March 5, 2026
The Empire Club of Canada Presents
Empire Nights: The European Commissioner for Trade and Canada’s Minister of Trade
Chairman: Saurabh Popat, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
Arlene Dickinson, General Managing Partner, District Venture Capital; Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist & “Dragon,” CBC’s Dragon’s Den
Distinguished Guest Speakers
Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade
The Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Canada’s Minister of International Trade
Welcome Address by Saurabh Popat, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Good evening, everyone. Welcome. Thank you. I’m Saurabh Popat, chair of the board here at the Empire Club of Canada, and your host for today’s evening event.
To formally begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathering on the Traditional and Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. I encourage you all to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.
Now, tonight’s event would not be possible without the incredible and generous support of our sponsors. The Empire Club is a nonprofit organization. And our sponsors generously support the club, and make these events possible. So, please join me in thanking our Lead Sponsors, National Bank Capital Markets, and Magna. Thank you. And our VIP Reception Sponsor, Bombardier. Thank you, Bombardier. We also deeply appreciate the ongoing support of our Lead Season Sponsors, Bruce Power, Hydro One, and National Bank Capital Markets, and our VIP Reception Season Sponsors, Ellis Don, McKinsey & Company, the Ontario Road Builders Association, and Waste Connections of Canada. And thank you, as well, to our Media Partner, the Toronto Star, and finally, to our audiovisual partner, Bespoke Audio Visual. Thank you all.
If you have a question for our speakers this evening, please raise your hand, and one of our staff will be able to come to you with a microphone. You’ll also notice a poll at the bottom of your program. And we’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s topic. And answers will be shown on the screen following the program.
Now, by now, we’ve all heard Prime Minister Carney’s call to action at the infamous Davos speech, calling on Canada to double our non-US exports, and to move from reliance to resilience. And the Canadian government has been doing just that. For example, Canada and the European Union are strengthening their partnership. Together, we are rapidly working on trade, security, climate policy, and addressing geopolitical pressures as strategic allies.
A great example of this is the recent agreement between the European Union and Canada concerning participation under the SAFE instrument to support an expedite defence procurement. Since Canada provisionally joined the Canada European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement—that’s a mouthful—two-way trade has grown by more than 70%, and has reached about 162 billion Canadian annually. And Canada is continuing to look for ways to leverage that strategic partnership.
Minister Sidhu, who joins us here today, is helping to lead that effort to unlock new opportunities for Canadian businesses, and reinforce a rules-based trading system. And although Minister Sidhu has maybe still been recovering from some jet lag following his government’s trip to India, it’s absolutely clear that Canada’s diversified trade strategy is resulting in concrete results with partners such as India, Australia, and Japan, who are all seeking stability and leadership for renewed partnerships and investment opportunities with Canada.
Here at the Empire Club, we’re proud to be at the forefront of important and timely conversations just like this one here this evening. And so, tonight, we’ll turn our attention to Canada’s partnership with Europe. It’s now my pleasure to welcome Minister Sidhu, Canada’s Minister of International Trade. Minister Sidhu has represented Brampton East in the House of Commons since 2019, and has served as Minister of International Trade since 2025. An entrepreneur before entering public life, he built a successful customs brokerage business, and later served as Parliamentary Secretary at Global Affairs Canada, where he helped advance Canada’s diplomatic and trade relationships around the world. Please join me, in welcoming Minister Sidhu to the stage.
The Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Canada’s Minister of International Trade
Well, good evening, everyone. Thank you for that kind introduction, Saurabh. I want to say thank you to the Empire Club for hosting us here today. And of course, I want to welcome our commissioner, the EU Trade Commissioner, my friend Maroš Šefčovič, for coming to Toronto, and joining us as we progress our trading relationships. And so, before we begin, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for everything you’re doing to promote Canada on the world stage, including our friend, Arlene. Arlene, I’ve seen you out on the road many times, just in Singapore a few weeks ago. So, thank you for being such a great ambassador to Canada.
Commissioner, today was a full day, a productive day. And I want to tell you what we have accomplished. But first, let’s acknowledge the world that we are operating in. The world feels unsettled. Politics are volatile. And supply chains are strained. Geopolitics are tense. And in moments like this, countries around the world are looking for a trusted partner, a stable partner, and a reliable partner. And Canada is that partner. And with Europe, our bonds are only getting closer. And that is why the Canada-EU partnership matters so much right now. Since our CETA trade agreement came into force, bilateral merchandise trade has grown over 75%. Trade and services is up by close to 100% —in fact, 97% to be exact. And last year, merchandise trade reached a record $134 billion. From 2016 to 2025, trade under CETA grew faster than Canada’s trade with the rest of the world, including the United States, Mexico, and China. And that is not by accident. [Applause] Yep, it’s something worth applauding. And that is not by accident. That is what rules-based trade and trusted partnership deliver. And today, we made that partnership even stronger. We launched negotiations towards a Canada-EU digital free trade agreement. We strengthened CETA’s investment protections for small and medium-sized businesses. And we marked the entry into force of the mutual recognition agreement for architects, opening access to Europe’s $1.1 trillion construction market. And that is what a day’s work looks like.
But partnership today is about more than market access. It’s about strategic alignment. It’s about resilience. It’s about working with trusted democracies to pool resources and strengthen our supply chains that power the 21st century. And this is where Canada brings something unique to the table. Canada holds 31 priority critical minerals. We possess 10 of NATO’s 12 defence critical minerals. The materials needed for batteries, semiconductors, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, and defence. As Minister Hodgson said this week right here in Toronto, these are cards in our hands, not as a threat, but as leverage in a world where secure supply chains matter more than ever. That is why Canada has signed critical mineral agreements with Germany, France, Italy, the UK, and the EU, alongside partners across the Indo-Pacific, and beyond. It’s why we recently concluded a $2.6 billion uranium supply agreement with India just a few days ago. And it’s why our government announced $12.1 billion in critical mineral investment partnerships with 12 allied nations just last month.
