Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Summit of the Americas?
What is the main goal of the Summit of the Americas Process?
Why does Canada participate in the Summit of the Americas?
Who participates in the Summit meetings?
How does civil society participate in the Summit?
How many Summits have there been?
How does the hemisphere prepare for the Summit?
What is the OAS's role in the Summit of the Americas process?
How much money has Canada spent to implement Summit decisions?

What is the Summit of the Americas?

First organized in 1994, Summits of the Americas are periodic meetings that bring together the thirty-four democratically elected Heads of State and Government of the Americas. Participants seek solutions on diverse hemispheric issues with the goal of creating greater integration and cooperation in the hemisphere.

Other participants at the Summit are observers to the meetings. They include the heads of the institution members of the Joint Summit Working Group and other special guests, such as representatives from civil society the private sector, academia and the media.

More information on this subject can be found on Foreign Affairs Canada's main Summit site and on the official Summit of the Americas Secretariat site.

What is the main goal of the Summit of the Americas Process?

"Commitment to hemispheric integration and national and collective responsibility for improving the economic well-being and security of our people."

Each Summit focuses on different hemispheric issues. The choice of topics is at the discretion of the host country. Job creation is the theme for the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit.

The themes of the 2004 Monterrey Special Summit were growth with equity, social development and democratic governance. The 2001 Quebec City Summit themes were democracy, human rights and growth with equity. In Santiago in 1998, the theme was education and the 1994 Miami Summit focused on the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

These topics were analyzed and discussed because they are some of the common challenges faced by all countries of the Hemisphere. The Summit process allows the 34 Leaders to seek shared solutions to improve the quality of life for all citizens of the Americas.

Summits usually produce an official Declaration and Plan of Action which all Member States agree to and sign. The commitments made in the Plan of Action become the road map for all Member States to follow until the next Summit.

Why does Canada participate in the Summits of the Americas?

The Summit of the Americas process is very important to Canada as a vehicle through which the Government can promote its hemispheric agenda. Issues on the agenda include commitment to democratic principles, promotion of human rights and human security, reduction of both poverty and inequality, and economic integration via a region-wide free trade agreement.

Who participates in the Summits of the Americas?

Participants at Summits include the 34 nations of the hemisphere that have democratically elected Heads of State and Government. The Summits of the Americas nations are the same as the 34 Member States of the Organization of American States. The 35th OAS member State, Cuba, has been suspended since 1962.

The countries that participate in the Summits are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Other participants are observers at the meetings. They include the heads of the institution members of the Joint Summit Working Group and other special guests such as representatives from civil society, the private sector, academia and the media.

How does civil society participate in the Summit?

The Government of Canada firmly believes that all sectors of society should be engaged in the hemispheric process. Civil society includes action groups, volunteer organizations, academics, non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, unions and the business community. The Government's policy of openness and transparency with civil society groups helps facilitate dialogue on Summit objectives and common issues affecting all citizens of the hemisphere.

How many Summits have there been?

The upcoming Mar del Plata Summit in November will be the fourth official Summit. Three previous Summits have been held in Miami (1994), Santiago (1998), and Quebec City (2001).

There has also been a Special Summit of the Americas held in Monterrey in 2004. The Monterrey Summit focused on anti-corruption and was organized at the request of the Canadian government to address the significant political, economic and social changes that had taken place in the hemisphere since the Quebec City Summit in 2001.

How does the hemisphere prepare for the Summit?

The Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) process was established following the First Summit of the Americas in Miami (1994). The SIRG mandate is to monitor Summit implementation by providing a forum where member states can publicly share their national reports on implementation of Summit commitments. National reports are submitted three times a year: once by Foreign Ministers on the margins of the OAS General Assembly and twice more at regular SIRG meetings.

What is the OAS's role in the Summit of the Americas process?

Since the 1994 First Summit in Miami, the OAS has been a key institution in support of the commitments made at the Summit of the Americas.

The Quebec City Summit designated the OAS as Secretariat of the Summits process through its Office of Summit Follow Up, which was created in 1998. To formalize this role, in 2002 the Office was renamed the Secretariat for the Summit Process and its responsibilities were strengthened.

The Secretariat is now responsible for co-ordinating the implementation of Summit mandates in the OAS. It also provides support to ministerial and sectoral meetings, the SIRG, the Executive Council and Steering Committee of the SIRG, and the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities. The Secretariat also supports the preparation for and the follow up to each Summit.

The OAS, through the Secretariat, has been actively involved in preparing for the Mar del Plata Summit, including co-ordinating the participation of civil society at the Summit and in the OAS.

How much money has Canada spent to implement Summit decisions?

Canada has committed approximately $680 million since April 2001 in support of the Quebec City Summit of the Americas Plan of Action and Monterrey's 2004 Declaration of Nuevo Leon. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has allocated more than $500 million of this amount with the remainder from Foreign Affairs Canada.

Expenditure details are found in Canada's tri-annual National Report on Summit Implementation. Each of the 34 member nations in the Summit of the Americas process makes these documents public.