LeBlanc leads trade delegation to Mexico, eyeing ‘huge opportunity’ to expand | CBC News

A Canadian trade mission to Mexico this week could produce new deals by early spring, and marks the country’s “most significant” such mission ever to Mexico, according to Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

LeBlanc is leading the mission, which will see over 370 Canadian delegates and more than 200 businesses in Mexico from Sunday to Monday — visiting Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara.

Canadian trade with Mexico totalled $56 billion in 2024, a 12-fold increase since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force in 1995. Mexico is Canada’s third-largest trading partner after the U.S. and China. 

But “there is still, in our view, a huge opportunity to expand trading opportunities,” LeBlanc told CBC News. 

LeBlanc, who will be joined by Heritage Minister Marc Miller and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, said he believes the mission could lead to new business ties in the near future. 

“Our plan would be to come back at the end of March again and hopefully ink deals that lead to direct opportunities.”

‘Trade uncertainty’

Chad Watson, CEO of Quickmill, which is based in Peterborough, Ont., is travelling with the trade mission. His company builds industrial machine tools, has been in business for 50 years and does about $2 million a year worth of business in Mexico. 

“We are looking to expand and balance our global portfolio of customers,” said Watson. 

The bulk of Quickmill’s $20 million worth of yearly sales comes from the U.S., says Watson, and the company’s exports are covered under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which replaced NAFTA.

However, the turbulent trade signals coming from the U.S. — including musings about abandoning CUSMA — have made Mexico an increasingly attractive market to find new customers, he said. 

“We are all living in trade uncertainty right now with the CUSMA agreement in negotiations,” he said.

CUSMA is up for review and all three countries are set to begin renegotiations in earnest this summer. The Mexican government has repeatedly stated its commitment to continue with the trilateral trade agreement.

Jorge Rave, regional vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean with Export Development Canada, says growing trade and geopolitical upheavals have changed the mindset of Canadian business players.

He says he’s seen growing interest from Canadian entrepreneurs, who were never export focused, now looking at other horizons.

There’s been an “evolution in thought process,” he said. “Succesful companies that had never exported were saying … how do I do it?”

Andrés Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Solfium, said his previous experience in Mexico — in senior positions with Quebec aerospace firm Bombardier — convinced him the country was the perfect springboard for his cleantech startup. 

Friedman, whose firm offers customized solar energy solutions for industry, says the youthful demographics of Mexico’s labour force, the levels of education and its large market — a population of 130 million — made the move an easy calculation for the Montreal-headquartered firm. 

Solfium has grown from three employees in Mexico to 60 since 2021. 

“Mexico is our launch market … it’s a bit today the centre of gravity of the company because all our customers are here,” said Friedman. 

“The return on investment is big, but the bet needs to be big as well.”

Mexico security improving

The Canadian delegation arrives as authorities grapple with last month’s kidnapping of 10 workers with the Vancouver-based mining firm Vizsla Silver Corp., in the state of Sinaloa. Five have since been found dead, according to authorities who have linked the case to a faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Ottawa is “very concerned” about the case, said LeBlanc, but added there is “no daylight” between the two governments on security matters and the protection of Canadian citizens, businesses and investments in Mexico. 

He said Canada and Mexico maintain open and transparent discussions on security issues and that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government “has made very, very considerable movement forward in the security context in Mexico.”

“I’m confident that this circumstance can be isolated.”