Sidhu pushed the negotiations forward in Ireland a week before the Montréal summit
Negotiations on a Canada-European Union digital trade agreement covering cross-border data flows, electronic signatures, and duties on electronic transmissions are continuing days before a summit in Montréal, Québec, on October 29 and 30.
International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said in a statement carried by The Canadian Press that the two sides are “closing in on an agreement” to help “create less friction” around e-signatures and e-contracts, paperless trade, secure cross-border data flows, duties on electronic transmissions, and e-commerce.
Sidhu was in Ireland last Thursday to push the negotiations forward, according to the wire report filed by Catherine Morrison.
Canada exported nearly $15bn in digital services to the EU in 2024, Sidhu said, with an opportunity to grow that figure once an agreement is in place.
The negotiating directives the European Commission put to the Council on September 10, 2025 set out where Brussels will not move.
The directives state that the talks “should result in rules covering cross-border data flows addressing unjustified data localisation requirements, while neither negotiating nor affecting the EU’s personal data protection rules.”
Per the directives, the agreement should not prevent EU and member state authorities from regulating in the public interest, including “ensuring the integrity and stability of the Union’s financial system, privacy and personal data protection.”
The same text lists protection of computer source code forced technology transfer, and online consumer protection among the subjects the talks may cover.
Negotiations were launched at the fifth meeting of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Joint Committee in Toronto, Global Affairs Canada said in a March 6 release, where Sidhu met EU Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
CETA has been provisionally applied since 2017, per the Commission’s directives.
A draft communique to be agreed at the Montréal gathering commits both sides to building “a deeper, more integrated and strategically aligned relationship,” Bloomberg reported, with the text stating that “The full scope of this associate membership will be defined by the 2027 Canada-EU Summit.”
The draft has the two sides exploring further cooperation on energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence and computing infrastructure, and financial services, the area where Prime Minister Mark Carney has proposed that Canada and the EU share one financial services market.
The outlet cautioned the text could still change before adoption.
Germany, France, and at least six other EU countries are pushing against “associate membership” as the name for the relationship, Politico reported last Thursday citing six diplomats involved in the talks.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, told the publication the EU “is really keen to have close cooperation with Canada,” while saying he would avoid the term because it invites confusion with the bloc’s association agreements.
US President Donald Trump called the membership idea “laughable” and threatened very serious tariffs should it come about, according to the same outlet.
On October 25, the Prime Minister's Office said the EU is Canada's second-largest global trading partner for goods and services, with a total value of approximately $178bn in 2025.
Carney will host European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the summit, per the same release.
