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Canada says focused on completing deal ahead of 5th round of CEPA talks
Canada is focused on finalizing the CEPA with India to boost its economy, with talks aiming to conclude by year-end for broad trade opportunities.
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As the fifth round of negotiations towards the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) begin in Ottawa on Monday, Canada has said it is “focused” on completing the trade deal as that will “open new doors” for the country’s economy.
In a statement on Sunday, ahead of Indian negotiators meeting their Canadian counterparts in the capital, Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu said, “From energy to critical minerals to aerospace, Canada is ready to be the reliable partner India needs.”
He added, “That’s why we’re focused on concluding a trade agreement that will open new doors for Canadian businesses and workers in one of the world’s largest economies.”
He added that the fifth round of talks will build on “the momentum” from his visit to Mumbai two weeks ago and his discussions with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the margins of the G20 trade ministers’ meet in Milwaukee last week.
He pointed out that India’s energy needs will climb 70% by 2035, adding that “Canada is ready to deliver.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently announced that LNG Canada Phase 2 has received a CA$ 33 billion investment making it the second-largest facility of its kind in the world. “Within five years, Canada will be a top five LNG exporter,” Sidhu noted. LNG Canada Phase 2 will double the capacity of the terminal located in Kitimat, British Columbia, to 28 million tonnes annually. Carney said it will enable Canada to “export some of the lowest-emitting LNG to new markets in Asia.”
After his meeting with Goyal in Milwaukee, Sidhu had highlighted Canada’s “role as a trusted and reliable long-term economic partner for India.”
Sidhu will lead a Team Canada Trade Mission to India later this month which will include close to 300 Canadian delegates from businesses across key sectors. That will make the mission Canada’s largest-ever to India and at the level of the mission Sidhu led to Japan in June this year.
The trade mission, announced in July, is scheduled from October 12 to 16.
Sidhu visited India in September and was present for the completion of the fourth round of negotiations towards the CEPA.
The fifth round will take place from October 5 to 9. “Minister Sidhu emphasized the importance of working toward a mutually beneficial agreement by the end of this year,” a statement released earlier had said.
Negotiations are being facilitated at the highest levels, with Sidhu visiting Mumbai for the conclusion of the fourth round. The fifth is expected to see Secretary-level involvement.
That fresh negotiations towards the CEPA will take place was announced when Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney met on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg in November 2025. They were officially launched when Carney, on his maiden visit to India as PM, held a bilateral with Modi in New Delhi this March.
The two PMs have set a deadline of the end of the year for concluding the negotiations.
They met again in June on the he margins of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Evian, France, and “expressed satisfaction” with the progress in the CEPA negotiations, according to a readout from the Canadian PMO at the time. That readout added they reaffirmed their “commitment to building a forward-looking strategic partnership.”
Both leaders said they want talks to conclude by the time the G20 Leaders’ Summit is held in Miami in December. Modi added in Evian that he will try and visit Canada before the end of this year. That bilateral visit, the first in 10 years by an Indian PM, will mark signing of the CEPA.
