By Amen Naithani, Research Associate, Council for Strategic and Defense Research
Canada’s relationship with India is often told as a single national story. This report argues it is ten stories at once. It examines how Canada’s provinces, each with a distinct industrial base, resource endowment, and set of India-facing opportunities, are quietly driving one of the most consequential bilateral relationships of the coming decade.
From Saskatchewan’s landmark uranium deal with India’s Department of Atomic Energy to Quebec’s CDPQ investing over C$10 billion in Indian infrastructure, from British Columbia’s LNG ambitions to Ontario’s life sciences and ICT corridors, the report maps where provincial strengths meet Indian needs, sector by sector. It also asks the harder question: what happens when federal diplomacy falters? The 2023 to 2025 diplomatic freeze answered it. Provincial engagement held the relationship together.
This report was produced as part of the India-Canada Research Initiative (ICRI), an APF Canada-Council for Strategic Defense Research (India) Joint Initiative. The ICRI provides a platform to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Canada through academic exchange, policy research, and strategic engagement, with a focus on enhancing bilateral co-operation across key sectors.
