[1] Initially, ties between the two nations were dormant, but since the 1990s relations between Canada and Mexico have positively developed as both countries brokered NAFTA.

[1] Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1867; Canada delayed in establishing diplomatic relations with Mexico due to the expropriation of foreign oil companies in 1938.

Formal relations between the two nations did not begin until 30 January 1944, at the height of Second World War, which both countries participated in on the Allied side.

In 1968, a joint ministerial commission was set up by both nations to meet every two years to discuss and analyze mutual interests in promoting development and deepening bilateral relations.

The Canadian government under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney feared that the advantages Canada had through the Canada-US FTA would be undermined, and asked to become a party to the US-Mexican talks.

In an editorial in The Globe and Mail on that occasion Peña Nieto characterized the relationship before 1994 as one of "mutual benign neglect" but praised the increase in trade and travel between the two countries since NAFTA.

He called for increased Canadian foreign direct investment in Mexico, especially in the petroleum industry, though he said that Pemex, the state oil company, would remain the owner of the resources.

In December 2018, Governor General Julie Payette attended the inauguration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

[10] Canadian multinational companies such as Bombardier Inc., BlackBerry, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Scotiabank operate in Mexico.