Last week’s Canada-EU summit in Montreal delivered several new collaborative initiatives as part of Canada’s pivot toward the EU, but among the most notable from a digital policy perspective was the conclusion of negotiations on a Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement. E-commerce or digital trade chapters are by now common in Canadian trade agreements (including in CUSMA and the CPTPP), but this is Canada’s first standalone digital trade agreement. The possibility of a DTA has long been of interest, as Canada formally requested to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement in May 2022, and Global Affairs Canada launched a consultation that same year on developing a model Canadian digital trade agreement. That consultation process did not produce a public model, which means the Canada-EU DTA may emerge as the standard even though it is based on the European approach. While the text is unlikely to be released for months (officials said it is going through a “legal scrub”), there is plenty of room to speculate about what it contains since this will be the third EU DTA and it is likely to follow a similar approach.
Recent Posts
Canada’s First Digital Trade Agreement: Why the Canada-EU Deal Will Likely Follow Europe’s Template and What That Means for Canadian Digital Law 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 281: Mikolaj Barczentewicz on Europe’s Digital Sovereignty Push, CADA, and the Implications for Canada 
Ofcom Did the Work Canada Plans to Skip: What the UK’s Age Verification Report Reveals About the Bill C-34 Social Media Ban 
The Age Verification Bill That Won’t Die: How Bill S-209 Complicates the Government’s Bill C-34 Online Safety Plan 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 280: A Fall Update on Where Things Stand on Canadian Digital Policy Reforms
