Overview
- Negotiators have completed two rounds and are holding a third technical round in Ottawa from May 25–29 as ministers press to finish the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by year-end.
- Both governments say leaders have tasked teams to deliver a balanced, commercially meaningful CEPA by the end of 2026 with officials publicly citing the possibility of an earlier October–November timeline.
- Officials set an ambitious goal to raise bilateral trade to US$50 billion by 2030, a roughly three- to six-fold increase from current baselines that different sources report between about US$8–17 billion.
- India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal led what officials called the largest-ever Indian business delegation to Canada, and Canada’s trade minister announced a reciprocal ‘Team Canada’ mission to India later this year.
- Talks focus on lowering tariffs and liberalizing services and investment across energy, critical minerals, agri-food, pharmaceuticals, tech and education with the aim of diversifying trade away from the U.S. and securing inputs for India’s clean-energy plans.