Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be absent from the National Remembrance Day ceremonies on Friday in Ottawa to attend a summit in Cambodia involving countries from across Southeast Asia.

Senior officials revealed the planned absence of the Prime Minister during a non-attributable briefing, saying Trudeau will leave late Thursday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Phnom Penh.

The ASEAN summit, scheduled to begin on Saturday, is the first of four international meetings Trudeau will attend over 10 days. He will also attend the G20 summit in Indonesia, the APEC meeting in Thailand, and the Francophonie summit in Tunisia.

Also, officials said the Prime Minister instead met with military personnel and veterans in New Brunswick earlier this week, where he also expressed his respect for those who served in Canada.

Trudeau was also absent from the National Remembrance Day celebration in 2018 because he was attending an international gathering of world leaders in France to mark the centenary of the end of World War I.

Additionally, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Legion, which organizes and manages the national celebration every year, said the Prime Minister and other senior government representatives are always invited to attend.