Canada signs UAE trade deal as strategic partnership launches
Canada signed a trade deal with the UAE on Oct 27 - 99% of Canadian exports tariff-free once in force in 2027, a $70B UAE investment pledge, and a Churchill port corridor.
Canada signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, October 27 – a deal that will reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than 99% of current Canadian exports to the UAE once it enters into force, expected in 2027, per the Prime Minister’s Office.
The signing capped a broader package launched during the visit of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan – which the PMO calls the first Canadian visit ever by a Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Alongside the trade deal, the two countries launched a Strategic Partnership spanning economic ties, energy, technology, education, defence and culture, signed a defence cooperation MOU covering training, cyber security and information sharing, and agreed to launch negotiations on an extradition treaty and a mutual legal assistance treaty. The CEPA negotiations themselves wrapped in a record 47 days – the fastest trade negotiation for either country, per the PMO.
The numbers behind it: the UAE has a $70 billion investment commitment on the table (announced during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s November 2025 visit to Abu Dhabi), and the government projects the deal will double two-way trade – from $3.4 billion to $7 billion over the next decade, per the PMO release. Two-way merchandise trade ran about $3.5 billion in 2025, with Canadian exports growing more than 10%.
The most distinctly Canadian piece: a MOU between logistics giant DP World, the Arctic Gateway Group and CentrePort Canada, linking the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway into DP World’s global network – an Arctic trade corridor play. A renewable-energy cooperation arrangement between Masdar and Natural Resources Canada was also announced, alongside sectors the government flags as beneficiaries: pulses, canola, industrial machinery, aerospace, professional services, energy and critical minerals.
What’s next: CEPA implementation is targeted for 2027, and the extradition and mutual-legal-assistance negotiations are to begin. Roughly 60,000 Canadians live in the UAE and more than 150 Canadian companies operate there, per the PMO.
Sources: Prime Minister of Canada news release and Global Affairs Canada.
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