Summary

The Dominion of Canada formed in 1867, but as an integral part of the British Empire its foreign relations remained under the control of London. Over the next six decades Canada gradually won greater control over its external affairs, spurred in part by the demands of managing its relationship with the United States. American and Canadian government officials increasingly interacted through joint commissions and military cooperation, and the two governments even negotiated a bilateral fisheries treaty in 1923. It was not until 1926, however, that the United Kingdom acknowledged that Canada was fully autonomous in the conduct of its foreign affairs.