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Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during a meeting in Trudeau's office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File Photo

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's swift embrace of US president-elect Joe Biden illustrates the degree to which Canada, one of America's closest allies, is looking forward to turning the page on the Donald Trump era.

Trudeau was the first world leader to congratulate Biden when he was declared the winner of the November election, and now hopes to be the first - or one of the first - to meet with the new president after he takes office on Wednesday (Jan 20).

Mired in a long-running diplomatic dispute with China and weighing a possible snap election this year, Trudeau has much riding on his relationship with Biden.

Canada shares a land border only with the United States, which is by far its top export market, and it has often been the first foreign trip for a new US president.Canada's relationship with the United States "went from the very best it probably ever was to near the worst it ever was," said Bruce Heyman, Obama's last ambassador to Canada.Now Trudeau and other allies are counting on Biden to re-engage on the world stage, in part to contain a "more assertive and sometimes problematic China", Trudeau said in Thursday's interview.

Domestic politics is also in play in Trudeau's eagerness to renew US ties with a potential election in 2021.

Trudeau will want "to create a sense among Canadians (that) you've got to keep Trudeau because these guys click, and this is the opportunity to really be engaged with the Americans and kick this to the next level," said Chris Sands, head of the Canada Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center//CNA