Canada, UAE Sign Trade Pact, Extradition Talks

Canada and the United Arab Emirates signed a comprehensive free trade agreement on Tuesday and began negotiations on an extradition treaty. The deal allows Abu Dhabi to request the handover of individuals accused of crimes. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the agreements following a two-day visit to the Canadian capital by Emirati Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Canada-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or Cepa, was negotiated in 47 days, a record speed for either nation. Carney stated the pact will reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than 99 percent of Canadian exports to the UAE beginning next year. He identified specific sectors that will gain new market access, including farmers of pulses and canola, industrial machinery manufacturers, and aerospace companies.

Maninder Sidhu, the minister of international trade, projected the deal will double two-way trade from $2.4bn to nearly $5bn over the next decade. He noted that the agreement provides Canadian firms with greater access to the UAE’s $500bn economy. The two governments also signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Joint Military Committee. This body will oversee military education, joint exercises, cybersecurity, and information exchanges.

The trade pact builds on a $50bn investment pledge made by the UAE last year. That commitment targeted Canadian energy and development projects, with a focus on the Arctic region. Carney said this week’s discussions delivered progress on that pledge but offered no further details on the implementation timeline.

Stuart Trew, director of the Trade and Investment Research Project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, criticized the terms. He described the Emiratis as dangling the investment funds in front of Ottawa. Trew said, "It looks like Canada is willing to agree to basically anything to try and get that money." He expressed concern about the extradition treaty with a state he called a paranoid surveillance system and a defense deal with a country he accused of fomenting war in Africa.

Rights groups and correspondents have reported evidence that the UAE finances the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s civil war. The RSF stands accused of genocide, a claim the UAE denies. Trew called the government’s overall approach a confusing strategy. He argued that nothing can fully replace the US trade relationship, noting that automobiles are Canada’s second biggest goods export after energy.

The new agreement is part of a broader effort by Carney to diversify Canada’s partnerships as relations with Washington have strained. Carney declared the old Canada-US relationship over in May 2025. US tariffs introduced in March 2025 hit most Canadian goods at 25 percent and Canadian energy at 10 percent. Carney’s statement said Canada now has preferential access to 1.5 billion consumers across 16 free trade agreements and 51 countries.

Recent diplomatic activities have included a visit to China, where Beijing agreed to lower tariffs on Canadian canola oil to 15 percent. In return, Canada will take in 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles. Carney also visited Doha in January and Saudi Arabia in July, where he secured 13 commercial agreements and memoranda of understanding worth $700m. Talks on a Canada-Turkey free trade agreement began last week, and Kuwait and Canada signed a defence and security memorandum of understanding in September.