Canada Sends Its Largest Trade Mission to India in 30 Years as CEPA Talks Near the Finish Line
Canada is sending nearly 300 business delegates to India from 12 to 17 October 2026. It is Canada's largest trade delegation to India in more than 30 years. It is led by Canada's Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu.
The mission is visiting Mumbai and Bengaluru. It is focusing on sectors such as aerospace, clean energy, technology, life sciences, agri-food and forestry.
The visit comes while India and Canada negotiate a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a wide trade deal covering goods, services and investment. Both sides aim to finish the talks by the end of 2026. The fifth round of talks began in Ottawa on 5 October 2026.
Two-way trade between the two countries was reported at about 30.4 billion dollars in 2025. Both sides have set a goal of roughly doubling it by 2030.
For Canada, the mission is also part of a plan to sell more to other markets and depend less on exports to the United States.
India-Canada Relations: History, Rupture and Reset
India and Canada are both democracies and members of the Commonwealth and the G20. Canada is home to one of the largest Indian diasporas (people of Indian origin living abroad) in the world. Their relationship has seen long friendly periods and sharp breakdowns. The most recent breakdown began in 2023, and a step-by-step reset started in 2025.
The 300-member Canadian trade mission is the clearest sign yet that the economic side of the relationship is being rebuilt after the 2023–24 breakdown. It is timed to build business support for the CEPA before the end-2026 deadline.
Free Trade Agreements: Concept and WTO Framework
A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a deal between two or more countries to remove or sharply cut import taxes (tariffs) on most of the goods they trade with each other. Each country still keeps its own tariffs for countries outside the deal. Modern FTAs also cover services, investment, digital trade and common rules. India calls its wider deals by different names, such as CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), but they are all types of FTA.
The CEPA that Canada and India are negotiating is a broad FTA. The large business delegation is meant to show companies what they can gain once tariffs fall and services and investment rules become easier.
Rules of Origin (RoO)
Rules of origin are the tests a country uses to decide where a product "comes from", that is, its economic nationality. This matters because a trade deal gives low or zero tariffs only to goods that truly come from the partner country. Without these rules, a third country could send its goods through the partner country just to avoid tariffs. This trick is called trade deflection or "route-through" trade.
For Canadian and Indian firms on this mission, the CEPA's rules of origin will decide which of their products actually get lower tariffs. Strict but clear rules protect both countries from goods being routed in from third countries.
- Canadian trade mission to India: about 300 business delegates, 12–17 October 2026; largest in over 30 years
- Led by: Canada's Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu
- Cities: Mumbai and Bengaluru
- Focus sectors: aerospace, clean energy, technology, life sciences, agri-food, forestry
- India-Canada two-way trade 2025: about 30.4 billion dollars (as reported)
- Trade goal by 2030: doubling (Canada: 70 billion dollars a year; India's statement: USD 50 billion)
- CEPA: talks agreed at the G20 summit, Johannesburg (November 2025); Terms of Reference signed in New Delhi on 2 March 2026
- CEPA rounds: second round in New Delhi (4–8 May 2026); third round in Ottawa (6–10 July 2026); fifth round began in Ottawa on 5 October 2026
- CEPA target date: end of 2026
- Earlier Early Progress Trade Agreement talks: paused by Canada in 2023 after nine rounds
- Diplomatic reset: G7 summit at Kananaskis, Canada (June 2025)
- Rules of origin in India: Section 28DA, Customs Act, 1962; CAROTAR, 2020 (in force 21 September 2020)