Ottawa aims to conclude a landmark trade agreement with India by the end of the year while deepening ties with the EU to reduce its dependence on the US.
Canada is moving to finalise a long-awaited trade agreement with India by the end of this year while also seeking to deepen economic co-operation with the European Union, as Ottawa tries to reduce its reliance on the United States in the face of President Donald Trump’s protectionist approach, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said in New Delhi.
Anand said the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India sits at the heart of Canada’s wider strategy to broaden its trade base. Speaking to Reuters, she said Ottawa wants to conclude the pact by year-end and is working towards a goal of doubling non-US trade over the next decade. Her comments came as Canada presses ahead with a broader diversification drive that also includes expanded ties with Europe and Asia.
The European Union is already Canada’s second-largest trading partner, and Ottawa is looking to build on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, which has been in force provisionally since 2017. According to the Canadian government, trade in goods and services between Canada and the EU reached C$178.6 billion in 2025, while the bloc says the two sides accounted for more than €130 billion in trade that year and have already eliminated 98% of tariffs under CETA. Canadian and EU officials are expected to discuss critical minerals, energy and artificial intelligence at a summit later this month, underscoring how the relationship has moved beyond traditional trade issues.
Anand said negotiations with India were progressing well, noting that Indian trade officials visited Canada last week and that Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu was in India with a business delegation. She added that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed the deal, and said Modi is expected to visit Canada in December. Canada estimates that a completed pact could more than double annual goods and services trade with India to US$70 billion by 2030 from US$30.4 billion in 2025.
The talks come as the two countries try to repair relations after a diplomatic rift over the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Anand said rebuilding trust would take time and stressed that national security and the rule of law remain central to the process. Even so, economic ties are already showing signs of deepening: a US$1.8 billion uranium supply agreement between Cameco and India and Fairfax Financial Holdings’ planned majority stake in IDBI Bank are both being cited in Ottawa as examples of growing commercial engagement.
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