“We have no choke points in our supply lines,” International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told The Globe. “When countries are looking to lock down supply, they’re looking to Canada.”Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The Indo-Pacific is vital to Canada’s goal of increasing exports to markets other than the U.S., said International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, off the back of a successful Team Canada mission to Japan.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail from Tokyo, where Mr. Sidhu led a 300-strong business delegation this week, the largest-ever to the Indo-Pacific, he said Canada is on track to hit Prime Minister Mark Carney’s goal of doubling non-U.S. exports by 2035, after the sector grew about $33-billion last year.
“We’re well on the way to achieve that,” Mr. Sidhu said of the about $300-billion target set by Mr. Carney. Since he took up the trade role in 2025, Mr. Sidhu added, “I’ve come home with about $10-billion in commercial successes in all of my trade missions combined,” with the latest to Japan seeing $1.7-billion in deals, including in defence and renewables.
Canada has long recognized the Indo-Pacific as a key growth market – the region is home to three of Canada’s largest trading partners, China, Japan and South Korea. But efforts to increase trade and investment have not always proven successful, and partners in the region have complained of a lack of follow through and preponderance of red tape stymying projects in Canada.
Previous high-profile trade delegations to the region, and an announcement of a planned “trade gateway” in Singapore, did not deliver as hoped, but the aggressive posture of U.S. President Donald Trump has heightened the need for Canada to diversify its economic relations, as seen by Mr. Carney’s haste in shoring up ties with Beijing, Canada’s second-largest trading partner, soon after taking office.
“When you look at the trade agreements that Canada’s negotiating, typically the government of Canada would do one or two trade agreements a year,” Mr. Sidhu said. “We’ve completed multiple in just 12 months.”
There are more on the horizon, he said, including a long-promised free trade deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
“I’m hoping to bring it to a close this year, in the coming months in fact,” Mr. Sidhu said. “Of course, you know, you’re dealing with 10-plus partners, so it’s not the easiest thing to do, but I’m very bullish on that.”
He will also be leading a trade mission to India toward the end of the year, as Ottawa continues to try to repair relations with that other Asian economic giant.
In Japan, Mr. Sidhu said there was great interest in Canadian food and energy exports, particularly liquid natural gas, LNG.
“We’re the second-largest producer of uranium in the world,” he said. “On LNG, we’re well positioned, shipments from the West Coast of Canada can hit the Indo-Pacific markets in 10 days, compare that to the Gulf of Mexico where it’s double that.”
Many countries in Asia have struggled with energy supplies as a result of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, driving many to seek other suppliers, something Mr. Sidhu said Canada would continue to benefit from even if the situation in the Middle East improves.
“We have no choke points in our supply lines,” he said. “When countries are looking to lock down supply, they’re looking to Canada.”