Description of Canadian Government Offices Abroad

Description of Canadian Government Offices Abroad

Canada has diplomatic and consular offices in over 270 locations in approximately 180 foreign countries. These offices provide a variety of services, although not all offices provide every service. The offices include embassies, high commissions, permanent missions, consulates general, consulates, consulates headed by honorary consuls, and offices. Except for consulates headed by honorary consuls, all of the offices have Canadian staff in addition to locally engaged staff members.

Canadian government offices abroad are established in accordance with two international treaties:

the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and
the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Addresses for the various Canadian government offices abroad are available www.voyage.gc.ca/main/fordest/foreign_view_client-en.asp. The names of Canadian diplomatic and consular staff at each office can be found at www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/world/embassies/cra-en.asp.

Embassies: These are offices located in the capital cities of other countries and generally offer the full range of services, including consular services. For example, the Canadian offices in Washington, D.C. and Tokyo are embassies.

High commissions: These are the same as embassies but are located in the capital cities of Commonwealth countries. The Canadian offices in London and Canberra are high commissions.

Permanent missions: These are offices located in the headquarters city of major international organizations. Examples of these are located at the United Nations in New York, at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., and at the mission to the European Union (EU) in Brussels. They do not provide consular services to Canadians except for the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, Conference on Disarmament and the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

Consulates general: These are offices located in major but not capital cities. They generally offer the full range of services, including consular services. Examples are located in Los Angeles and São Paulo, Brazil.

Consulates: These are similar to consulates general but in some instances do not offer the full range of services. However, they do offer consular services. Examples are located in Munich, Germany; and Chongqing, China.

Consulates headed by honorary consuls: Canada has over 100 offices headed by persons who are designated as an honorary consul in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. These offices are located in both capital and non-capital cities and provide only a limited range of services. They do provide consular services. These offices are located in such cities as San Juan, Puerto Rico; Asunción, Paraguay; and Kampala, Uganda.

Offices: In a number of cities, capital and non-capital, Canada has offices that are designated as "Office of the Canadian Embassy" or "Office of the High Commission," depending on the nature of the supervising mission. Generally, these are established for specific work in support of Canada's foreign aid program. They usually include a Canada-based development officer and provide limited consular services. Such offices are located in Recife, Brazil; and Lilongwe, Malawi.

Canada and Australia have an agreement that provides for consular services to each other's citizens at a number of locations around the world. At this time, there are 19 locations where Canadian offices provide consular services to Australians, and 21 other cities where Canadians can obtain consular services from Australian offices. For example, Canadians can obtain consular services from the Australian consulates general in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Bali, Indonesia. In an emergency, Canadians can also seek assistance from British offices around the world if there is no resident Canadian office.

Diplomatic and Consular Titles

Canada follows normal international practice in the designations given to Canada-based staff serving in offices in other countries. The international rules for such appointments are found in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Optional Protocols and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and Optional Protocols.

Canada uses the full range of designations, but not all are necessarily used in a particular office, depending on its size and location. The designations used by Canada are as follows:

A. Embassies, High Commissions and Permanent Missions

Ambassador/high commissioner: The senior officer at an embassy, high commission or permanent mission. Occasionally, the designation "ambassador" is used for special purposes such as the Ambassador for Disarmament or the Ambassador for the Environment. These ambassadors are located in Ottawa and travel extensively to fulfil their responsibilities.

Minister: The number two in an embassy, high commission or permanent mission. This title is used only in very large missions such as those located in Washington or Tokyo.

Minister-counsellor: The third rank in Canadian embassies, high commissions or permanent missions.

Counsellor: The fourth rank in Canadian embassies, high commissions or permanent missions.

First, second and third secretaries: The lower ranks of Canadian diplomatic designations.

Attaché: This designation is used for persons who perform specialized functions within an embassy, high commission or permanent mission. Such functions include military, police and security liaison and administrative and technical work in support of mission activities.

Consul and vice-consul: These are functional designations and usually denote persons who provide consular services.

B. Consulates

Only three designations are used: (a) consul general: the senior person in the consulate general; (b) consul; and (c) vice-consul.

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