Today, the two countries collaborate in a number of different fields, including trade and industry, security and peacekeeping, the Arctic, and research and education.
One of the first links between Canada and Norway was established in Newfoundland some 1000 years ago, when the Vikings arrived and established the first known European settlement in North America. They were later followed by fishermen, tradesmen and immigrants. Norwegian polar explorers set foot on Canadian soil from the final years of the nineteenth century, amongst them Otto Sverdrup, who mapped large tracts of the Arctic regions. Following World War 2, Canada and Norway entered into NATO, continuing the extensive cooperation that originated during the war. Collaboration at the United Nations and other international multilateral forums also characterize the Canadian-Norwegian relationship.
Canada and Norway share domestic similarities as relatively small populations spread over a vast country with abundance in natural resources, they are large producers and exporters of oil and gas, and important geo political actors in the Arctic. Both countries have a rich, but fragile northern environment, and consequently are committed to environmentally sustainable resource management.