Ottawa has dropped the ball on trade opportunities in Asia, developing a reputation as a player that shows up but isn't serious about the game, according to a new report.

Dr. Wendy Dobson, of the Institute for International Business at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, authored the report on behalf of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Canada China Business Council.

"Canada has a reputation in Asia of showing up there but not being serious about establishing long-term relationships," states the report. "This was not always the case."

In the past, Dobson writes, Ottawa built strong, lasting trade relationships with Japan and China, and contributed to aid programs in developing economies such as India, Malaysia and Thailand.

That strategy has been replaced by a piecemeal approach, she wrote, noting that Canada has also distanced itself from the discussion around political security, which is damaging to traditional trading partners such as Japan.

"The picture is one of an ad hoc approach, one that lacks a strategy toward developing both ties with Asia and a Canada 'brand,'" the report states.

The report also says Canada's habit of requiring equal treatment to the Americans, and raising the demands of special interest groups in establishing trade deals in Asia, has hurt the process unnecessarily.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Dobson said the region represents incredible opportunity, and Canada needs to be at the front of the line if it hopes to secure a place at the table.

"I'm talking about a region which will become 50 per cent of the world economy in the middle of the century and we have no FTAs (free trade agreements). In the last 20 years, we haven't had much interest or commitment to how the region evolves," she said.

Dobson suggested Ottawa approach to China in recent years has been too harsh, saying he would have done well to follow the example of Australia and the U.S., which pressure China on human rights issues in private, but not in public.

She said that approach appears to be changing for the better recently, but only because the government has realized China's importance as a trading partner.

Dobson said Canada is still behind, however, and is not yet a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership or the East Asia Summit -- important trade groups that count the U.S. among their members.

China has surpassed Japan as Canada's largest Asian trading partner, with South Korea following in third place.

Dobson said advances in Asia will depend heavily on personal contact at the political level, and time and effort will be required to build trust and strengthen the relationships that have eroded in recent years.