Canada and India aim for trade deal by end of 2026

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]India's commerce and industry minister Push Goyal is in Canada with a large business delegation and met with his Canadian counterpart Maninder Sidu earlier today. The two sides are stepping up the pace to reach their target of having a trade agreement by the end of this year. For more on the road ahead for economic ties between Canada and India, joining me now is Victor Thomas, president and CEO of the Canada India Business Council. It's great to have you join us. Thanks so much.

[00:00:26]>> Great to be here. Thank you. So what are the key takeaways do you think from this meeting of Canada and India's trade minister earlier this morning?

[00:00:34]>> Hey look, the uh trade minister of India is here. Uh he's brought over a 100 companies uh to this country and uh they're looking to do business and hopefully that's a great piece in terms of us uh not only completing a trade agreement but actually seeing much more bilateral trade and much more bilateral investment. And it sounds like can Canada and Canadian companies will be going there this fall as well to show the reciprocal interest.

[00:01:00]>> Right? Because the Indian minister did say that Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to India earlier this year led to a complete overhaul of the Canada India relationship. How critical has the political support been for reviving bilateral trade talks between the two countries?

[00:01:15]Well, frankly, if you told me a year ago that we'd be having a 100 companies from India coming to Canada this May, uh, and and the Minister of Commerce, I may not have taken you seriously. That's how much things have changed. Uh, of course, I was there with the prime minister in March and just to see the rapport of the two leaders. Uh, makes a big difference.

[00:01:34]But then also to see pretty sizable commitments. One to double trade uh, by 2030, that $50 billion US number. and then of course this uh trade agreement but there is uh conviction and there there seems to be followup to actually move in this direction and and the Indian commerce minister coming with such a large delegation uh proves that there's momentum >> because that's what I was going to ask how realistic is meeting those timelines do you think? Well, look, on the on the trade agreement side, we started in 2010, and so we've been at this a long time, and when you look at the last couple years, some of our greatest allies have actually come up with agreements. Uh, New Zealand, Australia, uh, last year, the the UK, and of course earlier this year, the EU. So, you know, we're not alone and we were ahead at one time and now it's time for us to get hopefully even a better comprehensive trade agreement and uh and get going on this economic relationship like never before >> because Canada and India have announced a strategic energy partnership during Carney's visit to India on resources like LG LPG. Does Canada actually have the capability to step up delivery to meet uh growing demand from India?

[00:02:46]Well, that's an internal question and I think that's a question that many indie companies are asking. Are you guys going to be able to have that steady secure supply and I think you know we're seeing some initiatives in terms of us in internally inside the country trying to figure out ways to do that but it goes to show that there's demand. India wants to have that um that uh long-term stable contracts and hopefully we can actually um meet meet their needs and with the show we're seeing this week in terms of 100 uh over 100 businesses coming here it shows that there's significant interest and um and you know the prime minister's trip was significant because it happened on the same weekend when the Iran war started and we just saw even over those three days the the price of oil for example um go up dramatically and we've seen everyone knows in the months since uh how much you know the commodities and some of the things that we have in this country are needed not just around the world but specifically in India >> and your council's members include some of Canada's big in biggest investors like Brookfield Fairfax the pension funds what's on their wish list of the steps they want the Indian government to take to help Canadian businesses is >> well I think you know I'm meeting with all of them tomorrow with the uh the minister but my sense is to say you know just clear path in terms of uh being able to place capital uh projects that are at the scale and size of their check size and then also um you know being able to to foresee the the needs and interest of the country. uh there's so many different projects right around the country but there's very specific projects typically that these major funds have have done mainly around real estate and infrastructure but you know I think India's also trying to say hey would you might you be interested in some of our venture might you be interested some of our other types of investments and so that'll be part of the conversation tomorrow >> also comes up for renegotiation this year uh that is a much bigger priority for Canada than any other trade deal obviously it's with our biggest trading partner uh the US and Mexico of course how much bandwidth will Canada have to finalize a trade deal with India this year given that you know uh Canada might be a little busy >> well uh there's no question Kuzma is uh of of highest priority but I think it it can't be either or uh we have to be able to do both and uh India happens to be the most populous nation on earth and and the largest fastest growing economy and so while we have to make sure we we are uh in sync with our neighbors uh to the south. We also have to make sure that we are we're tying into the largest growth market in the world and we we have to we started a long time ago and we have to get it to completion and across the line this year.

[00:05:36]>> Do you think when we're factoring in the US, do you think Canada can really rely on India uh as a trading partner, an alternative trading partner to the US given the trade war that's happening between the two countries right now?

[00:05:48]>> Yeah, that's a that's a fair question. I think there's a lot of geopolitical instability in the world and that geopolitical instability is also pushing these two countries together at a pace we've never seen and so you know why is India here with 100 plus companies well because they are keen and interested to find long-term stable partners uh why will we be going why was the prime minister there in March is that both sides are keen and interested and uh let's let's make a deal but let's actually see much many more actual commercial transactions take face.

[00:06:20]>> Okay, we will leave it there. Victor Thomas, president and CEO of the Canada India Business Council. Really appreciate your time.