Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she is making to secure a free trade agreement with Canada.

The UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) was signed on 9 December 2020 and completed Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRaG) in Parliament on 3 February 2021. Once ratified in Canada, the TCA will lock in preferential trade in goods and services worth £23 billion in 2019. We also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canada on 21 December 2020 ensuring continued preferential goods trade pending full ratification. The TCA sets out a clear path to begin negotiating a new, more ambitious trade deal, which will be tailored to the British economy and interests. The Department is currently preparing for these talks with a view to beginning negotiations later in the year.