"New partnership to support Indian skills": says Colleges and Institutes Canada CEO at Canada-India Talent Strategy launch

Speaking to ANI, Johnston said the initiative will support the development of national skills centres, sharing Canadian expertise in applied education, training, and apprenticeships to advance the Indian skills plan in sectors such as critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and agri-food.

"This initiative is a very promising first step to develop, in our case, a new partnership with your Ministry of Skills and Entrepreneurship to support the development of national skills centres, sharing Canadian expertise and applied education and training and apprenticeships to support the Indian skills plan in areas like critical minerals, AI and agri-food," she said.

"We are going to be in India in two weeks, bringing college and polytechnic leaders to meet with their counterparts at the ITIs and in the private sector and government to start developing a plan of action together," Johnston added.

Meanwhile, Nadira Hamid, CEO of the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber, highlighted the broader context of the strengthened bilateral relationship, saying, "Its just so wonderful to actually be here and to see this wonderful relationship blossoming. We've had a few challenging years, but now with both the Prime Ministers so keen about resetting the whole relationship. We are just very motivated and we want to work to do more."

She further elaborated on trade prospects, noting that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Canada is being revisited, with work already underway.

"CEPA, which is a Comprehensive Economic Partnership, is being re-addressed, and we are hoping that that will get sorted. Work on that has started already. The high commissioners and the diplomats in both countries have been reinstated. This itself makes it easier for businesses to be able to do more work with each other. Policies are being revisited and there is a lot more confidence in the companies, in the businesses, to be able to invest and to expand and to collaborate with each other. So that confidence is very important...The perception is there that they are interested, that Canada is here to stay. Prime Minister is very serious about resetting this relationship," Hamid added.

Furthermore, Ronak Sutaria, Founder and CEO of Respirer Living Sciences, spoke about technology collaboration under the initiative, saying, "We essentially work in air pollution monitoring, management and mitigation...We are also doing work with the University of Toronto, where we are building some modelling tools... We have also worked with IIT Bombay and the University of Toronto together...There are two aspects, one of course is for pollution and emissions monitoring. This is a technology which is very relevant for Canada, and we can support deploying a lot of this technology in Canada for air quality monitoring, pollution and emissions monitoring. We are also working with the universities, students and researchers to build some of this capacity building within Canada and India together."

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday participated in an innovation showcase and met with university researchers in Mumbai.

PM Carney, who is on a four-day visit to India, will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital on March 2.

Coinciding with his visit, India and Canada launched a Talent and Innovation Strategy with the Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary stating that India stands ready to work with Canada to build globally competitive talent, deepen research collaboration and strengthen skills mobility.

"India Canada Talent and Innovation Strategy is timely, and it will be consequential. Its four pillars, embedding Canadian capability in Indian priority sectors, translating knowledge and talent into economic outcomes, deepening and rebalancing two-way mobility, and demonstrating credibility through speed and delivery, resonate strongly with our national priorities," he said.

"India stands ready to work with Canada to build globally competitive talent, deepen research collaboration, strengthen skills mobility and foster innovation that addresses shared global challenges...We see this partnership not just as an education initiative, but it's a shared investment in our shared future," he added.

PM Carney arrived in Mumbai on February 27 on his first official visit to India. He will arrive in New Delhi on March 1 and on March 2 hold delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both leaders will review the progress achieved till date across diverse areas of the India - Canada Strategic Partnership, building on their earlier meetings in Kananaskis (June 2025) and Johannesburg (November 2025).

They will also take stock of ongoing cooperation in key pillars, including trade and investment, energy, critical minerals, agriculture, education, research, innovation and people-to-people ties. The two leaders will also exchange views on regional and global developments.

The two Prime Ministers will also attend the India-Canada CEOs Forum scheduled later in the day. The visit comes at an important juncture in the normalisation of India-Canada bilateral relations.

The two Prime Ministers have earlier agreed to pursue a constructive and balanced partnership grounded in mutual respect for each other's concerns and sensitivities, strong people-to-people ties, and growing economic complementarities.

A MEA release had said earlier that the forthcoming meeting between the leaders will provide an opportunity to reaffirm the positive momentum and shared vision of India and Canada in building a forward-looking partnership. (ANI)