![\"Dominic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HBTWBugWMAARrFp.jpeg\")
Dominic LeBlanc (L) said he felt \u201cprivileged\u201d to be able to work with Ebrard (R) \u201cat what is a critical moment for our countries and the North American relationship.\u201d (@m_ebrard\/X)<\/p>\n
Ebrard told reporters that Mexico and Canada are preparing an \u201caction plan\u201d in order to \u201cexpand investment, increase commerce, reduce regulatory difficulties or obstacles, and facilitate the investment and the commerce between our countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that the plan will be presented in the second half of 2026, and indicated that it will focus on joint initiatives related to minerals, investment in ports, infrastructure and supply chain security.<\/p>\n
Cooperation on security issues also looks set to be a feature of the joint action plan. Ebrard dismissed a suggestion that the abduction in Sinaloa of 10 employees of a Canadian mining company<\/a> would affect Mexico\u2019s relationship with Canada. However, LeBlanc stressed that Canada, in order to increase investment in Mexico, will need to see the Mexican government \u201cworking on priorities\u201d such as security.<\/p>\n The announcement of the bilateral action plan comes ahead of the formal review of the USMCA free trade pact, which includes Mexico, Canada and the United States. The U.S. government has imposed tariffs on a range of Mexican and Canadian goods since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, a move that has angered the United States\u2019 neighbors and served to bring them closer together.<\/p>\n Ebrard on Monday acknowledged that times are \u201cuncertain,\u201d but asserted that uncertainty \u201calways\u201d creates \u201copportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a great opportunity in front of us, which is to increase our relationship,\u201d he told Canadian officials and hundreds of business representatives<\/a> who made the trip to Mexico to explore investment opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 We need to increase the presence of Mexican exports and investments \u2026 in countries like Canada. This is a necessity,\u201d Ebrard said.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 We are not in a comfort zone as we were in the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ebrard highlighted that the trade and investment relationship between Mexico and Canada has grown twelvefold over the past 30 years, and prompted citizens of both countries to \u201cimagine what can be accomplished in the next years, starting now, if we have the will, \u2026 the commitment to increase our relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 It makes sense, it\u2019s about our safety in the future, it\u2019s about opportunities for investment and to learn from each other. You can imagine [the] pharmaceutical industry, you can imagine [the] aeronautical industry, [the] space industry, advanced manufacturing in our countries, refined minerals, critical minerals, many fields which have been explored in the past, but [which] can be explored in other ways in the next years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cRobotics, drones, artificial intelligence, vaccines, new technologies and medicine, everything can be done,\u201d said Ebrard, who described Canada as a \u201cvery reliable partner for Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 We have the tremendous opportunity to start to work in this direction. \u2026 So we are very, very happy. I think it\u2019s very good news for Canada and for Mexico,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For his part, LeBlanc said<\/a> he felt \u201cprivileged\u201d to be able to work with Ebrard \u201cat what is a critical moment for our countries and the North American relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I just wanted to say in front of our Canadian and Mexican friends how much I value and how much Canada values your engagement, Secretary Ebrard, and we thank you very, very much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n LeBlanc noted that he was accompanied in Mexico by \u201cover 240 organizations and more than 370 business leaders from across Canada, representing all 10 provinces and one territory.\u201d<\/p>\n M\u00e1s de 400 empresas participan en el encuentro entre empresas canadienses y mexicanas que inici\u00f3 esta ma\u00f1ana . Crecer y diversificar nuestro comercio es la meta . pic.twitter.com\/G6BauvyIxw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThe incredible level of interest generated by this trade mission is a testament to Canada\u2019s commitment to a renewed and sustained partnership with Mexico,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n LeBlanc\u2019s visit to Mexico came five months after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City<\/a>. At the time, Carney said that Canada and Mexico were \u201cbeginning a new era of elevated cooperation,\u201d while Sheinbaum declared that the bilateral partnership would \u201cbring a new era of further strengthening economic ties.