From the E-Visa to Expo and the World Cup: Amal Almoalimi on a New Chapter in Saudi–Canadian Relations

Saudi Ambassador to Canada: Major partnerships reach their full value when their opportunities extend to citizens, entrepreneurs and the transfer of knowledge between both countries

When Her Excellency Amal Yahya Almoalimi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Canada, speaks about the new chapter in relations between Riyadh and Ottawa, she does not begin with the size of agreements alone, nor does she stop at the figures that reflect the growing interests between the two countries.

One question returns repeatedly throughout the conversation:

Who will ultimately feel the impact of this relationship?

Can a major agreement translate into an opportunity for a small business? Can expanded air cargo give entrepreneurs better access to the other market? Will companies arrive with expertise, complete their projects and leave, or will that knowledge remain with engineers, technicians and institutions? And can easier travel allow Saudis and Canadians to know one another more directly?

Those questions, perhaps more than anything else, capture Almoalimi’s view of what the next stage of the relationship should look like.

The interview comes at a moment of renewed momentum in Saudi–Canadian relations following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s official visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2026, where he met Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. It was the first visit to the Kingdom by a Canadian prime minister in 26 years.

During the visit, the two countries announced 13 commercial agreements and memorandums of understanding worth more than $1 billion, spanning sectors including mining, infrastructure and health technology, alongside wider cooperation in education, energy, artificial intelligence and knowledge transfer.

Before looking at this new momentum, is it accurate to describe the earlier period as a break in relations between the two countries?

Almoalimi is careful about the terminology.

Saudi–Canadian relations, she stresses, were not severed during the period of cooler ties. Rather, the level of diplomatic representation was reduced. Diplomatic channels remained in place at a lower level before relations later returned to ambassadorial representation.

That distinction is consistent with the language used by the Government of Canada in May 2023, when Ottawa announced that both countries had decided to “restore the level of diplomatic relations” to its previous level and appoint new ambassadors.

For Almoalimi, the difference is not merely linguistic.

The fact that channels remained open meant the relationship did not have to be rebuilt from the ground up. There was already a foundation on which both countries could build once the political will emerged to broaden engagement.

She therefore sees the current phase not as the creation of an entirely new relationship, but as the expansion of one that remained in place and is now opening into new fields.

With this renewed momentum, where do you see the real value of the next phase?

Almoalimi sees broad opportunities in education, training, technology, artificial intelligence, energy, infrastructure, mining, tourism and knowledge transfer.

But her focus is not simply on the size of a project or the name of the company signing the contract.

Around every major project, she points out, another economy begins to move: subcontractors, suppliers, logistics providers, technology firms, tourism and hospitality services, training programmes and specialised trades.

This is where she sees an important opportunity for the impact of major partnerships to reach small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, rather than remaining concentrated within the large institutions that signed the original agreements.

The current bilateral framework also reflects an intention to deepen investment and create wider commercial opportunities as the two countries expand cooperation across strategic sectors.

For Almoalimi, the major contract matters, but so does what it creates around it.

A large company may win the principal project, yet implementing that project can require dozens of smaller businesses.

That is the point at which a major agreement begins to reach the entrepreneur.

Does air cargo become one of the tools that can help businesses benefit from these opportunities?

Almoalimi views air cargo as an integral part of developing trade, rather than a separate transportation issue.

The expanded air transport agreement between Saudi Arabia and Canada now allows up to 14 passenger flights per week for each country, as well as unlimited all-cargo services, a significant expansion from the previous framework.

For the Ambassador, the importance of that change lies in a simple reality: a commercial agreement still needs a practical route between markets.

Goods, equipment, products and project requirements have to move. The greater the flexibility in cargo and market access, the easier it becomes for companies to participate in trade between the two countries.

That is particularly relevant to smaller businesses and entrepreneurs that may enter major projects as suppliers, subcontractors or service providers.

Air cargo, in that sense, is not simply about moving freight. It becomes one link in a wider chain that allows trade to reach a broader business community.

And what about the citizen? Where does the individual begin to feel the change in the relationship?

At this point, Almoalimi turns to Saudi Arabia’s electronic tourist visa.

Saudi Arabia has made the eVisa available to Canadian citizens. It is generally valid for one year, permits multiple entries and allows stays of up to 90 days under its terms.

But the Ambassador looks at the policy from a perspective that goes beyond the mechanics of travel.

