Canada Launches Public Consultations on Trade Negotiations: India, Mercosur, Thailand, United Arab Emirates

The Government of Canada is working to diversify trade and investment to drive economic growth and create good jobs for Canadians. Accordingly, Canada is strengthening trade ties with reliable partners around the world—aiming to double Canadian exports to non-U.S. markets over the next decade to attract $1 trillion in new investment in Canada over five years.

To this end, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada’s intention to initiate trade agreement negotiations with India, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, and to resume negotiations with the South American Common Market known as Mercosur (comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

To inform these negotiations, and achieve the best outcomes for Canadians, we launched public consultations on December 13, 2025. All Canadians are invited to submit their views, reflections, and priorities with respect to enhanced trade and investment with these partners in anticipation of the commencement of trade negotiations in 2026. The views of Canadian stakeholders are critical to inform Canada’s positions during negotiations to ensure that we maximize benefits and address specific interests, priorities and potential sensitivities. Information regarding the consultations can be found in the Canada Gazette Notices linked below.

All interested parties are invited to submit their views by January 27, 2026.

Submissions should include the following information:

1. the contributor’s name and address and, if applicable, the name of the contributor’s organization, institution or business;

1. the specific issues being addressed; and
2. where possible, precise information on the rationale for the positions taken, including any significant impact it may have on Canada’s domestic or international interests.

Contributions focused on India, Mercosur and the UAE, can be sent to:

[email protected].

Contributions on Thailand should be submitted to:

[email protected].

Source: Global Affairs Canada