India and Canada aim to conclude the long-awaited Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of this year or earlier, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
Goyal, on a three-day visit to Canada with a business delegation of over 110 members, held bilateral talks with Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu, in Ottawa.
“Our prime ministers have tasked us not only with completing the free trade agreement with a comprehensive outlook before the end of this year or earlier, but tripling our trade from a current $17 billion to $50 billion by 2030,” Goyal said during a joint media address in Ottawa.
FTA talks between the two countries had stalled in 2023 after diplomatic tensions escalated over allegations linked to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. However, ties began to normalise following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Canadian leadership at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis.
“We made a promise to Canadians that we diversify our trading partners and unlock roughly $300 billion of additional non-US exports, and this is what we’re focused on in this visit,” Sidhu said.
India is also looking to explore import opportunities for critical minerals, gas and fuel from Canada. Goyal said Canada could become “a reliable partner for energy” for India. He is also scheduled to meet representatives of Canada’s “Maple 8” pension funds to seek long-term investments in India’s infrastructure and technology sectors.
Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $8 billion in FY2025-26.