Canada and the UAE have signed a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.
The United Arab Emirates has pledged to invest $70 billion in Canada. The announcement was made following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit with UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The visit included the signing of the Canada-UAE Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and the start of negotiations toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which would help liberalize trade between the two nations. The government also announced further steps that will be taken to deepen the trade relationship between the two nations:
“Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu, will lead a Canadian business delegation in early 2026, focusing on energy, AI, infrastructure, and agriculture. The delegation will also encourage major UAE investors and sovereign wealth funds to visit Canada and work with the Major Projects Office on opportunities in LNG, critical minerals, ports, data infrastructure, and more.
Canada’s pension funds – with $2 trillion in capital – will visit the UAE next year to develop new opportunities for long-term investment and deepen partnerships in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and AI.
UAE sovereign wealth funds will visit Canada early next year to identify investment opportunities in Canadian energy, infrastructure, and technology.
There will be more direct commercial flights between Canada and the UAE, increasingtourism, cargo, and trade.”
While Carney has faced some criticism for his many trips abroad, such trips are necessary to secure deals such as the one above, which are in turn necessary for Canada to reduce our reliance on U.S. trade over time. The ever-changing demands, instability, and economically illiterate policies of the Trump Administration underscore the need for Canada to deepen trade ties with new partners. While trade with the U.S. will always form a key pillar of Canada’s prosperity, the more we can free up interprovincial trade and sign deals with other trading partners, the more we can strengthen our leverage and sovereignty.
Spencer Fernando
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