TORONTO - Canada's foreign affairs minister says the government is very concerned about the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and plans to speak up on their behalf.

Chrystia Freeland says both she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plan to "focus" on the issue at next week's United Nations General Assembly in New York.

She did not elaborate on the specific actions she or Trudeau plan to take.

Freeland also told a Toronto rally in support of the Rohingya that she also discussed the issue with Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General who is currently leading a commission investigating the crisis unfolding in Myanmar.

She says another key focus for Canada is getting the ambassador into the area of heaviest conflict to report first-hand on the situation.

Myanmar's powerful military is accused of torching the homes of 400,000 Rohingya Muslims, forcing them to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh as refugees. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under harsh international criticism for failing to speak out against the violence, with some arguing she should be stripped of both her Nobel Peace Prize and her honorary Canadian citizenship.