Canada and UAE sign CEPA after 47-day negotiation
The new Canada-UAE trade agreement targets tariff relief on most current Canadian exports, opening a prospective 2027 route into Gulf markets.
Canada and the United Arab Emirates signed the Canada-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement on October 27, alongside a new bilateral Strategic Partnership. The federal government said the trade pact followed 47 days of negotiations, which it described as the fastest free-trade-agreement negotiation undertaken by either country. The agreement still requires implementation and is expected to enter into force in 2027. [1]
Once fully implemented, the CEPA is intended to reduce or remove tariffs on more than 99% of Canada’s current exports to the UAE. Ottawa also said the agreement would address non-tariff barriers and provide a more predictable framework for trade and investment. Those provisions could expand market access for Canadian goods and services across industrial, agricultural, forestry, fish and seafood, environmental, engineering and other sectors, but the announced tariff treatment is not yet in force. [1]
Agriculture is among the clearest named export opportunities. The government identified Canadian pulses and canola as products expected to gain from the agreement, while describing broader potential for agri-food businesses. In 2025, Canada’s merchandise exports to the UAE totalled $2.8 billion, against $679.1 million in imports; total two-way merchandise trade was valued at $3.5 billion. Canadian exports to the UAE rose by more than 10% that year, according to the release. [1]
The announcement also points to prospective openings for industrial machinery, power-generation equipment and aerospace, as well as energy-related cooperation. Canada and the UAE announced an Energy Cooperation Arrangement between Masdar and Natural Resources Canada, designed as a cooperation framework involving UAE renewable-energy firms and Canadian partners. Separately, the two countries cited a UAE commitment to invest $70 billion in Canada, with commercial arrangements announced in infrastructure, energy and investment facilitation. [1]
The federal government projects that the CEPA could double two-way trade from $3.4 billion to $7 billion over the next decade, while presenting the UAE as a gateway to wider Middle East and North African markets. That is a government forecast rather than a realized trade outcome. For Canadian exporters, the immediate consequence is a new prospective preferential-access framework, subject to the agreement’s implementation process and its expected 2027 entry into force. [1]
This is a significant diversification development because the signed CEPA could reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than 99% of current Canadian exports to the UAE and identifies opportunities for agriculture, forestry-related goods, industrial suppliers and energy cooperation. Its significance is moderated because the agreement is expected to enter into force only in 2027, so the announced market-access benefits are not yet operational. [1]