OTTAWA — Canada’s international trade minister was warned last year that most Canadians have an unfavourable view of India, making it especially important to seek updated public input before resuming trade talks with the South Asian giant, according to a newly released internal memo.

“Critical and negative views from stakeholders can therefore be expected, especially from civil society organizations, as well as Canadian businesses already familiar with India’s [redacted],” said the memo to Maninder Sidhu from the top bureaucrat on his file. The Logic obtained the document through the Access to Information Act.

The memo signed Dec. 3 by Rob Stewart, who was then deputy trade minister, recommended Sidhu conduct public consultations on trade deals with India and the South American trade bloc known as Mercosur, which in India’s case Ottawa did between Dec. 13 and Jan. 27 of this year. 

About a month later, Prime Minister Mark Carney and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in New Delhi, where they agreed to speed up talks in the hopes of reaching a deal by the end of this year.

It is standard for the federal government to ask Canadians for their views before entering trade negotiations, but the choice to get back to the table with India marked a major thaw in the bilateral relationship after a deep and bitter freeze.

The two countries had begun negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2010, but talks had been on ice since 2023, as then-prime minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s government of plotting the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist in B.C. earlier that year. India denied involvement.

The standoff appeared to ease only after Trudeau left office—and after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on countries around the world. Last June, Carney and Modi met at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., where they agreed to restore diplomatic ties. In November, they announced that trade talks would resume.

India, which has historically been strongly protectionist, has meanwhile been securing or advancing trade agreements with others, including the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia. It is also negotiating a deal with the United States, although there have been some bumps in the road.

In a report published in March shortly after Carney’s visit to Mumbai and New Delhi, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said trade between Canada and India was already performing below expectations and Canada is now at risk of getting crowded out by others. “Without preferential access,” the think tank wrote, “Canadian exporters would risk a gradual erosion of their competitiveness in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.”

The memo from Global Affairs Canada, however, indicated public sentiment was not yet there. It referred to an October 2025 survey by Angus Reid, which suggested 54 per cent of Canadians had an unfavourable view of India. Thirty-five per cent of respondents said Canada should approach India with caution, while 23 per cent said the world’s most populous country should be treated as a potential threat to Canadian interests—or an enemy. (Another figure in that online survey, done in partnership with the Asia Pacific Foundation, that was not included in the memo: Some 46 per cent said Canada should view the U.S. as a potential threat or enemy.)

Either way, Global Affairs Canada said it was high time to hear from Canadians again.

“Although publication consultations have been conducted in the past for negotiations with each of these partners, a significant amount of time has elapsed between the last set of negotiations, and the global trade landscape has changed, including for Canada,” said the document, referring to India and Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

For its public consultations on the proposed Canada-India deal, the government received 624 submissions, according to a summary published in April. The agriculture and agri-food sector was “highly engaged,” flagging India’s high tariffs, sanitary measures and other regulations as barriers, the summary said. Automakers called for reciprocal market access, and strong rules of origin reflecting the North American integration of their industry. They also called for recognition of Canadian and U.S. safety standards and removal of discriminatory taxes and regulations.

In digital services, there were calls for protection for intellectual property, as well as the need to maintain Canada’s self-regulation system, especially in engineering.

Most submissions were more concerned with human rights than market opportunities. A letter-writing campaign organized by the World Sikh Organisation of Canada was responsible for 398 submissions—64 per cent of the total. They urged Ottawa to refuse talks until allegations of foreign interference by India are addressed. In a media briefing ahead of Carney’s visit to India in February, a senior government official speaking on the condition they not be named downplayed the threat of foreign interference from that country. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service later said its threat assessment had not changed.

Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, said much has evolved since Ottawa last consulted with Canadians on a trade deal with India in 2009. Back then, the government highlighted the fact that the South Asian country was projected to become the third-largest economy in the world by 2050. Now, India is set to reach that milestone by 2030. The federal government has said the Canada-India agreement could more than double bilateral trade to $70 billion by the end of this decade.

There is also a greater focus on energy, as India’s population growth is expected to boost demand 70 per cent by 2040. The memo suggested the Conservatives might push for the agreement to boost exports of Canadian oil and gas, especially as India is trying to reduce its reliance on Russia. In January, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson and his Indian counterpart agreed that India could offer Canada “a natural and symbiotic partnership” as it looks to increase exports of liquefied natural gas, crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas to Asia. In March, Saskatoon-based Cameco signed a $2.6-billion deal to supply uranium to India.

“The world is in a very different place,” Nadjibulla said in an interview. “Canada’s diversification imperatives are now much more urgent and India is a much more powerful economy now.”