May 21, 2024

Philadelphia, United States of America

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today concluded a successful visit to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of Team Canada’s work to promote the Canada-U.S. relationship, advance opportunities to grow cross-border trade, and deliver fairness for every generation.

In Philadelphia, the Prime Minister participated in the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Quadrennial North American Convention, where he delivered remarks highlighting the strong partnership between Canada and the U.S. as well as the crucial work of labour unions – including in the health care sector – to protect workers’ rights, create stability, defend good middle-class jobs, and build dynamic economies on both sides of the border.

At the Convention, Prime Minister Trudeau joined the Vice-President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris, to meet with union representatives and discuss the important contributions of organized labour, exemplified by our cross-border unions.

The two leaders discussed how Canada and the U.S. can further strengthen our close relationship and work together in areas of mutual interest. This includes increasing trade and investment, scaling up our cross-border supply chains, supporting our manufacturing sectors, and accelerating the transition to net-zero. This is part of our shared commitment to build a better, fairer, and more prosperous future for Canadians and Americans alike.

The Prime Minister also met with the Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, to discuss the importance of the Canada-Pennsylvania relationship. The leaders highlighted Canada and Pennsylvania’s rich ties: Pennsylvania is home to a large number of Canadians, and in 2023, Canadian-owned companies employed 30,300 workers in the state. Canada also has an extensive footprint in Pennsylvania, with US$13.6 billion in exports to the state every year.

Additionally, Prime Minister Trudeau participated in a roundtable with U.S. business leaders to showcase Canada as an important partner and excellent investment destination and to discuss opportunities for future commercial, investment, and trade collaboration.

While in Philadelphia, the Prime Minister, alongside other world leaders and representatives from industry, academia, and civil society, took part virtually in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Seoul Summit. During the Summit, Prime Minister Trudeau highlighted Canada’s leadership and investments in AI, including through a $2.4 billion package of measures announced in Budget 2024. He also joined a joint Leaders’ declaration on AI governance – the Seoul Declaration for Safe, Innovative and Inclusive AI – that will serve as a roadmap to advance AI safety around the world, including through an international network of AI Safety Institutes. As part of the Budget 2024 measures on AI, the federal government announced an investment of $50 million to create a Canadian AI Safety Institute to further the safe development and deployment of AI, joining the United Kingdom, the U.S., and Japan that have set up similar institutes. Leading up to the Summit, Canada and the United Kingdom also negotiated a joint ministerial statement on AI safety to deepen their collaboration in that field.

PMO