Canada Signs CEPA and Launches Strategic Partnership With the UAE After Record 47-Day Trade Negotiation
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in Ottawa on October 27 that Canada and the United Arab Emirates have signed the Canada-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and launched a new Strategic Partnership, during a two-day Ottawa visit by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the first-ever visit to Canada by a Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Negotiations concluded in a record 47 days, the fastest free trade agreement either country has negotiated.
Once fully implemented, the CEPA will reduce or eliminate tariffs on over 99% of current Canadian exports to the UAE, opening markets for pulse and canola farmers, industrial machinery and power generation manufacturers, and the aerospace sector, while addressing non-tariff barriers across industrial, agricultural, forest, fish and seafood, environmental and engineering services. It is expected to enter into force in 2027. Carney said the two countries had, in less than a year, put an investment protection agreement in force, negotiated and signed a trade agreement in record time, and turned a historic $70 billion investment commitment into real investments in Canadian energy, infrastructure and technology.
The visit also produced a defence cooperation MOU modernising bilateral arrangements across military education and training, defence policy dialogue, joint exercises, defence industrial cooperation, cyber security and information exchanges, with a Joint Military Committee to guide implementation, plus a diplomatic training MOU between Global Affairs Canada and the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. Commercial outcomes included a DP World MOU with the Arctic Gateway Group and CentrePort Canada, and an energy cooperation arrangement between Masdar and Natural Resources Canada. The two countries will also launch negotiations toward an extradition treaty and a mutual legal assistance treaty.
Two-way merchandise trade was valued at $3.5 billion in 2025, with $2.8 billion in Canadian exports. More than 150 Canadian companies operate in the UAE, and an estimated 60,000 Canadians live and work there. Canada's trade minister said the CEPA is expected to double two-way trade, from $3.4 billion to $7 billion over the next decade.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 阿联酋首都阿布扎比的天际线。Jannahplace 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Abu Dhabi skyline, United Arab Emirates. Photo by Jannahplace, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
