Canada-India Trade Mission 2026: $300 Million in Deals on Largest Visit in 30 Years

File photo: Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu at a bilateral trade meeting in 2026. Photo: Sophie Bouquillon / European Commission Audiovisual Service, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Sometimes the best business trip is the one that fixes three years of damage in six days. That is roughly what Maninder Sidhu's week in India looks like right now — and the numbers that came out of Mumbai and Bengaluru on Friday are the reason Ottawa is suddenly talking about Canada-India relations in dollar figures instead of diplomatic apologies.

According to a Global Affairs Canada release issued October 16, the nearly 300 Canadian delegates who fanned out across Mumbai and Bengaluru signed 34 commercial agreements worth close to $300 million Canadian. The delegation, drawn from about 150 organizations, was the largest Canada has sent to India in 30 years — the biggest since the Jean Chrétien era.

34 deals, nearly $300 million, and one very busy week

The headline figures tell only part of the story. Sidhu himself put it plainly in Mumbai: the partnerships span aerospace, energy, clean technology, autos, and "so much more," he told Indian reporters. His line — "these trade missions are all about opening doors and making sure that partnerships are formed" — is minister-speak, but this time the doors have actual dollar signs on them.

Then there is the deal that dwarfed everything else. Sidhu confirmed in Bengaluru that Fairfax's nearly $5.5-billion investment in IDBI Bank — the acquisition of a majority stake — will be the largest foreign investment in India's financial sector. "It sends a clear signal to supply chains that Canada is ready to do more," he said, per the Times of India. Canadian pension funds and large institutions have now parked close to C$107 billion in India across roads, highways, health care, technology and energy. That's not a cautious re-engagement. That is a bet.

CEPA: the real prize, and the December deadline

Behind the deal-signing, the serious work continued in rooms with no cameras. Sidhu met India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in both New Delhi and Mumbai to push forward the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — the free-trade pact Carney and Modi formally launched negotiations on nearly a year ago at the G20 in South Africa. The two ministers have now met ten times since May 2025.

Five negotiating rounds are done — the fifth wrapped in Ottawa October 5–9 — and both sides say they are aiming to conclude by December. That date is not arbitrary. Prime Minister Modi arrives in Canada on December 11–12 for a bilateral visit, and negotiators on both sides want a signed deal on the table for that summit. Modi and Carney spoke by phone this week, and Canadian officials are describing this as one of the biggest weeks in bilateral relations in years.

Why India, and why this feels different from 2023

Let's be honest about the backdrop. Canada-India trade talks were frozen in 2023 after Ottawa's allegations about the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist in B.C. — a dispute India denied and that poisoned everything for two years. The reset under Carney has been strikingly fast: two-way goods-and-services trade hit $30.4 billion in 2025, and Ottawa now wants that doubled to $70 billion by 2030.

The deeper motive is the one every Canadian business already feels. With American tariffs hammering steel, autos and everything in between, Canada is desperate to diversify away from its dependence on the United States. India's electricity demand is expected to grow 70 percent by 2035, its airlines need more than 2,000 new aircraft, and it is building infrastructure at a scale Sidhu's delegation can barely comprehend. Canada sells aerospace, energy, pulses, potash and uranium. The fit is obvious; it was the politics that got in the way.

What to watch next

The mission is over, but the clock is running. Negotiators are expected to meet twice more before December, with agriculture tariffs — pulses and potash are Canada's pressure points — plus energy, critical minerals, and the mobility of skilled workers still on the table. If CEPA lands before Modi's December visit, this week will be remembered as the moment Canada-India trade actually moved. If it doesn't, the $300 million in deals still stands — but the bigger prize will slip into 2027, and the trade war with Washington will not wait.

Either way, Ottawa is calling this a turnaround week. For once, the numbers give them the right.

Sources

• Global Affairs Canada — Minister Sidhu concludes largest Team Canada Trade Mission to India in 30 years
• Hindustan Times — India-Canada trade sees double-digit growth amid PM Modi's December visit
• Times of India — Fairfax-IDBI deal signals stronger Canada-India ties: Sidhu
• The Canadian Press — Canadian firms signed deals worth almost $300M during India trade mission: Ottawa
• CBC News: The National — Canada races to secure free-trade agreement with India by year-end