When visiting Saudi Arabia becomes easier, Canadians gain the opportunity to see for themselves the changes taking place in the Kingdom and to experience Saudi society directly, rather than relying only on perceptions formed from abroad.

They can visit its cities, meet its people, see universities, workplaces, projects and public events, and experience its culture and everyday life.

Travel then becomes a form of direct understanding.

At the same time, Almoalimi hopes the developing relationship will bring further facilitation for Saudi citizens wishing to visit Canada, supporting easier movement and exchange between both societies.

She does not present this as an isolated consular issue, but as part of the relationship itself.

Students travel. Entrepreneurs travel. Tourists and families travel. Professionals travel.

And as movement becomes easier, opportunities for education, tourism, business, cultural exchange and direct human contact grow with it.

Could we also see direct flights between Riyadh and Canada?

This is one of the developments Almoalimi hopes the next phase can bring.

She would like to see a direct air link between Riyadh and Canada, including the possibility of Air Canada operating a direct route, alongside a broader presence by Saudi carriers in the Canadian market.

For her, direct connectivity would serve several sectors at the same time. It could support tourism, make travel easier for businesspeople, students and families, and strengthen participation in conferences, events and commercial projects.

The importance of that connectivity becomes even greater as Saudi Arabia prepares for two major international milestones: Expo 2030 Riyadh and the FIFA World Cup 2034.

What opportunities could Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup create for Saudi–Canadian cooperation?

Almoalimi sees considerable potential in both events.

Expo 2030 will take place in Riyadh from October 2030 through March 2031, and Canada has formally confirmed its intention to participate. The two countries have also highlighted the 2034 FIFA World Cup as a platform for collaboration and exchange.

But the Ambassador looks beyond the events themselves.

Hosting global events of this scale requires a vast ecosystem of hotels, tourism services, transportation, construction, technology, logistics, training and operations. That, in her view, creates real space for Canadian expertise.

She cited the hospitality sector and brands such as Fairmont as an example of the kind of experience that could contribute to hotel management, tourism, professional training and service standards as Saudi Arabia expands its hospitality capacity in preparation for Expo and the World Cup.

The opportunity does not end with a major company building or operating a hotel. A hotel project also requires suppliers, fit-out companies, food services, technology providers, maintenance, transportation, training and many other activities in which smaller companies can participate.

In this way, Expo 2030 and the World Cup can become platforms for transferring expertise and widening economic participation, rather than simply major international events that attract visitors.

The central question remains the same: how does a large opportunity travel down the economic chain?

You repeatedly return to the idea of knowledge transfer. Why is it so important to you?

Because Almoalimi does not measure an economic partnership only by the investment entering a market.

A project that ends but leaves behind new expertise has a value beyond the contract itself.

When an expert works alongside a Saudi engineer or technician, when a Canadian institution trains Saudi professionals, or when a local company learns a new method of management or operation, that knowledge remains after the project is completed.

This is already beginning to take practical form. Agreements announced during Carney’s visit included Canadian college expertise supporting the training of the Saudi workforce in construction, skilled trades, medicine and technology.

At that point, the relationship becomes more than a commercial exchange.

It becomes an investment in people.

Where does mining fit into this map of cooperation?

Almoalimi places mining and mineral resources among the most promising fields for Saudi–Canadian cooperation.

Saudi Arabia is working to expand mining as part of its economic diversification, while Canada brings longstanding experience in exploration, geology, engineering and resource development.

The sector has already become part of the formal bilateral agenda. The July discussions highlighted cooperation in mining and critical minerals and opened further space for Canadian companies and expertise to participate in Saudi projects.

Almoalimi also points to the experience found in Alberta in resources and minerals as one area from which Saudi Arabia can draw useful knowledge.

Alberta has developed its own minerals strategy around geoscience, exploration, investment and responsible mineral development, providing a relevant body of experience for wider cooperation.

Yet Almoalimi returns once more to the same question.

Not only: who will deliver the project?

But: what will we learn from it?

Will expertise reach engineers and technicians? Will institutions develop new capabilities? Will local partners be able, years later, to perform work they could not previously undertake?

That, for her, is the deeper value of partnership.

With so much discussion of economics and technology, where does culture fit?

Almoalimi does not place culture at the bottom of the cooperation agenda.

For her, a relationship between two countries cannot be completed through economics alone.

Art exhibitions, universities, cultural events, tourism and community encounters all create spaces in which people can know one another outside formal meeting rooms.

