The central objective of this paper is to identify salient factors and processes that have contributed to the rise in cooperation between Canada and Latin America over the past century. There are a number of theories or conceptual frameworks within the disciplines of comparative politics and foreign policy that one might employ to better understand how and why cycles of cooperation (and conflict) have manifested themselves in the region. For example, regime theory, integration theory, and cultural analysis, have all been used to describe and explain patterns of cooperation within specific issue areas. We believe that a more powerful and comprehensive tool for understanding cooperation and conflict between Canada and Latin America exists within the literature: path dependence. Drawn from the economics literature, path dependence focuses on the importance of the sequencing of events, and of “critical junctures” which may alter historical (and policy) trajectories. Its primary focus is on identifying events and critical junctures that may foreclose (or enhance) the tendency to consider particular policy options, institutional structures, etc. Thus path dependency may provide an alternative point of analytic departure when attempting to answer questions relating to “trajectories” of cooperation between Latin America and Canada. For example, what factors influenced both the establishment of the Organization of American States (OAS) on the one hand and Canada’s reluctance to participate as a full member on the other? Indeed, did the establishment of the OAS constitute a critical juncture in Canada’s relations with the Hemisphere? We attempt to answer these questions by developing a theory called stem-and-branch path dependency, which looks at foreign relations evolution through the prism of historical junctures and their socio-cultural context. The stem trade internationalism represents Canadian traditional trade orientation toward the North Atlantic, and the branch of branch trade internationalism describes the birth and growth of modern Canadian commercial involvement in Latin America. We show how the growth of the modern branch is influenced by a parallel branch of humane internationalism where intellectual and ideological movements in Canadian society in support of a more responsible in human rights protection in Latin America strengthened LAC countries’ presence in the Canadian policy discourse, showing the importance of culture and public opinion on exterior relations. In the end, the two new branches meet and intertwine to form the branch political internationalism with Canada’s entrance in the OAS and thus long-term diplomatic commitment to Latin America. What makes this theoretical framework intriguing is that (1) with few exceptions, path dependence has been little used in the study of Canada’s relationship with Latin America; (2) it has been even less used to understanding processes in foreign policy and international relations; and (3) that it seems to suggest that insights and variables derived from cultural analysis, regime theory, and integration theory can be integrated into its scope. We argue that path dependence can provide fresh insight into the nature of hemispheric cooperation, and answer questions about the genesis of such current projects as the Free Trade Area of the Americas, whether not its ambitious objectives will be achieved, and whether or not it constitutes a new path toward sustained cooperation in the Hemisphere. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]