As Prime Minister Carney said at Davos, middle powers must act together. Because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu. And Canada is certainly at the table, working with partners across the globe to diversify trade, and sign new economic and security partnerships. It’s also why our goal of doubling Canada’s non-US exports over the next decade is not ambitious for its own sake. It’s about building options, new markets, new contracts, and new jobs for Canadian workers. We have signed deals with Indonesia, Ecuador, the UAE. We joined SAFE, the EU’s readiness 2030 defence procurement plan, opening new opportunities for Canadian manufacturers in space technology, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and beyond. We have secured close to $100 billion in foreign direct investment last year, the highest amount in 18 years. That’s billions of dollars in critical mineral energy infrastructure projects, boosting Canada’s economic security. And we aren’t stopping there. After signing record agreements and attracting the largest foreign direct investment in recent times, we are moving at speeds never seen before. We are negotiating with Mercosur, ASEAN, India, Philippines, and more. Canada is diversifying, and we are doing so with partners who share our values.
Middle powers have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and the most to gain from a world of cooperation, as said by Prime Minister Carney. Canada is a middle power, a trading nation, a country with the resources the world needs and the values to back them up. Europe is our partner in building that cooperative world. And there has never been a better time to go further together. Commissioner, as you say—I’m going to try this really slowly—[Remarks in Latin]. Today we worked, and tonight we continue that work together. Thank you so much, everyone.
Saurabh Popat
Thank you so much, Minister. And thank you, thank you for your wonderful remarks. Now, please join me, in welcoming Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security. Commissioner Šefčovič has been an important partner in strengthening the Canada-EU economic relationship and advancing cooperation between our economies, as Minister Sidhu has stated. Commissioner, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to Toronto, and to Canada, and we look forward to your remarks. Commissioner.
Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade
Good evening to everyone. Thank you very much for having me, my dear friend, Minister Sidhu, the President, [Indiscernible], all the business leaders with whom I had the opportunity to meet this afternoon, or just to have very friendly, cooperative, and inspiring chats, just before we started our program. First and foremost, I really would like to thank you for hosting us in the Empire Club, and I would like to thank Minister for not only a very intensive program of today, but for being generous hosts. And thanks to his team for being excellent partners in preparing this very full day of events and, of course, our plans for the future.
Today, I’ve spoken a lot about the trade relations between EU and Canada. And I think that numbers which have been presented by Minister Sidhu are absolutely impressive. And this just proves—and I’m in Canada, so I’m a big hockey fan, as you are. I’m from Slovakia, so we have less medals, but we have the same passion. And therefore, I’m very happy that I can say that we skate in think, and that we also want to follow the good advice of Wayne Gretzky, to go where the puck is going, not where it is. So, we have to look a little bit into the future. And I have to say that everyone whom I met today remind me of the excellent times and beautiful three years we spent in Canada with my family, because it was my first diplomatic posting representing my newly independent country. My daughter started the school here, and my eldest daughter even come back to get her master degree in e-commerce. So, you see that the relationship could be long, could be enduring, could be profitable. And we always have a lot of things to look forward to.
And it was exactly the discussion which we had today, because indeed, we are operating in a geopolitically extremely challenging environment. I think, when I’m talking to my predecessors, nobody kind of even can think about the similar year as we had in 2025. And therefore, I would say in these turbulent times, what you really appreciate and what you really feel even more is when you have friends, when you could really perceive, almost physically, I would say, the great value in dependable partnerships funded on trust like that one which we share with Canada.
And I know that this is, I would say, the general feeling among the Europeans and definitely throughout our European Union institutions. But I think it’s very much embodied by that personal strong relationship and partnership between President von der Leyen of the European Commission and Prime Minister Carney. I had the honour and the privilege to meet Prime Minister in his different previous function when he was working for the UN. He was always very approachable, very nice person. He was like that. He’s like that. I’m sure he will stay like that. And that’s what always is a trademark of a great personality and excellent leader.
And therefore, I have to say that today, I mean, we had a very fruitful day about the ideas, how to move our relationship forward. And therefore, I think that we are all looking forward how we would be interviewed by Arlene Dickinson. And I would like to thank her for moderating this evening discussion. And I think that it’s an honour to be really joined by the real life Dragon, you know. So, we’ve been looking how it would be to bring the spirit of the Dragon’s Den. And I think that, once I have that opportunity, I should do some pitch about Europe, no? I mean, that’s what you’re supposed to do. And I think that if you look at us, and you see how successful our relationship was so far, I think we both look friendship, we look for certainty, we look for predictability, and you look for dependable trading partners. And also, we want to be sure that if you have a contract, if you work with your suppliers, you do not want to be cut off overnight. And therefore, the Europe is very much in demand. I think that we never got so many phone calls, inquiries, and suggestions to accelerate our free trade negotiations.
And if you look at the global parkour, we both, with money, are running across exactly the same destination—ASEAN, India, Australia, New Zealand, of course, for us, Canada, for European Union, Mercosur countries, Mexico. Because we feel that also our partners are very much in the same situation. They want to have predictable and good partners. And of course, if you look at Europe, we are, despite of all the turbulence, we are still biggest traders on this planet. We still trade more than China. We trade more than the US. We have 450 million very, very solid consumers. We respect the deals. We always sign the agreements where both partners are happy. And we have quite a few of these free trade agreements. So, we have more than 70. And I’m always challenging, also, our friends from the media: show me one partner who tells you that our deal was not fair. And you cannot find anyone, because it’s mutually advantageous. The trade growth, investment growth, people’s to people’s exchanges, business to business contacts improve. And that’s exactly why I believe Europe is in such a demand. And why I believe that Canada and Europe are strategic partners. And we will be even more privileged partners with all the steps which are ahead of us.
So, now I should ask Arlene, how did I do? So, it was like B-minus, I would say. I mean, if you would see the expression. But what I would like to say about our mutual relationship that today, I think we really went through our agreement. What works well? What do we need some improvement? Where do we feel that we have some barriers to tackle. But what I very much appreciate is also the fact that we looked into the future. Because the numbers which have been presented by ministers in the world are very, very impressive. But we shouldn’t look at them as some kind of abstract data. Because they represent jobs. They represent taxes which are paid, so we can promote our social policies in Canada, in European Union. They secure future for our children. And therefore, we have to look at it through these very tangible concrete projects and programs.
