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“We have stood shoulder to shoulder from the great wars of the last century to fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and supporting Arab Spring Nations like Libya and Syria. We are first cousins.

“So it is natural that we look to link up our embassies with Canada’s in places where that suits both countries. It will give us a bigger reach abroad for our businesses and people for less cost.”

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird confirmed Sunday that Baird and Hague will meet Monday and make a joint announcement in the afternoon on Parliament Hill. But the spokesman said no further details would be disclosed until “after a formal announcement.”

Hague, who led the Conservative opposition in Britain from 1997 to 2001 during the Labour government era of former prime minister Tony Blair, was named U.K. foreign secretary in 2010 after current Prime Minister David Cameron led the Conservatives to a minority victory and formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

No specific countries have been mentioned for potential joint Commonwealth embassies. But a report in the British newspaper the Daily Mail indicated that, “in remote nations where Canada but not Britain has an embassy, or vice versa, they will share the embassy. Similar arrangements are expected to include Australia and New Zealand.”

Canada does, in some instances, share consular facilities in foreign countries with, for example, Australia. Such arrangements are typically sought out when Canada doesn’t have extensive enough trade or political relations with a distant nation to justify opening its own embassy, but requires a place from which to provide basic consular services for Canadians travelling to that country.