Opinion February 17, 2026

This week’s trade mission to Mexico the perfect time for Canada to strengthen an economic relationship

Shauna Hemingway – Senior Special Advisor – Mexico and the Americas, Business Council of Canada

Canada’s Place in the World Economic Strategy North America

The time for Canada to employ a more sophisticated understanding of Mexico is long overdue.

We share a continent, have deep and enduring trade and investment ties, and flank the same global superpower.

This week’s trade mission to Mexico, led by Dominic LeBlanc, minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, and comprised of leaders from more than 230 Canadian companies looking to grow their business, demonstrates a pragmatic and collaborative approach by Canada’s government and the business community.

Yet, too often, we still don’t speak the same language — literally or figuratively.

As we head into this summer’s first formal review of the largest and most consequential international trade agreement in Canadian history, we still see evidence in the headlines of Canada’s antiquated view of one of our two key USMCA partners: Mexico.

Prominent voices continue to question whether Canada would be better off alone at the negotiating table with the U.S. You don’t hear this from Mexican officials.

While we are right to recognize the overwhelming dominance of our respective trade relations with the U.S., we too often brush past the fact that Canada’s two-way trade with Mexico has increased by a factor of 12 from $4.5 billion in 1993, pre-NAFTA, to $56 billion in 2024.

And under USMCA, Canadian investment in Mexico has tripled in the past ten years alone.

Mexico has become a manufacturing powerhouse, opening its economy to the world through 14 free trade agreements with 52 countries. It boasts the world’s tenth largest population as well as tenth largest consumer market according to household expenditure.

As Canada navigates a complex relationship with the Trump administration, we should be careful not to isolate ourselves from our other partner at the trade table. Mexico needs to be our ally — not collateral damage — in our unrelenting pursuit of national interest.

No other country understands nor has as frequent contact with our neighbour as does Mexico. They see the elephant from the other side, a perspective that, if incorporated into our thinking, would enhance — not hurt — our strategy.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has officially set her sights on positioning Mexico to be among the world’s top ten economies by 2030. We can hardly criticize her for shrewdly factoring her country’s deep integration with the world’s dominant economy into her plans. Mexico’s bilateral engagement with the U.S. is not about Canada, nor even the trilateral agreement. It is principally about Mexico’s economic future.

It is concerning to read unsubstantiated opinions in Canadian media that “Mexico is preparing to hang Canada out to dry — again.”

While any suggestion that Mexico would put the Canadian national interest above its own would be foolish, the facts to date continue to show that the Sheinbaum administration has been unwavering in its commitment to the renewal of a trilateral USMCA agreement that includes Canada.

In the wake of the announcement on Feb. 4 of the U.S.-Mexico Action Plan on Critical Minerals, Mexico’s economy secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, posted an explanation of the deal on his social media. In an 85-second video, he mentions Canada three times by name and the U.S. only twice, and highlights the importance of this week’s trade mission to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Ebrard concludes with the quote at Davos by Prime Minister Mark Carney that if you aren’t at the table, you are on the menu. Mexico, he says, is “at the table.”

Mexico is not a country bent on wedging itself in between its two North American partners. It is an established and growing commercial player that overtook Canada as the United States’ top trading partner in 2025.

No country would be happier than Mexico to see Canada and the United States resolve their differences. It recognizes that North America loses when two of its negotiating partners aren’t engaging effectively.

The best way to secure the future of our trilateral agreement is to make good use of it. Strengthening our bilateral trade and investment relationship with Mexico does just that.