And therefore, I’m very happy that we did a couple of firsts. I mean, we just concluded the first agreement on mutual recognition of the noble profession of architects. And when I was researching for the little remarks which you made there, I was surprised how many of the Leland architects been already present here, and designing the beautiful buildings in Canada, and how many of the famous Canadian or Canadian-born architects been present in Europe. So, even before we signed this agreement, there was already this intercultural exchange. And I’m sure that with this agreement, it would be even more. And once we cracked that nut, I believe that we can look also at other profession, and other areas where we can do the similar agreement.
I’m also very pleased that we looked into the, I would say, most efficient building measure you can focus on, I would say, these days. And this is a Digital Trade Agreement, because we have seen what kind of change it made when we signed such agreement with Singapore, with South Korea. We are really listening to the businesses who are telling us, look, I mean, if you look at the trade and services which grew up by almost 100%, as Minister Sidhu highlighted, most of it is, of course, done by the digital means. All exporters and importers would like to use e-invoicing. They would like to use e-government tools, just to make the business smoother, easier to operate, and more transparent. That’s exactly what I believe we will achieve. If we negotiate well, fast, and deliver, I believe that it’s clearly possible to do it this year, and have an ambitious Digital Trade Agreement, which would facilitate further the trade, and which would make your life as a business leader easier.
So, to conclude, I once again would like to thank Canada for the friendship, for being good partners, for being such a strong hockey player, hockey players—even though you can lose, sometimes, to us. I mean, you would really appreciate it. And we know how to celebrate this. I remember that when we won in Yetheborg, first time and unfortunately last time, the world championship, I mean, the whole country was, for one week, inoperational. You know, you can imagine why. But on this anecdote, once again, I would like to thank you, dear Minister. I’d like to thank you, Mr. President, for hosting us. And I’m sure that we are looking forward to Arlene’s question. Thank you very much, and enjoy the evening.
Saurabh Popat
Minister Sidhu, Commissioner Šefčovič, thank you for your leadership, and the clarity you brought to the discussion for this evening. Now, let’s talk about execution, about investment, and growth, and the choices that will shape this partnership in the years ahead. Don’t worry, Arlene. I’m not going to pitch you. I’ll audition separately for that. We’re thrilled to be joined this evening by Arlene Dickinson, the founder and general partner of District Ventures Capital, to guide this important discussion. Arlene is a three-time best-selling author, has appeared for more than 17 seasons on CBC’s Dragon’s Den—I think 18 seasons coming up. And anyone here planning to pitch her for investment, please audition for the show, as I mentioned. Arlene has been a leading voice in supporting the Canadian trade and investment journey. It’s now my absolute pleasure to welcome Arlene to the Empire Club podium to moderate our fireside discussion with Minister Sidhu and Commissioner Šefčovič.
Arlene Dickinson, General Managing Partner, District Venture Capital; Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist & “Dragon,” CBC’s Dragon’s Den
All right. Well, I was trying to think if I had my wallet with me, I would have given you money. Like, that was really good. Like, I was thinking, well, I mean, I always say that the best deals are deals that have honesty, people are honest, they’re authentic, and they look for a win-win. And that’s what this relationship is all about. And you both said that in spades. And I really enjoyed your comments. And you pretty much took all my questions away, because you answered all of them. So, I have to make them up here as I go. But I’m used to that. So, one of the things that you talked about, Minister Sidhu, you talked about the fact that we are, you know, CETA has gotten to this place where we now have 75%, up to $165 million, correct? Billion dollars—sorry, billion. Billion. Billion is more important. And that’s real. But you both mentioned how fast things are going. Like you said, this is a good day. We did so much. Look at what happened in the day. Speed, new cash flow, new, you know, investment strategies, new trade corridors. I mean, it’s happening real time, which is fantastic. But when you think about what this is really built to do, like what does the next two to three years look like? How big can this relationship get, realistically? And not, you know, what we just hope it’ll be, or what we think it could be on a good day, but what is it really going to be? And then the next question I have on top of that is what do we need to do to unlock that, whatever that number is? So, I’ll start with you, Minister Sidhu.
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
No, it’s a great question, Arlene. Our relationship with the European Union, obviously, since we signed into the CETA agreement in 2017, we’ll be celebrating 10 years next year in September. But if you look at how fast we’re moving, and why we’re moving so fast, part of the reason is one country that’s really distorting trade practices, putting into place provisions that are impacting trade flows. And so, we’re at a time where there’s so much energy around trade agreements, and we’re trying to capture those agreements as fast as we can. I know Maroš just finalized with India, with Mercosur, we finalized with a few other countries, as well, and we’ve got more than a handful to do this year.
But you know, trade agreements are no good without businesses utilizing them, right? And so, if you look at what we’re doing with the EU, one example I’ll give you is through the EU Safe Defence Procurement Mechanism. Canada, we negotiated into that mechanism. So, we’re the only non-EU partner being welcomed to that procurement agreement. What that means is hundreds of millions of dollars in defence procurement opportunities for Canadian companies. And it aligns with our defence industrial strategy, the money that we’re putting in to grow our industrial capacity. Because you know, for a country with 40 million people, our defence industry wouldn’t be sustainable without exports. And so, part of that is opening up agreements, but also as tangible results for people on the ground.
And so, traditionally, the prime minister has said this multiple times our last number of months, $0.70 of every dollar that we spend as Canadians goes to the US for defence procurement. And Canadians want their dollar to go further here in our country. And so, how can we build up our industrial base? How can we work with partners in the European Union? And we can learn a lot from European countries. I mean, if you look at what Italy, what the UK or Germany has done, their calculation is inverted, where they import maybe 30%. And they spend 70%, 80% in their own countries for their own industrial capacity. And so, we can learn a little bit from them on how we can work together. And so, as we increase our defence targets—we haven’t invested this much since the 1950’s, believe it or not. So, over $80 billion of investments. And so, I think when you look at the tangible results, you’re going to see them in spades, whether it’s in the defence sector, but also in agri-foods. We’re knowing in that sector to produce good quality products. And so, you know, working with the EU, but other partners around the world, of what more we can do for food security, national security. And so, you know, those are just some of the examples I can give you. And I’m sure Maroš can talk about more.
