‘Earlier it was quantity of workers, but we are also looking at quality’

We had a great meeting today to focus on a lot of opportunities; opportunities around aerospace, energy, AI and critical minerals. These are all critical sectors for India. As India grows, Canada is present in complementary services, and that’s what we discovered today in terms of India’s pace of growth. India needs 70% more energy by 2040. Canada is building the projects to get there. We have seven LNG projects in various phases of development. It was our first trade and investment dialogue at the ministerial level in many years. We need to continue building on that energy.

Right now, we’re identifying opportunities and, hopefully, in the near future we’ll be able to get into the trade conversations, taking investment and trade to the next level.

Look, this is a new govt, new PM, new mandate, new focus. As you’ve seen from PM Carney, it’s new energy, it’s starting afresh. The context has changed from even six months ago. US President Trump’s tariff policies have really shifted things globally.So, we’re in a different frame right now. We wrapped up a trade agreement with Indonesia a few weeks ago and launched negotiations with Thailand, with the Philippines. Two weeks ago, I ran into minister Jaishankar at the Asean Summit in Malaysia. We had a good conversation. Canada is looking at every opportunity, but now is the window that we can use. Our geography with the US is not going to change. They’ll always remain important. We have to match the energy from businesses in Canada. It was very positive to hear from minister Goyal that he’s looking to come to Canada early next year with a delegation. Minister Jaishankar was in Canada yesterday and I’m here today. You know, there’s this sustained energy that we need to continue building upon because it’s not going to happen overnight.

We talked about alternative sources of energy, and Canada can provide that. As you look for stable, reliable, long-term supply, Canada has that. These contracts are done for 10, 15, 20 years, so now is the time to get in early. You’ll notice that different countries that have invested in LNG are now receiving the first shipments.

Look, immigration comes up quite a lot; look at the diaspora, it’s huge in both countries. That’s why I sat down with Air Canada to talk about more flight options. The PM has been very clear on immigration. It’s a focus on economic immigration, a focus on skilled immigration. So, making sure we’re creating pathways to permanent residency for those skilled immigrants is very important for Canada’s growth plans. When you look at what’s happening to the south of us with the H-1B anxieties, it’s in our budget. It’s still early days, but we’re looking at different pathways to attract technical capabilities, skilled capabilities to Canada. The PM’s focus is on building Canada. You have your localised talent, but you also need to bring in some talent to add to that. So, a part of that is looking at India and maybe something around the H-1B programme is very important.

Yes, STEM, skilled workers. We need nurses and doctors. We have specialised pathways. Are we going to continue that as a govt? These are all considerations that we are looking at because in the past, it was more about quantity. With us, yes, the quantity, but quality is also important. There are no caps on postgraduates; they can come to Canada and study. PM Modi has been very clear he’d like universities and colleges to come to India from other countries, and we’re facilitating those conversations because we’d like that partnership. Go to Source