Business Council of Canada hopes trade agreement results from India’s trade chief visit
The country is Canada's top source for immigration, from data specialists and students to temporary foreign workers.
As India’s trade minister visits Ontario this week, corporate Canada is hoping both countries will commit to signing a trade agreement this year after more than a decade of talks.
“It just seems to me like a no-brainer,” said Goldy Hyder, head of the Business Council of Canada.
“We need to have the capacity to demonstrate that democracies can work for business, because when they work for business, they work for people.”
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is to meet his Canadian counterpart, Mary Ng, at an event on May 8 in Ottawa, before plans to join a delegation of large Indian businesses Tuesday in Toronto.
In an interview, Hyder said he’s hoping the two agree during the visit to push for some form a trade deal this year, since multiple negotiations have been underway since 2010 and electoral cycles could further prolong these talks.
For decades, outsiders have seen India as a poorer country with a protected market that makes it hard for foreign companies to set up shop.
However, Hyder said trade deals with Australia and the United Arab Emirates show the country is branching out. India is on track to be a powerhouse for complex semiconductors, vaccines and life-sciences research.
The country is Canada’s top source for immigration, from data specialists and students to temporary foreign workers. India is one of Canada’s top targets for foreign investment, particularly for pension funds and companies such as Brookfield Corp.
In November, the Liberals identified India as a key partner in their Indo-Pacific strategy, which calls for more economic and security ties with countries across the region, as a counterbalance to an increasingly assertive China.
The plan calls for expanding Canada’s diplomatic footprint in select nations instead of inconsistent spurts of engagement with countries in the region.
The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a government think tank, says India could benefit from importing more Canadian produce, chemicals, wood products and minerals, while a trade deal would make Ottawa less economically vulnerable to conflicts between the United States and China.
“Over the years, Canada has captured only a relatively small slice of India’s rapidly growing market,” reads a report last fall by analyst Pia Silvia Rozario.
“The current trade relationship is still below its full potential.”
Hyder said India would snap up Canadian technology in small modular reactors and carbon capture, when both are more developed. He said Canada’s defence, aerospace and agriculture sectors could all see a boom.
The current talks surround what’s called an Early Progress Trade Agreement, a deal restricted to certain industries instead of the entire economy.
