India and Canada will kick off the fifth round of negotiations for their proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Ottawa today, as both sides aim to conclude the trade pact by the end of 2026.

The five-day negotiations will continue till 9th of this month. The previous round concluded in New Delhi on 18th of last month, with officials now pushing for faster progress towards a final agreement.

In March this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney set a year-end target to complete the negotiations for the CEPA between the two countries and agreed to deepen bilateral collaboration in the energy and critical mineral sectors during their meeting in New Delhi.

According to the joint statement issued after their summit, the leaders expressed confidence that a comprehensive trade framework would serve as a durable economic anchor for the partnership and support the shared aspiration of expanding bilateral trade to 4.65 lakh crore rupees by 2030.

India-Canada bilateral trade in goods stood at 8.66 billion US dollars in 2024-25, while India’s exports to the country touched 4.22 billion US dollars.