OTTAWA - U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden is to arrive in Ottawa later today on a visit shrouded in secrecy and speculation.

Biden is to address provincial premiers and aboriginal leaders at their Friday meeting in Ottawa.

But there is much speculation about what the Obama administration's second-in-command might have to say to the Trudeau Liberals with the swearing-in of Donald Trump's new Republican administration just weeks away.

Neither the U.S. embassy nor the Prime Minister's Office are adding any substance to the usual bromides that accompanied the announcement of the visit.

U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman has said Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will discuss the "strong friendship" between the two countries.

Trudeau has said they will discuss a relationship that is "critical" to the people of both countries.