Canada, EU Advance Digital Trade, Critical Minerals and Economic Security Ahead of Montréal SummitCanada's Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu speaks during the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 1, 2026.
By Shahnoor Saqib — SCN News
MILWAUKEE — Canada and the European Union moved to accelerate work on digital trade, critical minerals and economic security on Thursday as Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu met European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič on the margins of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee, less than a month before leaders are due to gather in Montréal for a summit expected to test how far the transatlantic partnership can expand beyond its traditional trade foundations.
The meeting came at an unusually consequential point in Canada–EU relations. Ottawa and Brussels have spent the past year broadening their cooperation across defence, strategic resources, technology and energy while continuing negotiations on a new digital trade agreement. Sidhu and Šefčovič used the Milwaukee talks to review that expanding agenda and preparations for the October 29–30 Canada–EU Summit, where Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to host European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Trade remains the economic foundation of the relationship, but the discussion in Milwaukee reflected how significantly the definition of trade policy has changed. Critical minerals, defence production, digital commerce and resilient supply chains now sit alongside conventional questions of tariffs and market access, increasingly linking commercial policy with national security and industrial strategy.
Sidhu highlighted Canada's interest in working with the European Union across what Ottawa described as a range of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals, defence and digital trade. The discussion followed a period of intensified Canadian engagement with European institutions as both sides sought greater resilience in an international economy increasingly shaped by geopolitical competition, industrial subsidies and concerns about concentrated supply chains.
The ministers also reviewed the approaching tenth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. The agreement was signed in October 2016 and provisionally entered into force the following year, removing or reducing barriers across much of the bilateral commercial relationship. Canadian government figures now show bilateral merchandise trade at close to 80 percent above pre-CETA levels, giving Ottawa and Brussels a substantial economic base from which to pursue the next phase of cooperation.
The changing agenda suggests that the next phase will look different from the first. CETA concentrated heavily on expanding market access and reducing traditional trade barriers. The emerging Canada–EU relationship is increasingly concerned with determining where strategically important products are made, where raw materials originate, how digital commerce is governed and whether supply chains can withstand geopolitical disruption.
Digital trade is one of the clearest examples. Canada and the EU are negotiating a dedicated Digital Trade Agreement intended to complement CETA and establish updated rules for an economy transformed by cloud services, artificial intelligence and cross-border digital transactions. Five negotiating rounds had been documented by the end of September, demonstrating that the initiative had progressed beyond an initial political commitment into detailed negotiations.
The Milwaukee meeting placed those negotiations directly within the preparations for the Montréal summit. Sidhu and Šefčovič discussed the ongoing digital trade talks while reviewing the wider bilateral economic agenda, suggesting that digital commerce will remain one of the important files as officials attempt to produce concrete progress before leaders meet.
The negotiations are unfolding alongside a separate but closely related Canada–EU Digital Partnership. On October 1, Canadian and European officials also held a Digital Dialogue covering artificial intelligence safety and regulation, high-performance computing, secure international connectivity through the Arctic, digital credentials and online safety. Taken together, the two tracks demonstrate how technology policy is becoming integrated into the wider economic relationship.
Artificial intelligence is particularly significant because Canada and the European Union bring different strengths and regulatory experiences to the table. Canada has a substantial AI research ecosystem, while the EU has moved aggressively to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for artificial intelligence. Cooperation gives both sides an opportunity to pursue research and commercial links while attempting to reduce unnecessary regulatory friction.
Secure digital connectivity has also moved higher on the agenda. Discussions involving Arctic connectivity reflect a broader concern with the physical infrastructure underlying the digital economy, including subsea cables and resilient international communications routes. The issue illustrates how even apparently technical aspects of digital policy increasingly carry security implications.
Critical minerals represent another major bridge between economic and security policy. Canada possesses significant deposits of minerals required for batteries, electricity infrastructure, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and defence systems. The European Union, meanwhile, has been working to diversify its access to strategic raw materials and reduce excessive dependence on concentrated sources of production and processing.
Ottawa and Brussels have already established a Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials, and cooperation accelerated during 2026 through ministerial meetings and investment discussions. The Milwaukee talks placed critical minerals alongside digital trade and defence as one of the strategic capabilities Canada wants to develop further with Europe.
The significance extends beyond mining. Governments increasingly want mineral partnerships to include processing, refining and downstream manufacturing rather than simply the export of raw commodities. For Canada, that creates an opportunity to attract European capital into domestic projects and industrial facilities. For Europe, investment in Canadian supply chains could provide access to resources from a politically aligned and relatively stable partner.
Defence has similarly become intertwined with trade and industrial policy. Canada and the EU signed a Security and Defence Partnership in 2025, and subsequent agreements have created opportunities for Canadian participation in European defence procurement. As European governments increase military spending and expand production, the commercial implications for Canadian aerospace, technology and manufacturing companies could become increasingly significant.
This convergence of trade and security helps explain why Šefčovič's portfolio combines trade with economic security. Governments are increasingly examining commercial relationships not only through the lens of efficiency and price but also through strategic dependence, resilience and access to essential technologies and resources.
Canada faces many of the same calculations. Its economy remains deeply integrated with North American supply chains, but Ottawa has been emphasizing the importance of diversifying international relationships and creating additional opportunities for Canadian businesses abroad. Europe, already Canada's second-largest trading partner after the United States, is central to that effort.
The Montréal summit will provide an opportunity to assess whether those ambitions can produce additional institutional or commercial commitments. Unlike the June 2025 Brussels summit, which established a broad strategic framework and security partnership, the October meeting arrives after more than a year of ministerial and technical negotiations designed to fill that framework with specific initiatives.
Energy officials have met on LNG, nuclear cooperation and clean technologies. Ministers responsible for natural resources have advanced critical-minerals discussions. Foreign ministers have worked on defence and economic security, while digital officials have pursued AI, connectivity and digital identity cooperation. Trade ministers are now attempting to connect many of those strands to the bilateral commercial relationship.
That sequence gives the Montréal summit a different character. Rather than beginning a new relationship, leaders will be assessing whether multiple negotiating tracks can be consolidated into tangible outcomes.
Not every initiative will necessarily be completed by the time leaders meet. Digital trade negotiations involve technically difficult questions, critical-minerals projects require financing and years of development, and defence-industrial integration depends on procurement decisions by governments and companies. The existence of political momentum does not guarantee rapid implementation.
But the economic relationship already provides measurable evidence of deeper integration. Bilateral merchandise trade has increased substantially since CETA was signed, while Canadian and European institutions have created additional frameworks covering digital technology, raw materials, defence and research.
Sidhu and Šefčovič are expected to continue that work later in October when they meet again in Dublin during the informal meeting of EU trade ministers. That gives negotiators another opportunity to narrow outstanding issues before the Montréal summit.
For Canada, the broader objective is increasingly clear: preserve the benefits of an open trading economy while developing deeper relationships with partners capable of providing markets, investment and strategic resilience. For the European Union, Canada offers many of the same attributes Brussels is seeking as it diversifies critical supply chains — resources, technological capacity, political alignment and an existing comprehensive trade agreement.
The Milwaukee meeting therefore represented more than another bilateral on the margins of a G20 gathering. It showed how Canada–EU economic relations are being reorganized around a new set of priorities in which trade, technology, resources and security increasingly operate as parts of the same strategic agenda.
With less than a month remaining before Carney, Costa and von der Leyen meet in Montréal, the central question is now whether that expanding architecture can produce concrete agreements. The October summit will provide the clearest test yet of whether the Canada–EU relationship is moving from a successful trade partnership toward something considerably broader.