Arlene Dickinson
Well, thanks for mentioning agri-food, because you know that’s a subject near and dear to my heart. Commissioner.
Maroš Šefčovič
I agree with everything was what Maninder has mentioned, maybe some additional aspects. If you look at the growth in trading of goods, so it’s, as we said, more than 75%, then trade and service is almost 100%. So, if you look at it from just purely statistical point of view, so it’s more than 10% a year, which is quite impressive. And I would say that now we are kind of coming into the stage where the agreement is really working. If you manage to build this digital superstructure, this digital trading agreement, I believe that the growth could be even bigger. We also adopted several, I would say, strategic decisions concerning critical raw minerals. But again, with Canada, we are very complementary. And we both discussed, you know, how to have such a mineral wealth is, I would say, an extreme blessing. But to kind of make a use of it, you need a big capital. Because I mean, you need to extract. You need to process. You need to transform it into the concrete products. It might take up to 7 to 10 years. You need several billions for opening the mines and start the processing.
And I think this would be very difficult for Canada to do it alone. We do not have that critical minerals in Europe. So, this is one of the proof how complementary we are. Because I believe that together, we can really pull the first project out. I think we already have one on the list of our strategic projects. So, it means that to be looking for the financing together with our Canadian friends, our European investment bank is ready to provide also the funding for this project. So, that’s just one example.
Then, of course, the energy. We see what is happening now in the Middle East. Again, the price of gas and oil go through the roof. And I have to say that after the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we almost overnight decided to shift simply the sourcing of energy products elsewhere. Even though it was very expensive, but it was a very clear political decision that that’s how we show the support and solidarity to Ukrainian people. And we diversified. But even now, I’d say, into the markets where we went, suddenly you have all the tensions around. So, you see that despite the efforts and diversification, still the prices are going up. So, I think that the future of cooperation in energy products with oil, gas, uranium, nuclear cooperation, because nuclear energy goes through Renaissance in Europe. I mean, we want to be climate neutral by 2050. But you cannot achieve it if you do not have the fossil-free energy. And it’s very clear that for us, the major contributor to that on top of the renewables which are building, you need some kind of solid baseload for energy. And these are the nuclear power plants. And again, that will be huge investment, huge demand in the technology, huge demand in the nuclear, nuclear fuel.
And I’m absolutely sure that also in the products which we discussed today, where we can simply look how much we can go through mutual recognition of the standards, approval processes, permits, and so on and so forth, that we can clearly open, I would say, the trade even more. So, the, all this is proving the fact that our economies are very complementary. That, I mean, it’s like a LEGO. You put it together, and it fits. And I think we just have to find, I would say, more and more of this fit, so this puzzle looks better, more colours, it’s bigger, and it brings more benefits to both of our economies.
Arlene Dickinson
Yeah, I mean, that’s really helpful. But I want to bring it down to what the people in this room are thinking right now. So, let’s be practical about what you’ve just said, because those are great speaking points. And I really appreciate kind of the opportunity being very significant. But if you’re a business owner in this room right now, you’re thinking about, you know, tariffs, you’re thinking about what’s happening on the geopolitical stage. You’re thinking about whether or not, who knows, is it a war or isn’t it a war? What is actually going on right now? And so, there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty that comes with that. And so, while you’re making all these trade agreements happen—and we appreciate that we should be like LEGOs, and fitting well together—when you’re a business owner, you have to ascertain whether you’re prepared to take the risk and the uncertainty.
And so, how do we make sure that we can accelerate as business owners what you two are working on. You know, what Canada and the European nations are working on, the union are working on. How do we as business owners capitalize on what you’re doing right now? Because that’s the gap, as I see it. You know, making sure that businesses know what to do to make sure that things are actually going to happen. And then, the other thing I would say is, I think there’s still a sense that, hey, things might calm down. They might go back to normal. What do you think about those two questions?
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
Yeah. And maybe, I can add to that, in terms of Canadian perspective of programs that we’re putting into place as a government. From my time in the private sector, I spent 13 years facilitating international trade for hundreds of Canadian businesses. And if you asked me back then, were businesses ready to look beyond the US? No. I would say, why would I do that? I’m next to the largest market in the world. But now, they don’t have a choice. You know, when the order books are drying up, they want the government’s help to help get into new markets, you know, across the ocean. And so, you’re right, Arlene, in terms of the risks. It’s a lot cheaper to go to the US than fly to Singapore, for example. Those are big, big expenses, especially at a time when your business is being punished by your largest customer.
And so, how do we help businesses take that risk? And part of that is what we’re putting into place through our trade ecosystem through Budget 2025. And so, we have an SMEs export readiness program that’s going to be launching by Minister Rechie Valdez. That’s to get businesses export ready. Once they’re export ready, we have our CAN export program and our agri-marketing program that we just launched, roughly $200 million of investments made by our government to help you get into external markets. You want to attend a trade show, you need market research. You need legal advice to get into markets around the world. That’s where the government is stepping up, by providing grants, saying here, here’s what we can do for you. Please, go into some of these markets overseas.
And once you have your first order, we want to help facilitate the credit for that first order. And so, through Export Development Canada, we’re instilling about another $25 billion into that, so they can then finance your export. So, the whole ecosystem is, you know, hand-holding to get you ready. Once you’re ready to get you to the new markets. And once you have an order, to get that product out the door. And so, I think it’s going to take a lot of work, of course. But I think the energy that I’m seeing from the business community that I did not see when I was in the private sector is very different now, saying, please help us get into new external markets. And you can see that from the trade delegations that we’re taking out. Minister Long just led one of the largest trade delegations to Mexico. I was in Italy not too long ago, leading a large delegation. And we’ll be going to the European Union with even larger delegations, in terms of different sectors, clean tech, defence, agri-food, and more. And so, there is a real appetite to say, help us get out there. We want to do this with Canada. And that’s why the FTAs that we’re signing really matter, but it’s also utilizing existing FTAs, right? So, if you look at the EU, Canada, FTA, it’s utilized around 60%.
