Indian-origin Canadian Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu is set to lead the Team Canada Trade Mission to India — the largest Canadian commercial delegation to the country in over 30 years — with scheduled stops in Mumbai and Bengaluru from 12 to 17 October. The mission brings together nearly 300 business delegates aiming to forge partnerships and expand bilateral commercial ties with one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

Scale and Scope of the Mission

The delegation represents Canada's most ambitious commercial engagement with India in recent memory, according to the office of the Minister of International Trade. Delegates span five key sectors: aerospace and space, clean technologies and energy transition, information and communication technologies, life sciences, and agri-food. The stops in Mumbai and Bengaluru — India's financial and technology hubs respectively — are designed to connect Canadian firms with Indian decision-makers, industry leaders, and prospective clients.

The $70 Billion Trade Target by 2030

The mission is anchored by an ambitious bilateral trade goal. In 2025, two-way goods and services trade between Canada and India stood at $30.4 billion, of which $11 billion was in goods. Canadian merchandise exports to India totalled $3.9 billion, led by vegetables, mineral fuels and oils, and wood pulp, while merchandise imports from India amounted to $9.7 billion, primarily comprising precious stones and metals, machinery, and pharmaceutical products. Service exports were valued at $15.1 billion, with education-related travel accounting for 6.3% of Canada's total service exports. Canada is aiming to more than double this two-way trade to $70 billion annually by 2030, as part of a broader push to diversify exports beyond the United States.

What Minister Sidhu Said

'Nearly 300 Canadian business delegates are joining the Team Canada Trade Mission I am leading to India next week to secure new opportunities for our businesses and workers in one of the world's fastest-growing markets,' Minister Sidhu said. 'By matching Canadian expertise in sectors like aerospace, agri-food and clean technology with India's growing demand, we will diversify our trade and attract new investment. This is how we will more than double our trade with India to $70 billion by 2030,' he added.

Broader Strategic Context

The trade mission also advances ongoing negotiations toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Canada and India, with both sides reportedly working to conclude a deal by the end of the year. This comes amid Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, launched in 2022, which commits Ottawa to five strategic objectives: security, trade, sustainability, people-to-people ties, and regional engagement. Notably, the mission signals a deliberate effort by Canada to reduce its economic dependence on the United States by deepening ties across the Indo-Pacific. Service imports from India to Canada totalled $4.3 billion in 2025, representing 1.9% of Canada's total service imports.

What Comes Next

With the delegation on the ground from 12 to 17 October, outcomes from the Mumbai and Bengaluru engagements — including any partnership agreements or investment announcements — are expected to be disclosed in the days following the mission's conclusion. Progress on the CEPA negotiations will be closely watched as the year-end deadline approaches.