India and Canada seek trade reset as Goyal heads to Ottawa

Piyush Goyal headed to Canada with about 150 business leaders, turning a ministerial visit into an early stress test of whether India and Canada can rebuild commercial ties faster than they repair political trust. The delegation was set to meet Canadian ministers, business leaders and industry groups in Ottawa and Toronto, with both governments looking for concrete gains after months of strain slowed trade talks.

The agenda was built around a broader economic partnership, not just a single deal. India and Canada have been working toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, with energy, critical minerals, textiles and leather among the sectors most likely to be covered. Goyal also pointed to technology, food processing and clean energy as areas where the two countries could deepen business links, reflecting how both sides are trying to tie trade policy to longer-term industrial strategy.

The visit followed a major thaw in March, when Mark Carney and Narendra Modi met in New Delhi and agreed to fast-track trade talks. That meeting, Carney’s first bilateral visit to India by a Canadian prime minister since 2018, produced a renewed partnership, several memorandums of understanding and a target of reaching $50 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. The March package also included cooperation on energy, critical minerals, technology and artificial intelligence, talent mobility and defense, along with a C$2.6 billion uranium-related deal that underscored the strategic weight of the relationship.

The business case for a reset is already substantial. Canadian pension funds and companies have nearly $100 billion invested in India, and around 600 Canadian companies are operating there now. Goyal said both sides want that number to rise to 1,000 and said bilateral trade could reach $50 billion in the next five years. Those targets show how closely the two governments are linking diplomacy to market access, investment flows and supply-chain resilience.

For industries tied to energy security, nuclear fuel, mining and clean energy, the trip carried more than symbolic value. It suggested that commercial pragmatism may be becoming the first workable path back to broader diplomatic trust, even if the politics remain complicated. If Ottawa and New Delhi can turn the March thaw into deals, the visit could mark the point where trade stopped following diplomacy and started leading it.