement between Australia and the UK during post-Brexit negotiations for a free-trade agreement.

In January 2020, it was reported that Australia's Morrison government was opposed to expanding freedom of movement between Australia and the UK. Australian trade minister Simon Birmingham had said he "can't imagine full and unfettered free movement" would be discussed during post-Brexit negotiations for a free-trade agreement. Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison had earlier said in September 2019 that "the New Zealand arrangement is quite unique and it's not one we would probably ever contemplate extending".

See also