Now, part of that is, you know, there are goods that don’t require a free trade agreement, so they’re not going to be utilizing it. But there is a percentage there to get businesses more comfortable utilizing these FTAs, and becoming more competitive in these environments. And so, Canada is catching up. We’re catching up really fast. I’ll give you an example. With India, India signed with EU, they’ve signed with UK, New Zealand, many of our trading partners. And so, they have first mover advantage now. And so, Canada, as a government, we’re moving as fast as possible to make sure we get our foot in the door in the fast growing market of India. I mean, they’re going to be the third largest economy in the world, overtaking Germany in the next few years. And so, it’s important that we do some handholding, that we focus on our businesses to get them there. It’s going to take some work, as you know, Arlene. But I think Canadians want to do it, and we’re going to be helping them to get there.
Arlene Dickinson
Yeah. I mean, I think that’s very true. You don’t know, until you’re actually there. And I guess, Commissioner, is that true? Do people need to actually go to Europe? Do they need to create business relationships? It’s not as simple as, well, we have an agreement now, let’s just do some trade together.
Maroš Šefčovič
Oh, you’re right. And I think, I mean, also on your previous questions, I mean, why this, I would say, free trade agreements [Indiscernible] activity, which is taking place all over the world. I think everyone is hedging their risks. You want to diversify your portfolio. You want to make sure that you can kind of rebalance the instability. You want to have your supply chains more resilient. But to be honest, my personal view is that we will not, this old world coming back. I think that the old trading world, as we knew it before, is gone. I spent a lot of time in discussions with our American partners. And I think there is a strong consensus that the trading world, as it was before, was not fair to the United States of America. And that strong belief from the top level to the experts with whom we met. And I think it’s, at least my impression was shared on bipartisan level. So, that’s a little bit what is, I think, the reality of today. Therefore, I realize that when we’ve been offering at the beginning in the negotiations, let’s lower the tariffs. Let’s get rid of them. Let’s go for zero, for zero. But there was no response, because the approach and philosophy, how they perceive the trade is different.
Nevertheless, I think we managed to find the solution, despite all these turbulence. I mean, the trade is going on. But that, I would say, the way how it was before that, I don’t think it will come back. So, I think we need to adjust to the new reality. So, you are looking for the new partners. We are all working very hard to open new market access for our businesses. And I agree with you, the governments and what is our role as the trade ministers or trade commissioner is that we have to create these new frameworks. We need to bring you these new possibilities. But we both know that the success of our work will be declared only when this government-to-government contracts would be translated into the business to business contracts. And that’s, I would say, the next stage, I think. Now, I mean, we’ve been looking for the new market access. And now, we have to make sure that you will have proper information, you will have proper advice, that we can provide you the guidance, and we can also create enough traffic, I would say, between our business communities, so it could be translated into the concrete, mutually advantageous contracts. And therefore, we’ve been discussing organization of different investment for the exchange of business visits.
And I was also sharing our experience with the Minister Sidhu on how to motivate and get SMEs more interested in using these free trade agreements. Because in Europe, more than 90% of our companies are SMEs. So, we have different portals. It’s called Access to Markets, where we are trying to present it to the user-friendly forum, even though if it comes to user-friendly and European Commission, it’s not only the 100%. But we are really trying to provide the information which is useful for the SMEs. If you want to invest in Mercosur countries, or Canada, what you should do. And I think we have to do much more of the outreach to the business community, so they would know what are the new opportunities. And we’ll be, of course, very happy to share our expertise with our Canadian friends. Because over the last seven, eight years, not only we are trading 20% or the growth is 20% higher with Canada, with any other, especially their own FT partners. But also, we managed to increase the shares of SMEs who are participating in this trade to more than 20%. And that’s quite significant, and just show that there is no language barrier, there is no cultural barrier, that we have lots of proximities which make it easier also for SMEs to be on the market.
Arlene Dickinson
And there’s no value barrier, right?
Maroš Šefčovič
Exactly.
Arlene Dickinson
There’s no value barrier, as well. So you have real practice, in terms of growing SMEs and helping them take advantage of the FTAs that you’re now working with the Canadian government to try and help us do the same thing. Is that fair?
Maroš Šefčovič
Yeah. I mean, that was—because that was the question that I think we have like 6%, 7% of SMEs from Canada participating.
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
That’s right. Yeah. There’s some work to be done.
Maroš Šefčovič
And we have 20%. And of course, I think I see that this is a huge potential for also Canadian SMEs to even take more advantage from this agreement. But I know that for some micro enterprises or for family business to go overseas, it’s always a big decision. So, we want to have all the information, and want to do our planning. You’ll have to have certain guarantees that it will be helped on the ground. And this is, I think, what we need to provide as a government to our entrepreneurs.
Arlene Dickinson
Yeah, and I think that, I mean, I do see that happening for sure with what Canada is trying to do right now, to make sure that SMEs do understand the opportunity in front of them. Right now, Canada is one of the very few nations that actually has free trade agreements with both the EU and Indo-Pacific, correct? And that’s actually very meaningful. And that’s meaningful by design. I mean, the prime minister and you have been travelling all around the globe. And in particular, I’ve seen you in that region trying to make great agreements happen. And so there’s real talk about marrying CETA and SPTPP together, which would create like a market of about 2 billion people, which is huge. How do these businesses that are in this room, and people that are thinking about it, figure out how they can access those consumers through a single Canadian platform, so that they’re not figuring out where do I go, how do I do this? And how close is that to truly happening?
