Prime Minister Mark Carney and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan launched a Canada-UAE Strategic Partnership and signed a trade agreement negotiated in 47 days, alongside progress on a $70 billion UAE investment commitment.
Prime Minister Mark Carney launched a new Strategic Partnership with the United Arab Emirates and welcomed a landmark trade agreement during the first-ever visit to Canada by a Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister's Office said on October 27.
Carney and Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed the Canada-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement after negotiations concluded in a record 47 days, which the government said was the fastest either country has negotiated a free trade agreement. Once fully implemented, the agreement will reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than 99 percent of current Canadian exports to the UAE, including pulses and canola, industrial machinery, power generation equipment and aerospace goods, and is expected to enter into force in 2027.
The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation, modernising their defence arrangement and creating a Joint Military Committee, and a memorandum on diplomatic training between Global Affairs Canada and the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. The visit also delivered progress on the UAE's $70 billion investment commitment to Canada, announced during Carney's visit to Abu Dhabi in November 2025, including a DP World memorandum with the Arctic Gateway Group and CentrePort Canada, an energy cooperation arrangement between Masdar and Natural Resources Canada, and an agreement between Invest in Canada and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The partnership, the trade deal, the defence memorandum and the investment items are all confirmed in the Prime Minister's Office release, and a same-day readout of the leaders' meeting repeats the signing, the 47-day negotiation and the $70 billion investment progress. The government's projection that the trade deal will double two-way trade from $3.4 billion to $7 billion over the next decade is a forecast, not a measured outcome, and the $70 billion figure is a commitment made in 2025 rather than money already spent.
For Canada, the package is part of a push to diversify trade beyond its traditional partners, giving Canadian firms preferential access to what the government describes as the UAE's $700 billion economy and a gateway to a Middle East and North African market of nearly 500 million people. The next steps are implementation of the trade agreement toward its expected 2027 entry into force and negotiations toward justice and public safety instruments, including an extradition treaty and a mutual legal assistance treaty.