Economics creates shared interests, and education transfers knowledge. Culture, meanwhile, allows people to encounter one another through their lives, art and ways of thinking.

That is why she hopes to see greater cultural activity and more direct interaction between Saudi and Canadian society in the years ahead.

Before diplomacy, there were years of education, dialogue, social development and human rights. What remains of those experiences in Amal Almoalimi today?

Here, the conversation moves away from policy and economics and reveals another side of the Ambassador.

She does not see diplomacy as a position that should create distance between her and the people around her.

“I am someone who does not want to limit myself to being a diplomat,” she said. “I want there to be interaction between me and the staff, and between me and outside organisations. I teach them, I learn from them, and I benefit from their experience as well.”

The remark says a great deal about her approach.

Knowledge, for Almoalimi, does not travel in only one direction.

She brings experience to the people who work with her, but she also believes they have something to teach her.

She gives, and leaves room to receive.

Perhaps that explains why dialogue has remained so present throughout her career, from education and social work to diplomacy.

For Almoalimi, engagement does not begin at the embassy door when she meets the outside world. It begins inside, with colleagues and the people she works with every day.

In that sense, holding a position does not remove the need to keep learning.

As a Saudi woman representing the Kingdom in a Western country, what would you most like others to understand about Saudi Arabia today?

Almoalimi does not present her own experience as an individual story detached from Saudi society.

She places it within a much broader social transformation.

When the conversation reaches this point, she refers directly to Saudi Vision 2030 as a better starting point for understanding what is happening inside the Kingdom than perceptions formed from abroad.

That reference is important.

Vision 2030 is often viewed internationally through investment, tourism, economic diversification and major projects, but it also places a vibrant society among its central pillars and focuses on creating conditions in which people can thrive and pursue their potential.

In the Arabic leadership message accompanying Vision 2030, the Kingdom it seeks to build is described as a strong and prosperous country that “accommodates everyone,” guided by moderation and acceptance of others.

That language helps explain an important part of Almoalimi’s message.

Change does not mean Saudi society must become a copy of another society.

Nor does openness require it to lose its own identity.

Rather, it means widening the space in which people can learn, work, participate, pursue activities, develop their abilities and interact with others without every difference becoming a source of preconceived judgment or confrontation.

Almoalimi places the story of Saudi women within that same context.

She does not want one old stereotype to be replaced by another, even if the new one appears more positive.

What matters is that people see the reality itself: wider participation, more diverse opportunities, and Saudi women present across education, business, diplomacy, science, culture and many other areas of public life.

A Saudi woman serving as ambassador is part of that transformation.

It is not the whole transformation.

Can travel and direct human contact genuinely change preconceived ideas?

Almoalimi believes direct experience remains one of the strongest ways to understand another society.

We live in a time when information about other countries has never been more accessible, yet old images and assumptions can still survive for years.

This is where several parts of her vision begin to converge.

The eVisa makes travel easier, air connectivity opens the route, universities bring students together, companies bring professionals together, cultural events bring communities together, and Expo and the World Cup bring people from around the world into the same space.

In every case, there is an opportunity to see the other person directly.

The point is not for Saudis to tell Canadians how they must see Saudi Arabia, nor for Canadians to tell Saudis how they must see Canada.

The point is to give both sides enough space to meet, and then form their own understanding through genuine experience.

If we were to sit down again several years from now, what would you hope had been achieved?

Almoalimi does not reduce the answer to higher trade figures or a larger number of agreements.

She hopes to see easier movement between the two countries and further facilitation for Saudi citizens wishing to visit Canada.

She hopes to see Air Canada operating a direct route between Riyadh and Canada, stronger cargo and trade flows, and broader cooperation in mining, technology, education and tourism.

She also hopes to see meaningful Canadian participation in the opportunities created around Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup.

But above all, she wants the impact of the relationship to reach a wider circle.

A small company winning a subcontract inside a major project.

An engineer or technician gaining new expertise.

An entrepreneur finding a route into a market that once seemed difficult to reach.

A Canadian visiting Saudi Arabia and returning with an impression shaped by personal experience.

And more Saudis and Canadians becoming part of one another’s institutions, projects and everyday lives.

Government agreements are essential, and major partnerships open doors.

But the question that remained present throughout Almoalimi’s conversation was ultimately a simple one:

How far will their benefits reach?

When citizens, entrepreneurs, students and professionals can answer that question through their own experience, Saudi–Canadian relations will have moved beyond the pages of official agreements and into people’s lives.