As US–Canada Ties Sour, India and Canada Should Look at Each Other… by GPS Mann
The strongest bridge is young manpower—students, skilled workers and immigrants—provided both countries rebuild a clean and properly screened system.
The worsening trade quarrel between the United States and Canada gives India no reason to rejoice. These are two old allies with deeply connected economies. Their dispute will hurt businesses and workers.
But it also creates an opening which India and Canada would be foolish to ignore.
Canada cannot replace the American market with India. Geography does not change because Donald Trump has become aggressive or tariffs are rising. Yet Canada has learnt a hard lesson: excessive dependence on even a trusted neighbour carries a risk. India can become part of a more diversified Canadian economy.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Toronto is therefore very timely. She and Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne concluded the first India–Canada Finance Ministers’ Economic and Financial Dialogue. India is also ready to negotiate a Bilateral Investment Treaty. Both sides want bilateral trade to reach C$70 billion, or about ₹4.65 lakh crore, by 2030. Government of Canada.
But targets announced in conference rooms do not automatically produce trade. The proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will have to address tariffs, investment protection, standards and professional qualifications.
There is enough economic mutual interest. Canada has uranium, potash, pulses, timber, critical minerals and large pension funds. India offers scale, infrastructure demand, technology, pharmaceuticals and a rapidly growing market.
The strongest connection, however, is people.
Canada needs immigrants. This is not really debatable. Its population is ageing and large parts of its economy—from hospitals and elderly care to construction, farming and transport—will require younger workers. About 7.6 million Canadians were 65 or older in 2023. By 2030, this may rise to between 21.4 and 23.4 per cent of the population. The worker-to-retiree ratio is expected to fall to only two workers for every retiree by 2035. Statistics Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
India has this young manpower. Punjab, perhaps more than any other Indian state, already has a long and complicated human relationship with Canada.
For Punjab, Canada is not some distant country on a map. In many villages and towns, someone’s son or daughter is studying there, working there or has settled there. More than 942,000 Canadians reported knowledge of Punjabi in the 2021 Census. No agreement has to create this bridge. It exists. Statistics Canada.
The immigration process, unfortunately, hit rock bottom during Justin Trudeau’s confrontation with India. Study permits issued to Indians fell by 86 per cent in the last quarter of 2023. By October 2024, Canada had only four immigration officials left in India, compared with 27 earlier. Genuine students and families paid for a political quarrel they had not created. Reuters, Reuters.
This route needs to reopen properly. I stress “properly” with proper screening.
There were serious abuses in the earlier system. Unscrupulous agents, forged admission letters, doubtful colleges and students sent into useless courses damaged the whole process. Some young people sold land or put their families into heavy debt, only to discover that the promised education and employment pathway was not what it appeared to be.
Canada is entitled to check identity, finances, academic ability, security background and whether a skill is actually required. Punjab must act much harder against fraudulent travel and education agents. Screening is not discrimination. A clean system will protect genuine applicants.
The trade agreement should include a practical mobility chapter. Qualifications need recognition, documents can be jointly verified and processing times should be clear. Canada should identify the people it really needs—nurses, caregivers, engineers, technicians, construction workers, agricultural specialists and technology professionals. Students should go to credible institutions, not be used as cheap labour by inferior colleges.
Political differences cannot be swept under the carpet. India’s concerns about extremism and sovereignty are real, while Canada’s laws must be respected. Trust will return slowly, through quiet cooperation rather than accusations before television cameras. At the same time, Canada has to set right its asylum policy, control its land for anti-India use by elements, their handlers and the asylum lawyers.
Energy and investment remain important. Canadian pension funds have nearly C$110 billion invested in India, while a C$2.6 billion arrangement will supply Canadian uranium to India between 2027 and 2035. But money and minerals alone will not give this relationship its depth.
Canada needs young and skilled people. India needs respectable global opportunities for its youth. Punjab already has the language, family and cultural links. The fit is evidently visible. This is not an anti-American alliance, nor should it be sold as one. It is simply two countries recognising that the world has changed and that both have something useful to offer to each other.
There is an opportunity for both, this time, neither country should allow bad politics or bad immigration practices to waste it.
August 30, 2026
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GPS Mann, Farmer and Former Member of the Punjab Public Service Commission
gpsmann@substack.com
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