Canada supports OPCW missions in Syria through voluntary contributions

Permanent Representative of The Government of Canada to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Hugh Adsett, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias

THE HAGUE, Netherlands-22 April 2026- The Government of Canada has voluntarily contributed CAD 5 million (approx. EUR 3.1 million) to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions.

The amount of CAD 5 million will support Syria-related missions and activities carried out by the OPCW Technical Secretariat. Its objectives include establishing the full scope of Syria's chemical weapons programme, verifying all declarable elements, supporting the development and implementation of a destruction plan, and investigating allegations of chemical weapons use, including the identification of those responsible.

The voluntary contribution was marked during a meeting held between the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Canada to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Hugh Adsett, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, at the Organisation's Headquarters in The Hague.

Director-General Arias stated: "I express my sincere appreciation to Canada for this important contribution to the OPCW's work in Syria. Continued support from intentional community, such as the one from Canada, is essential to advance efforts on closing the Syrian chemical weapon dossier, a matter of fundamental importance to international peace and security. "

Background

Canada has been an active member of the OPCW since the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997. Canada is represented on the Advisory Body on Administrative and Financial Matters and on Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the OPCW.

To date, Canada has contributed a total of nearly EUR 32 million to various trust funds, including the Trust Fund for the Implementation of Article X, earmarked for OPCW assistance and protection activities related to Ukraine and the Trust Fund for Syria Missions.

Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 under a stringent verification regime. While Syria submitted an initial declaration of its chemical weapons (CW) programme, the former Syrian government did not declare all its CW programme and attempted - unsuccessfully - to mislead the international community about the overall scope and scale of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Furthermore, the Technical Secretariat documented and independently confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria both by the former Syrian military forces and by non-state actors, specifically ISIS/ISIL.

The fall of the Assad government in December 2024 created an opportunity to uncover the full scope of Syria's chemical weapons programme and to eliminate it in line with the CWC. In February 2025, the OPCW Director-General visited Syria and held separate meetings with the Syrian President and Foreign Minister. They expressed Syria's recognition of all OPCW mandates, including the identification of perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria and reaffirmed Syria's full commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the CWC. In March 2025, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited the OPCW and addressed the Executive Council, where he renewed Syria's commitment to the Convention.

Since the visit by the Director-General to Damascus in February 2025, the OPCW Technical Secretariat deployed several times to Syria, involving visits to suspected locations, sampling, interviews, collection of documents related to Syria's chemical weapons programme, and coordination.

Since November 2025, OPCW has re-established a continuous presence in Syria to facilitate upcoming inventory, destruction and verification-related activities. The work related to the Syrian chemical weapons dossier - verification of declarations and investigation of use of toxic chemicals as weapons - is now coordinated by the OPCW Office of Special Missions.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention's entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 - totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents - have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW's strict verification regime.

For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.