Canada Dispatches Its Largest Trade Delegation to India in Over Three Decades

On Monday, a convoy of roughly 300 Canadian business leaders set off for India, marking what Ottawa calls the biggest trade delegation it has sent south in more than 30 years. The trek will take them to bustling hubs like Mumbai and Bengaluru, where they hope to turn conversation into contracts.

At the helm is Maninder Sidhu, Canada’s Minister of International Trade and a son of Indian immigrants. Sidhu, who grew up watching his parents navigate two cultures, says the mission is about “connecting with Indian decision‑makers, key industry players and potential clients to expand commercial relations and build new partnerships that create good‑paying jobs at home.”

Why now? Both governments are scrambling to seal the Canada‑India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) before the calendar flips to 2027. The latest round of talks wrapped up in Ottawa earlier this month, and while no headline numbers have been released, the momentum feels palpable.

The delegation’s résumé reads like a showcase of Canada’s high‑tech and green strengths: aerospace and space ventures, clean‑technology and energy‑transition firms, ICT specialists, life‑science innovators, and agri‑food producers. Even the forest sector got a nod, with wood‑product companies hoping to tap India’s growing construction market.

Sidhu’s schedule includes a quick sit‑down with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee last week. They used the time to run through the progress on CEPA, checking that both sides are still on the same page.

In 2025, two‑way trade between the two nations was valued at about C$30.4 billion. Canada exported roughly C$3.9 billion worth of goods – mainly vegetables, mineral fuels, oils and wood pulp – while importing C$9.7 billion of Indian products, dominated by precious stones, machinery and pharmaceuticals.

Investment flows tell a similar story. Canadian firms had put C$11.4 billion into Indian projects, whereas Indian investors had parked C$9.7 billion in Canada. On top of that, Canadian pension funds and asset managers held about C$108 billion of exposure to India, according to Export Development Canada.

Beyond the numbers, the mission reflects a broader shift in Ottawa’s trade playbook. After years of leaning heavily on the United States, Canada is now looking to double its export footprint in markets outside its southern neighbor by 2030 – and India, with its fast‑growing economy, sits front‑and‑center in that strategy.

Whether the delegation can turn meetings into megadeals remains to be seen, but if Sidhu’s optimism is any guide, the goal is clear: double Canada‑India trade to about C$70 billion by the end of the decade, creating jobs and spreading Canadian expertise across the subcontinent.