WHAT IS THE INVESTMENT POSITION?
Canada is India’s 17th largest foreign investor, pouring in more than US$3.6 billion since 2000, while Canadian portfolio investors have invested billions of dollars in Indian stock and debt markets.
The Canadian pension fund, CPP, has increased its investment in Indian markets to about US$15 billion, in areas such as real estate, renewables, and the financial sector by the end of the last fiscal year in March 2023.
HOW HAVE CORPORATES BENEFITED?
More than 600 Canadian companies, including Bombardier and SNC Lavalin, have a strong presence in India, while more than 30 Indian companies, such as infotech majors TCS, Infosys, and Wipro have invested billions of dollars in Canada, creating thousands of jobs.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF INDIAN STUDENTS IN CANADA?
Since 2018, India has been the largest source country for international students in Canada.
In 2022, their number rose 47 per cent to nearly 320,000, accounting for about 40 per cent of total overseas students, the Canadian Bureau of International Education says, which also helps universities and colleges provide subsidised education to domestic students.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SIKHS?
Many analysts say the worsening ties could affect the economic interests of thousands of Sikh families in India’s Sikh-majority state of Punjab in the north since they have relatives in Canada, who remit millions of dollars back home.
The share of Canada’s Sikh population has more than doubled in 20 years, to 2.1 per cent, according to the country’s 2021 census, as a large number of Sikhs have migrated from India in search of higher education and jobs.
