OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2016. Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade, was thrilled to welcome Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, to the third Canada-India Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment.

This meeting, held at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, builds on an already robust relationship between Canada and India. The two ministers discussed the impressive growth in trade and investment between both countries, as well as their shared desire to further deepen this partnership. The International Trade Minister’s mandate includes a focus on growing trade opportunities between both countries, particularly for Canadian small and medium-sized businesses.

The ministers’ bilateral meeting follows one in Washington, D.C., between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2016. 

Quotes

“Trade means more growth, and more growth means more jobs. Canada will continue to promote trade and investment with emerging markets, including India. This ministerial dialogue underscores my commitment to expand the commercial relationship between our two countries and create real growth for our businesses and middle class.”

- Hon. Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of International Trade

Quick facts

  • Canada’s International Trade Minister and India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry most recently met during the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference in June, and earlier at the World Trade Organization conference in December.
  • At the end of 2015, almost 49,000 international students from India were studying for six months or more in Canada. This was a 28.7-percent increase from 2014. India is the second-largest source country for foreign students in Canada.
  • There are currently approximately 1.2 million Canadians of Indian heritage.
  • With nearly 50 trade commissioners in eight trade offices, Canada’s network in India is the third-largest network of trade commissioners abroad.
  • Bilateral merchandise trade reached nearly \\$8.3 billion in 2015, an increase of 29 percent since 2014.
  • Two-way investment flows totalled more than \\$4 billion at the end of 2015.
  • Canada and India carry out collaborative industrial research and development supported by the Canadian International Innovation Program, the Canadian Technology Accelerator program in New Delhi and Mumbai and Canada’s International Education Strategy, for which India is a priority market.