Diplomatic relations between Sudan and Canada were established in May 1961, when the Sudanese Ambassador in Washington was accredited to Ottawa and the Canadian Ambassador in Cairo was accredited to Khartoum. Sudan opened its first Embassy in Ottawa on December 27, 1978, and, after a temporary closure in 1983 due to budget cuts, the mission reopened in 1985, following which Canadian aid to Sudan increased significantly. Canada’s development agency, CIDA, was active in Sudan from the late 1970s through the 1980s, supporting agriculture, forestry, and infrastructure, and a General Agreement on Development Co-operation was signed in 1982. Canada established a bureau in Khartoum in 2000, elevated it to a full Embassy in 2004, and appointed its first resident Ambassador to Sudan on February 16, 2021, reflecting a relationship built on development, humanitarian assistance, and people-to-people ties.