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
Yeah. So, I mean, I think, Arlene, what you’re talking about is the CPTPP and the EU bridging. And so, this is one of the largest trading blocks in the world that Canada is a member of, because through our FTAs. And so, if you look at some of the fastest-growing regions in the world, yes, they are our CPTPP member countries. What we’re trying to do is bridge the two, which the prime minister has talked about in taking a leadership role. And so, Canada is a co-chair in that to bring those two together, to really look at what we can do around investment facilitation. What more can we learn from the EU and CPTPP partners? Digital trade, but supply chain resiliency. You know, I think that’s very important to learn from our partners. And we’ll be having conversations later this month in Cameroon, when we meet at the WTO. Trade ministers will be meeting there, having discussions on how we can bridge the two to come together. Because at a time where rules-based trade is being under tremendous, tremendous pressure, we need to make sure that it’s working. And so, part of it is not to replace the WTO, but it’s to work with WTO to find ways we can learn from each other, and help facilitate more trade.
And so, one example I’ll give you is on supply chain resiliency. What are we doing at our ports? How can we learn from each other? How can we digitize our ports? And there’s a lot going on in Singapore. And so, that’s a conversation that I had a few weeks ago. We know, at our ports here, you know, businesses, we can find all the FTAs, but if shipping rates go through the roof, no one’s going to export. And we saw that during the pandemic, when container rates went from $5,000 to $18,000 all of a sudden. And you know who pays at the end of the day? It’s the consumer. And so, we need to help build up our supply chains, and so, learning from other countries in that sense, but also investing here in our ports. And so, we have a $5 billion trade corridor fund to boost up some of our ports. And so, as we increase trade with the European Union, we’re increasing the Port of Montréal’s capacity. That’s very, very important. Because we see where trade is headed. You see the trend lines. You see how much focus we’re putting on the European Union. We need to be able to build up that capacity at our ports, as well. And so, we’re making sure we’re doing that.
And we’re also adding more tools on the ground. So trade commissioner services is a very important tool for everyone in this room. If you want to export to a certain market in the world, call your local trade commissioner office and tell them what you want to do. They can link the two. If you’re in a niche business of critical mineral processing, and in Slovakia, they need your technology, they will be able to connect you with the right people on the ground. So, we’re putting more trade commissioners in the European Union, but we’re also growing Export Development Canada’s presence in the European Union. So, they’re gonna have more presence on the ground to help facilitate more of that trade. And so, these are some of the tangible things that we’re doing. But really, it’s about learning from one another. And Canada’s in a good place to be members of both the CPPP and the EU. And so, we’re able to kind of bridge the two, and that’s why we’re able to be co-chairs with Vietnam to kind of have these conversations. And really, it’s not a hit on any one country, but it’s really to learn from one another best practices, and bring the two trading blocks together.
Arlene Dickinson
Which is super exciting. If you’re a business, and you have been relying on the US for most of your trade, thinking about the 400 million people that are there, you suddenly have open to you 2 billion people who are predominantly English-speaking, who have shared values, who do want to do business with us, and who do need what we have to sell. So, there is such opportunity that’s surrounding us right now. So, I mean, if you’re in this room right now and you’re an entrepreneur, Commissioner Šefčovič—did I say it right?
Maroš Šefčovič
Very good. A+.
Arlene Dickinson
I had to wait to say it, because I wanted to make sure I got it right. I’ve been practising in my head the whole time. When you think about, you know, you’ve had success with getting SMEs to figure out how to take advantage of the free trade agreements, and the arrangements that are out there. What would you tell the businesses out here that they could do today, that they should be doing today, to take advantage of what’s happening between our nations?
Maroš Šefčovič
I think that first and foremost, I would say the awareness which I believe now we have, I mean, that’s very important. Then I think that you also should feel encouraged by the very strong, I would say, political will to make this happen, just to create the best possible conducive environment for you. And then I’m sure that you know your products the best. And I mean, really, I would say, as I said, we are the biggest traders, so I’m sure that there is a company, there is a consumer group, which would be in the needs of your product. So, I think it’s very good to kind of map the opportunity there. We have also very strong trade section in auto [Indiscernible] representation. I’m sure they will be very happy to provide you with advice. I mean, your embassy in Brussels is very active, and I’m sure that you have embassies in all big economies across the European Union. So, taste these ideas, and just simply even, I would say approach us that we would like to be more present in your market. Can you point us somewhere? Can you help us with this networking? And I’m sure that Mani and myself will be very happy, you know, to work with all of you just to simply forward the contacts, you know, to your potential partners.
We have, I would say, very well working associations. I mean, we are now in Empire Club. I met today with several people from the Chamber of Commerce from both sides. They have valuable contacts. Use them, use them. Use the agreement, use the contacts, use the structure. Because I think we’ve been, partially it was very comfortable in the past. We thought that it was kind of natural choice. Now, both of these things have been challenged. I don’t think that it will be completely replaced, or it will be negligible in the future. It would be, I would say, very strong partnership and relationship in the future. But I think, based upon the experience of the last year, I mean, the conclusion is very clear for everyone. Diversify. Look for an opportunity, look for new partners.
And Minister was referring to the CPTPP, indeed together. I mean, we represent 30% of the global GDP, 40% of the global trade. Then really, the countries there, they’re growing very fast. They have very young workforce, young population. We are very compatible with them, because very often, they need exactly the products which are manufactured in, made in Canada, or in European Union. And also, the pool of consumers is growing dramatically. I mean, India—and I keep finger crossed for you. I mean, you will never forget the negotiations, I can tell you that. We went to very intense period with my brother, Piyush Goyal. I mean, we spent a lot of time together. But he will remind you, I’m sure, that this is the fastest-growing economy. These are really 1.4 billion people, and the economy is growing every year 8, 9%. So, the country like India of today will be totally different in 2030. And you see how we’ve been doing our projections, how let’s say the car market would multiply, machinery market would multiply. And they’re also kind of moving away from that philosophy which was there important to develop, I would say, the businesses into being more open, being more on international market, to increase also a little bit more competition on the internal market. So, now it’s time to partner with, to be there, and to really forge this partnership which will be there for a long time.
So this is what I would suggest. Just look at all these new opportunities forged by these new free trade agreements, because there is eagerness from the both sides to make them successful.
