On Feb. 26, Prime Minister Mark Carney embarked on a 10-day trade visit to India, Australia and Japan. This was the prime minister’s first trade visit since his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he made his internationally recognized speech on the need for middle power unity.
The first leg of the prime minister’s trip began with a visit to Delhi, India.
Delhi and Ottawa have had a rocky relationship over the past few years following the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijar in Vancouver in June 2023.
Furthermore, concerns of domestic election interference have been another point of contention in Canada-India relations, with some Canadians accusing India of interfering in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership race.
Strained ties, mostly in relation to the assassination, led to both Ottawa and Delhi expelling a number of diplomats, including both nations’ respective high commissioners in 2024.
With this backdrop, the prime minister’s visit to India managed to secure billions of dollars’ worth of trade deals. Canada has secured $2.6 billion dollars to “supply 22 million pounds of uranium to India from 2027 to 2035,” in addition to signing two Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), signaling cooperation over critical minerals.
Canada has also granted Indian students 300 funded student researcher positions and $25 million dollars from the University of Toronto for 220 scholarships.
In exchange, 85 Canadian graduate students and researchers received an additional $10 million on the Indo-Pacific scholarship and fellowship to fund collaboration with leading Indian academics.
Additionally, HCL technologies, an Indian IT services company, will expand its workforce by 75 per cent as part of the trade deal.
Canada and India have also been reported to be working towards a “full free trade deal” in the form of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that is set to be finalized by the end of this year. Free trade between the two countries would increase bilateral trade to $70 billion by 2030.
The prime minister was quoted saying that “Canada and India are transforming their economies to be more diversified, more independent and more resilient.”
The second leg of the prime minister’s trip involved a visit to Canberra, Australia.
During his visit to Australia, Carney took the time to echo his speech at Davos by advocating for the unity of middle powers.
He stated in a speech at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney, Australia, that “Australia and Canada can’t compel like the great powers, but we can convene, we can set the agenda, shape the rules and organize and build capacity through coalitions.”
In terms of trade, Canada secured an MOU “to deepen investment cooperation between the Canada pension fund and the Australian superannuation funds”.
Additionally, during the visit, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced intentions to invest $10 billion dollars in Canada.
The two countries also agreed to “launch negotiations to modernize the Canada-Australia Tax Treaty” which will facilitate increased bilateral investment.
Prime Minister Carney was quoted saying, “as Canada forges new partnerships and coalitions abroad, Australia is a natural partner in this mission.”
The Prime Minister’s trade tour in Asia ended with a final stop in Tokyo, Japan.
In Japan, Canada secured promises from the Japanese government to “increase efforts to support Japanese auto manufacturing and decarbonization efforts in Canada,” in addition to plans to modernize the Canada-Japan Joint Economic Committee to capitalize on “semiconductors, batteries, A.I., clean energy and critical minerals” as investment opportunities.
Apart from trade, Canada secured agreements to bolster the defence relationship between the two nations, including plans for more bilateral navy exercises between the Royal Canadian Navy and the Japanese Navy.
Carney was quoted saying that “together, we are strengthening our economic security, securing resilient supply chains in critical minerals, clean energy, and deepening security and defense cooperation in support of free trade and open Indo-Pacific.”
These highlights represent 10 days of trade negotiations by the prime minister on behalf of Canada and partner nations.