Thailand Opens FTA Talks With Canada to Boost Trade
Thailand has begun formal free trade agreement negotiations with Canada, targeting completion by 2027. The first round of talks took place in Toronto in late October 2026, covering goods, services, investment, digital trade, and other areas. The deal aims to deepen economic ties beyond the upcoming ASEAN-Canada FTA and give Thai businesses, especially SMEs, greater access to Canada's 2.3 trillion USD economy.
Thailand has launched free trade agreement negotiations with Canada, aiming to expand bilateral trade and investment and finalize the deal by 2027. Kwanapa Phuwinil, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Trade Negotiations, disclosed she led the Thai negotiating team for the first round of Thailand-Canada FTA talks from October 26-30, 2026, in Toronto, Canada. This followed cabinet approval of the negotiating framework on September 29, 2026. The talks mark a significant step in upgrading economic relations between the two countries, creating opportunities to expand export markets, increase investment, and build economic linkages between Thailand and North America.
The Thailand-Canada FTA aims to build on and generate additional benefits from the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement (ACAFTA), which is nearing conclusion at the ASEAN Summit in mid-November. The bilateral FTA will deepen economic cooperation beyond the ACAFTA framework, enabling Thai entrepreneurs to leverage both agreements fully and gain greater access to the Canadian market.
Kwanapa stated that both sides negotiated across multiple areas including market access for goods, services and investment, digital trade, labor practices, environment, intellectual property, competition policy, government procurement, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and trade facilitation.
The FTA will serve as another key mechanism to strengthen bilateral economic relations, particularly by enhancing trade opportunities for agricultural and processed food products, industrial goods, and services businesses. It will promote cooperation in technology and innovation as well as supply chain integration, boosting the competitiveness of Thai operators, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), enabling them to access new business opportunities and benefit more from trade liberalization. Both sides expect to conclude negotiations by 2027.
Canada is a high-potential market with a GDP of approximately 2.32 trillion USD in 2025 and a population of about 41 million. It is also advanced in technology, industry, and innovation, making an FTA a significant opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs to expand markets, diversify trade risks, and promote economic cooperation in sectors where both countries have shared potential.
In 2025, bilateral trade between Thailand and Canada reached 3,919.71 million USD, up 21.6 percent from the previous year. Thai exports to Canada totaled 2,591.71 million USD, while imports from Canada amounted to 1,328.02 million USD. Key Thai exports included computers, equipment and parts, iron and steel products, canned and processed seafood, rice, and rubber products. In the first seven months of 2026 (January-July), bilateral trade reached 2,634.80 million USD, expanding 20.5 percent year-on-year, reflecting growing opportunities for trade relations between the two nations.