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
And if I can add to that, you mentioned the growth, the tremendous growth in the Indo-Pacific region, and I’m sure European Union products are being shipped there because they’re high quality products. And just like Canada’s products are very much valued. I was in Vietnam a few weeks ago, where Canadian products were found in 4,000 supermarkets in Vietnam. And they want more of it, because as their middle class grows, they want to spend more and more on good quality food, agri-food products. And so, I would say get your name out there, start marketing, use CanXport, use the agri-food marketing program to get out there to these new emerging markets. I mean, India’s growth is phenomenal. Vietnam is growing, you know, at 6, 7%. India’s going a little bit faster. But they want better quality products from Canada because of our regulatory framework, because of the EU’s regulatory framework. They respect our jurisdiction, they respect our products, and they don’t mind paying a premium for it. And so, it’s just a matter of getting out there, getting into the supermarkets—and when I was in Vietnam, why aren’t you marketing more? We love Canada, we love Canada. Come to Vietnam. And so, that’s a conversation that the government’s trying to facilitate. But again, it’s your energy on the ground. Apply for the grants that are available and get out there. I’ll be taking a delegation to South Korea in a few weeks to really showcase, you know, Canadian products. Again, more and more of those delegations. But you need to also be out there to join the government. And we want to make sure that you’re helped by giving you grants to get you out there, because we know it’s hard for some small businesses. I understand, I was there. You know, just to get to Singapore, it’s 10 to $20,000 of expenses. And so, we want to be able to help facilitate those conversations.
Arlene Dickinson
Yeah, I’ll maybe just end that by saying, you know, as an entrepreneur, I did get on a plane, and I have travelled to the Indo-Pacific region, and I have taken advantage of the trade commission offices, and the export offices, and EDC, and FCC, and every single—there has been nothing but support along the way. So, if you’re wondering whether or not you will get the support, you will get the support. You need to pick up the phone, you need to get on a plane, and you need to do everything you can to take advantage of what our politicians, our government and our partners, are putting together from a trade perspective, so that we can actually grow and build Canada as a nation, and be able to overcome the challenges that are in front of us from a geopolitical perspective. So, I would underline that from an entrepreneur’s perspective that I really agree. We have, thank you so much, both of you. I could, I really, it’s just a, it’s fascinating to listen to you both.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Arlene Dickinson
I think we have time for two questions. Maybe, maybe, I don’t know, like—unless you wanna go. But could we, anyone have a question that they’d like to ask? Yes.
Audience Question
Oh, I’m live. Thank you. Thank you very much, Minister and Commissioner. You know, as NATO allies look to kind of rebuild defence industrial capacity, there seems to be an opportunity to collaborate, you know, across the Atlantic for specialized SMEs. And so, the question is, how can Canada and the EU work more deliberately to integrate those manufacturers in allied supply chains, and those manufacturers that are in, I’ll call it the Maritime Supply Chain milieu. And what are some of the specific things that you might think of, outside of programs, that you might do to set the table for that kind of, I’ll call it exchange, between those specific SMEs, as it relates to defence?
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
Yeah, sure. I mean, maybe I can start on the—so we just launched our Defence Industrial Strategy, as you know. We’re investing billions of dollars in R&D, research and innovation, but really, to grow our industrial capacity. And so, what can governments do to help facilitate those conversations? Part of it is more delegations. And so, within the Defence Industrial Strategy, I’ll be taking out more defence-oriented trade missions to the European Union. And I think we can work together for B2B matchmaking, to see where the complementaries lie. And I think, you know, one company, I’ll give you one example, is A Berger Precision in Brampton. They’re a German company, started in the auto manufacturing side of things, now doing health, and also doing defence, because our government is saying here, you can do more over here, and we’re gonna help facilitate those conversations. And so, part of it is pivoting, and making sure our industries are more resilient. And so, we wanna be able to help them get into new industries, and help them make sure that they’re getting through this tough time, especially with the auto industry being hit with Section 232 tarrifs by President Trump. We need to be able to facilitate those conversations. And so, B2B matchmaking is where I see a lot of potential ,and having those conversations, getting them going.
Maroš Šefčovič
Maybe just a few figures. I mean, reflecting on the dramatic geopolitical situation, the Europe, not only European Union; I’m talking about the European countries. There was a strategic shift made that we simply have to be able to be much more self-reliant in the, in defence. So, just within the, let’s say EU, in the next 7 to 10 years, more than 800 billion Euros will be invested in the defence projects. And there is also completely new philosophy, how to look at what kind of defence needs you have. Because I still remember the debates five, six years ago, where there was a discussion in European Union, do we need the tanks? We just need the light expeditionary troops, because what we will be doing in the future will be we’ll be doing peace keepings abroad. Nobody thought that suddenly, you would need the heavy arm, you will need tanks, you will need howitzers, you will need all this, I would say, heavy armour. Because suddenly, you might have, you know, military conflicts like getting closer and closer to the heart, to the heart of Europe. So, this is clearly for a long time, there will be huge focus on defence products. There is a huge interest in, again, diversifying the supplies, more of a, I would say, strategic autonomy in the defence sectors.
And what is very important is that, with our good partners, Canadians, we managed to conclude so-called safe agreement. Which, if I would translate it into the normal colloquial language, means that Canada could participate in different kinds of public procurement in the defence sector. So, that’s a big thing, and I believe that you will take a great advantage of that. And exactly as Minister Sidhu was referring, if you can help with B2B facilitations, I was even thinking maybe for our next meeting, we can think to create some kind of specialized Canadian-European SME forum.
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
That would be great. Yeah.
Maroš Šefčovič
And to have something, you know, in the room, something online, simply to learn from some positive examples, and also from some failures, you know, how to do to kind of multiply that information, and increase that business-to-business traffic, because I’m sure that this would help.
Arlene Dickinson
That’s great.
Audience Question
Yeah. Hi, my name’s Nick Patel. I’m an AI business strategy, go-to-market transformation leader. This question actually emanates from the fact that I have three young adults that are digital natives, entering a new era, I think, in this country. For me, it was the Free Trade of 1992, or whatever that was. The question is, you know, what role do you see Canada and EU trade policy playing in helping SMEs and knowledge workers participate more in cross-border digital services, so that future prosperity isn’t concentrated just in large corporations, or traditional export sectors?
