Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

The European Union (EU) is B.C.’s 5th largest export destination, with over $1.8 billion in annual goods exports in 2020. The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union member states. The CETA gives B.C. exporters preferential access to a market of half a billion consumers, the world’s largest trading bloc, a major source of investment to B.C. and a procurement market estimated at $3.3 trillion a year.

The CETA lowered tariffs on most B.C. and Canadian goods to zero, opened many EU government contracts to Canadian suppliers for the first time, including on regional and local levels and helps protect labour rights and the environment.

The CETA provisionally came into force on September 21, 2017, and removed EU tariffs on 98% of Canadian imports to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

For more information on how the CETA can benefit your business, visit our Trade Resources page.