India, Canada Target $50 Billion Bilateral Trade in Next Five Years
30 May 2026: India and Canada are seeking to increase bilateral trade to $50 billion over the next five years as efforts intensify to rebuild economic engagement and advance negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh K Patnaik, said the discussions coincide with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Canada from May 25-27. The delegation includes more than 100 Indian businessmen representing industry groups, banks, pension funds, financial companies and logistics firms.
Patnaik stated that the visit signals the beginning of a new phase in India-Canada economic relations following a period of strained diplomatic engagement after political tensions escalated in 2023.
“We are now going to ramp our economic and commercial relationship very high up,” Patnaik said.
He added that the proposed CEPA remains one of the central objectives of the visit, aimed at restoring momentum to trade negotiations and signalling that business engagement between the two countries has resumed.
According to Patnaik, bilateral trade between India and Canada currently stands at approximately 32 billion Canadian dollars, or nearly 25 billion US dollars. The two countries are targeting bilateral trade worth about 50 billion USD by 2030 or 2031.
Indian envoy identified energy as one of the major sectors for future cooperation. He referred to opportunities involving crude oil, LNG, LPG, carbon capture technologies, renewable energy and green hydrogen. He also highlighted India’s interest in deepening engagement with Canada in uranium supplies and nuclear technology.
Patnaik said India and Canada were exploring stronger collaboration in agriculture technology, cold storage chains, irrigation systems and food processing. He further noted opportunities in critical minerals, battery manufacturing and storage technologies.
On the investment front, Patnaik said Indian companies were closely monitoring reforms being undertaken by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to simplify regulatory approvals. He also mentioned a proposed investment summit in September that could see significant Indian participation.
India-Canada trade talks had slowed after political tensions escalated in 2023, with negotiations paused and diplomatic engagement weakened amid mutual accusations. In recent months, however, both countries have resumed discussions and expressed interest in rebuilding cooperation, particularly in trade, energy and investment.
Separately, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India and Canada are looking to conclude negotiations for a free trade agreement by the end of this year.
“Our Prime Minister has tasked us to not only complete the free trade agreement with a comprehensive outlook before the end of this year or earlier – but also to triple our trade from a current $17 billion level to $50 billion by 2030,” Goyal said.
