Canada confirms that it will lift the visa requirement for Mexican visitors

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, announced that his country will lift the visa requirement for Mexican visitors effective December 1, 2016.

“Canada is pleased to deliver on the government’s commitment to lift the visa requirement for Mexican nationals. We look forward to the social and economic benefits that lifting the visa requirement will bring to both countries, especially to the middle class here in Canada,” Prime Minister Trudeau said. 

Canada's previous Conservative government imposed the visa requirement in 2009, claiming it was needed to stop thousands of asylum claims being made by Mexican citizens. The requirement caught the Mexican government off guard, and has stood as a major irritant between the two countries.

At a joint press conference, President Enrique Peña Nieto also announced that Mexico will lift restrictions on Canadian beef, ending 13 years of restrictions related to mad cow disease.

Mexico currently imports Canadian beef only from cattle under 30 months old, since Canada in 2003 reported its first case of mad cow, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Canada is the world's sixth-largest beef and veal exporter, and currently sells on average US$103.96 million worth of beef annually to Mexico, the eighth-biggest global beef consumer, according to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

President Peña Nieto is in Canada to attend the North American Leaders' Summit.

Earlier in the day Peña and Trudeau signed cooperation agreements in security, indigenous issues, tourism, small and medium enterprises and support to the development of Central America and the Caribbean.

Mexico is Canada's sixth largest trading partner.

(With information from AP and Reuters)