Canada and Saudi Arabia announced today, Wednesday, that they have restored their diplomatic relations after five years of severance (new window) due to disagreements over human rights.

In a statement, the Canadian Ministry of Global Affairs said, "The two sides agreed to restore diplomatic relations based on mutual respect and shared interests."

The warming of relations between the two countries comes six months after a meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

Relations between the two countries had been frozen since August 2018, after the arrest of Saudi women's rights activist Samar Badawi, sister of Raif Badawi, who had been imprisoned since 2012.

The latter was sentenced to 10 years in prison due to his liberal posts published on an online blog. He was also flogged fifty lashes, which led his family to leave the country and settle in Canada.

At the time of the arrest of Raif Badawi’s sister, then Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland publicly expressed concern over their fate on Twitter and called for their release.

In response, Saudi Arabia subsequently announced the expulsion of the Canadian ambassador, the recall of its ambassador, forced thousands of its scholarship students to leave Canada, and froze new trade exchanges and investments with Canada.

The kingdom condemned Canada’s "dictates" that criticized the oppression of regime opponents.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said today, Wednesday, that the two countries "will appoint new ambassadors," and a statement from her ministry said Jean-Philippe Linteau will be the new Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The latter held the position of Consul General in Dubai from 2019 to 2023.

Notably, this announcement from Riyadh is the latest in a series of rapprochements between Saudi Arabia and other countries, including Iran, the competing regional power, a few weeks ago, and then Syria.

The kingdom is also trying to exert efforts to reach a ceasefire in Sudan, where two generals have been fighting a war since April 15.