Canada is pushing to complete a trade agreement with India by the end of the year as the federal government tries to expand sales beyond the United States.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said negotiations on a Canada-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement are progressing and the government is working toward a year-end conclusion.

The two countries formally launched negotiations in late 2025 and have continued technical talks through 2026.

Canadian and Indian negotiators met in Canada last week, while Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu travelled to India with a business delegation.

No agreement has been completed. The final effect on Alberta producers will depend on the tariff schedules, import quotas, product rules and plant-health provisions included in the text.

The federal government says annual goods and services trade between Canada and India could exceed $70 billion by 2030 under an agreement. The comparable total was $30.4 billion in 2025.

Two-way merchandise trade reached $13.6 billion in 2025.

Carney also announced during a March 2026 visit to India, a separate talent strategy that could increase the number of Indian students coming to Canada. It includes 300 funded Indian student-researcher positions, more than 220 scholarships and 13 partnerships involving student exchanges, joint programs and pathways into certain Canadian university programs.

Indian citizens already represent one of Canada’s largest temporary-resident groups. At the end of 2024, about 393,000 held study permits and approximately 639,000 held work permits through Canada’s two principal temporary-worker programs. Some individuals may hold more than one permit. In 2025, permits became effective for about 94,000 Indian students and 216,000 Indian workers, including renewals and permits issued to people already in Canada.

For Alberta, the negotiations matter most in agriculture, food processing, energy, technology and investment. India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses, and Alberta pulse growers have participated in Canadian trade missions seeking more dependable access to the market.

Canada’s published negotiating objectives include tariff reduction, customs procedures and science-based sanitary and phytosanitary rules. Those provisions can determine whether crops and food products can enter a market even after tariffs are reduced.

Pulse access has previously been complicated by duties and fumigation requirements. Industry groups have sought predictable rules that allow farmers and buyers to plan beyond a single crop year.

Alberta exported $17.1 billion in agri-food products to all international markets in 2025. The United States received just over half of that total, while Japan, China, Mexico and South Korea were the other leading destinations.

A larger Indian market could provide another outlet for Alberta products, but a national trade projection does not guarantee provincial sales. Export gains would depend on demand, prices, transportation, currency values and the detailed terms negotiated for each product.

Relations between Canada and India have been rebuilding after a diplomatic dispute connected to the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Both governments have resumed senior-level engagement while saying sovereignty, security and the rule of law remain part of the relationship.

Any completed agreement would still require legal review and domestic approval steps before its provisions take effect.