New Delhi: Canada is bringing nearly 300 business delegates to India this week in its largest trade mission to the country in more than three decades, seeking to expand commercial ties as negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) enter their final months before a year-end target. The visit reflects a renewed push to turn improving diplomatic relations into business opportunities and increase bilateral trade to C$70 billion annually by 2030.
Led by Canada’s minister of international trade, Maninder Sidhu, the Team Canada trade mission is scheduled from October 12 to 17 with stops in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Delegates will meet Indian policymakers, industry leaders and prospective customers to explore partnerships in aerospace and space, clean technology and energy transition, information and communication technology, life sciences, and agri-food.
Announcing the mission, Sidhu said Canada wanted to connect its expertise with India’s expanding demand, attract investment and generate employment at home. The initiative forms part of Ottawa’s wider effort to diversify its commercial relationships and double exports to markets beyond the United States over the next decade.
The delegation’s visit follows the fifth round of CEPA negotiations, held in Ottawa from October 5 to 9. Both governments are working towards concluding negotiations by the end of the year, although that deadline remains an objective rather than confirmation that an agreement has been reached.
Sidhu and India’s minister of commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal, reviewed progress in the negotiations during their recent meeting on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee. They also discussed the business mission, with Sidhu emphasizing Canada’s potential to meet India’s growing requirements for energy, critical minerals and other commodities.
The proposed agreement would extend beyond reductions in customs duties to address the rules governing a broader economic relationship. Canada’s published negotiating objectives cover services, investment protection, digital trade, customs procedures, regulatory transparency and the temporary movement of businesspeople – provisions intended to make cross-border commerce easier and more predictable.
Those objectives also illustrate the sensitivities negotiators must accommodate: Ottawa has said it will preserve protections for its dairy, poultry and egg sectors without granting additional market access. The eventual agreement’s benefits will therefore depend on the concessions and safeguards both sides accept, rather than the scale of the visiting delegation alone.
The current push builds on the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney’s, visit to India from February 27 to March 2, when he and the prime minister, Narendra Modi, endorsed a renewed strategic partnership. Their joint statement welcomed the signing of CEPA’s terms of reference and set the shared ambition of expanding trade to C$70 billion, equivalent to approximately ₹4.65 lakh crore, by 2030.
Canadian government figures put bilateral goods and services trade at C$30.4 billion in 2025, indicating the substantial expansion needed to reach that target. Canada exported C$3.9 billion in merchandise to India and imported C$9.7 billion, with Indian shipments led by precious stones and metals, machinery and pharmaceutical products, while Canadian exports included vegetables, mineral fuels and oils, and wood pulp.
For India, the relationship also offers opportunities to diversify energy supplies and secure resources for industrial growth. Among the agreements announced during Carney’s visit was a C$2.6 billion arrangement for Cameco to supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium for Indian nuclear power generation from 2027 to 2035, alongside cooperation on critical minerals and clean energy.
The commercial revival follows a severe diplomatic rupture in 2023, when the then Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, alleged a potential Indian government link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, an allegation New Delhi rejected. Trade discussions were paused that year, before the two countries agreed in November 2025 to resume formal negotiations for a comprehensive pact.
Against that background, this week’s mission offers a practical opportunity to rebuild business engagement while negotiators work on the larger trade framework. Its significance lies in whether the meetings produce sustained partnerships and investment, supported by an agreement that can give companies greater confidence in the bilateral relationship.