Arlene Dickinson
Great question.
The Hon. Maninder Sidhu
It’s a great question. I mean, today, we sat down with industry players in that sector. I mean, we talked to Shopify. We had good conversations with Siemens, Nokia, OpenText about what role that they can do within their SMEs. As you know, Shopify has thousands of SMEs as customers. And so, you know, us signing a digital trade agreement, what does that mean for them and their customers? How can we utilize their platforms, to make sure it works for SMEs to really break down the legal language? What does this mean on privacy provisions, on data protections, on data sovereignty? Where does my data need to be stored, if I run this e-commerce business? Part of this is just simplifying the e-commerce process. E-invoicing, it sounds so simple, but there’s rules around it, and making sure that the rules are recognized in both EU and Canada and it’s not cumbersome. Because you wanna make trade as easy as possible. And that’s why we’re starting out on this path for getting a digital trade agreement done, but making sure it works for businesses. And that’s why we’re constantly consulting with businesses to say, “What do you need?” And part of that is making sure that the rules are recognized the same way in both in the EU and in Canada, so you don’t have to go and sign up different companies and corporations to say, “Hey, I gotta incorporate here.” I mean, that’s not the ease of doing business. That’s not what we wanna do as governments. And so, bringing that practical experience from the private sector to make sure it works on the policy front is very, very important for this government. As you know, the Prime Minister is very practical. He’s pragmatic. He’s very focused on making sure that we deliver tangible results. And part of that process is to bring SMEs along the path.
And so as Maroš, my friend, said about SMEs really powering the economy in the European Union, it’s the same here in Canada. I mean, 90% of our SMEs power our economy here as well, and we need to bring them on board. And the only way to bring them on board is to make sure that the policies that we bring into play actually are used by them. And so, but we need our bigger players to bring them on board. So, you know, I’ve talked about OpenText that employs 4,000 people, but they also have an SME ecosystem that they’re part of. So, how can we bring them on board? Shopify, I had a conversation with Alibaba in China, saying you’ve got a market of 1.4 billion consumers—or over that, 1.5 billion consumers. How can we get more Canadian SMEs on your platform, so they can sell it to China? How can you make that easier? And so, these are conversations that we’re constantly having, because I don’t wanna forget about the SME. I was an SME. And you can’t forget about how hard it was to get advice where to go. And so, part of this is conversations with different players across, but really getting our bigger guys to help do some of that hand holding, because they’ve got the ecosystem already built.
Maroš Šefčovič
First and foremost, congratulations on your three digital natives. I have the same, so we’re in the same club. So, it’s a lot of joy, but it’s pretty handful, you know? So, I mean—so you will definitely not be bored. I mean, that’s 100% sure. And I would just echo what my friend Mr. Sidhu has mentioned, that when we talk to the digital business leaders about exactly these opportunities a few hours ago, what they’ve been telling us at first is to make sure that we have to make the data flows as smooth as possible. And that depends on standards. That depends on, let’s say, mutual recognition of data privacy. Here, I believe that we are much closer to each other because what we want to have is the human-centric approach. Then, of course, you would need different mutual recognitions, agreements, or arrangements for making sure that the sharing of data, data flows, and the standards are the same, because if you are talking about the services very often, you’re also talking about the financial services. We want to be sure that if you make the payment, that the payment goes through.
I was very much impressed by the gentleman from Shopify, who is telling that actually the biggest growth is in Europe. That they are selling much more in Europe than in U.S., in China, everywhere. So, there is really, I would say, huge potential, and they’re selling because they provide the reliable services. So, you know that you are buying from somebody who is trustworthy. If you’re lucky, you can return it. You know, payments is not getting lost. And all this is kind of building the trust in the system. So, the Digital Trade Agreement is, I think, first very important step. We’ve been kind of reminded by the business leaders, and I totally agree with them, that we have to somehow incorporate in that agreement some kind of open-ended process of, I would say, permanent upgrade, because they’ve been telling us in very impressive way how the AI is affecting, I would say, 80% of the businesses, how huge efficiency growth they are achieving with it, but how it’s also changing the nature of the businesses they have. And therefore, I think we will just be able to factor all this changing in so the agreement is up to date. It provides the framework you need, and help the businesses and try to grow. And that’s clearly the goal which we both share.
Arlene Dickinson
Great. Thank you. So, Commissioner Šefčovič and Minister Sidhu, I want to thank you both for a conversation that was obviously very transparent and open, and for your willingness to talk openly about what the challenges are that we have, but the opportunities are ahead of us. I also want to say, as a Canadian, it’s just lovely to see partners who work across the globe with smiles on their faces, talking respectfully and kindly to each other, and working towards solutions that are gonna help our nation. So, thank you. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you.
Note of Appreciation and Concluding Remarks by Saurabh Popat
Thank you, thank you, Arlene, Minister Sidhu, Commissioner Šefčovič. Thank you for a very rich and forward-looking discussion. Thank you for reinforcing how central this partnership is to our country’s growth, resilience, and global leadership. And thank you again to all of you and our panellists, and of course, and our sponsors for joining us here this evening. To stay connected, please subscribe to our newsletter by scanning the QR code found on your programs. And for more information, please see our staff at the front.
I hope that you’ll also join us for two exciting upcoming events. On March the 10th, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, Peter Bethlenfalvy, delivers the Ontario Finance Minister’s Annual Pre-Budget Address, moderated by David Herle. This will be an early look at how our province plans to compete, invest, and grow in a more uncertain global economy. And then, on April 24th, we have Minister Sidhu’s colleague here, Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, who will be joining us for discussion on “One Year of Nation-Building: Looking Back and Moving Forward,” in conversation with Lisa Raitt, to examine how Canada is advancing major projects, strengthening energy and critical mineral strategy, and redefining its economic and security posture. Tickets for both events are now on sale.
And as a club of record, all Empire Club events are available to watch and listen to on our website, and the recording of today’s event will be available shortly. Enjoy the networking reception. We look forward to seeing you at future events, and this meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.
