Nearly 300 business delegates are scheduled to accompany International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu on a visit to Mumbai and Bengaluru beginning Monday, in what Ottawa describes as the largest commercial delegation Canada has sent to India in over thirty years, as negotiators from both countries work toward finalising a trade agreement before the end of the calendar year.
The Team Canada Trade Mission, announced by Global Affairs Canada, is scheduled to run for six days between October 12 and 17. The announcement stated that delegates intended to engage with decision-makers, industry figures, and prospective clients in India to broaden commercial ties and develop new partnerships aimed at supporting employment in Canada.
Sidhu noted that close to 300 Canadian business representatives were participating in the mission with the aim of opening opportunities in one of the world's most rapidly expanding economies, by aligning Canadian strengths in areas such as aerospace, agri-food, and clean technology with Indian demand, thereby diversifying trade flows and attracting fresh investment. He noted that the pathway outlined would allow bilateral trade with India to reach $70 billion by 2030, representing more than twice the current level.
Four industry groupings are represented among the businesses making up the delegation, according to the announcement: aerospace and space, clean technologies and energy transition, information and communication technologies, and life sciences and agri-food. Forestry and wood products are also among the priority sectors identified for the mission by the Trade Commissioner Service, whose programming for the sector covers business-to-business meetings, site visits, and briefings delivered by Canadian trade commissioners.
Five days of Canada-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations concluded in Ottawa in early October, preceding the trade-focused mission. Neither government has made details from that round public.
On the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee on October 1, Sidhu and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a conversation that allowed both officials to assess the state of the negotiations.
Talks between India and multiple partners — the United States among them — are unfolding against a backdrop of disagreements over tariffs and India's continued purchases of Russian oil, adding complexity to the diplomatic context surrounding the mission. Ottawa has set a goal of doubling the share of its exports going to markets outside the United States over the coming decade, a push that comes as Canada navigates ongoing trade tensions with the Trump administration.
Figures released by the Canadian government put the combined flow of goods and services exchanged between Canada and India at C$30.4 billion across 2025. On the export side, Canada shipped C$3.9 billion worth of goods to India — chiefly vegetables, mineral fuels and oils, and wood pulp — while the flow in the opposite direction reached C$9.7 billion, with precious stones and metals, machinery, and pharmaceutical products accounting for the bulk of Indian merchandise arriving in Canada.
Figures from a joint statement put Canadian direct investment flowing into India at C$11.4 billion for 2025, with the corresponding flow of Indian direct investment into Canada recorded at C$9.7 billion. Figures compiled by Export Development Canada put the combined India-facing holdings of Canadian pension funds and asset managers at roughly C$108 billion as of 2025.
Organised under the Team Canada banner, these trade delegations draw their mandate from the Trade Commissioner Service within Global Affairs Canada, channelling government support toward Canadian businesses — smaller and mid-sized enterprises in particular — as they work to establish a presence in overseas markets. Negotiations over a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement were revived following efforts by Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Indian counterpart to rebuild a bilateral relationship that had deteriorated two years earlier.