\u201d<\/p>\n Bilateral private sector dialogue \u2018largest\u2019 and \u2018most important\u2019 in years, says Ebrard\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Ebrard noted that hundreds of Canadian business sector representatives traveled to Mexico to engage with Mexican companies in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.<\/p>\n \u201c[This] is the largest and most important dialogue between [the] private sectors [of] both countries in recent years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In Mexico City on Monday, Mexico\u2019s Business Coordinating Council (CCE) and the Business Council of Canada signed a memorandum of understanding, which, according to the CCE<\/a>, \u201cstrengthens a permanent dialogue mechanism and business cooperation between both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n Canadian business representatives and LeBlanc also met with Mexico\u2019s Foreign Minister Juan Ram\u00f3n de la Fuente<\/a> and other federal officials.<\/p>\n Ebrard noted that Mexican officials and business representatives will make a reciprocal visit to Canada at an unspecified date.<\/p>\n In Mexico, the Canadian business delegation \u2014 which will remain in the country until Friday \u2014 will \u201cfocus on areas including advanced manufacturing; agriculture, processed foods, and agricultural technology; clean technologies and clean energy; creative industries; and information and communications technologies,\u201d according to the Canadian government<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement issued last Friday, the Canadian government said that \u201cin the face of a shifting global economic landscape, Canada is moving to diversify and strengthen its international trade relationships to ensure that Canadian workers and businesses can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n LeBlanc told CNN<\/a> on Monday that Canada\u2019s trade mission to Mexico was the largest the country has organized \u201cin decades, and probably ever.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that Canadian companies and business organizations are \u201cinterested in seeing how we can expand our two-way trade with Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 I was told this afternoon that more than 2,000 business-to-business meetings have been set up,\u201d LeBlanc said.<\/p>\n When CNN journalist Gabriela Fr\u00edas put it to him that \u201cpressure from the Trump administration\u201d has forced Canada and Mexico to seek greater engagement with each other, the Canadian minister responded:<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t pretend to speak for the government of Mexico, but for the government of Canada that\u2019s absolutely true. And Mexico for us is a very reliable partner. There are deep people-to-people cultural ties, business leaders in Canada that talk to me about their relationships with Mexican companies \u2014 it\u2019s very positive. But there\u2019s an opportunity for us in the face of some of the headwind created by the [U.S.] tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n Mexico\u2019s exports to Canada surged in 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n Data from the national statistics agency INEGI shows that Mexico\u2019s exports to Canada were worth US $22.16 billion last year.<\/p>\n The figure represents a 17.3% annual increase, but is nevertheless dwarfed by the value of Mexico\u2019s exports to the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\n INEGI data, cited in a report by the newspaper El Economista<\/a>, shows that Mexico\u2019s imports from Canada were worth $12.55 billion in 2025, a 3.9% decrease compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n In an opinion article published in The Globe and Mail<\/a> on Monday, Catherine Fortin LeFaivre, senior vice president for international policy and global relationships at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, wrote that \u201calthough we often hear of Mexico as Canada\u2019s third-largest trading partner, it only accounts for 1.1 per cent of our exports, or 3.6 per cent of our two-way trade.\u201d<\/p>\n She wrote that \u201cinvesting more\u201d in the relationship with Mexico \u201cisn\u2019t just good diplomacy for Canada,\u201d but also \u201csmart strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 Mexico offers an obvious and underused opportunity,\u201d Fortin LeFaivre wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a population of 133 million, a growing middle class, similar time zones, and a clear openness to deeper collaboration with Canada, it checks many of the boxes,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 Strengthening ties with Mexico isn\u2019t only about diversification. It\u2019s also about leverage,\u201d Fortin LeFaivre said, adding that \u201ca deeper, more resilient partnership\u201d with Mexico could be beneficial during this year\u2019s USMCA negotiations with the United States.<\/p>\n With reports from El Economista<\/a>, El Financiero<\/a>\u00a0and La Jornada<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n