From Canada
Canada is home to 1,388,300 non-resident Indians, the fourth-largest number in any country, and Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 can exempt a notified Canadian pension fund’s income from Indian infrastructure. The two States have no investment treaty, a social security agreement in force from 1 August 2015, and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement under negotiation since its terms of reference were signed on 2 March 2026. This page sets out those agreements, the questions a Canadian business or an Indian living in Canada asks first, and the practical facts of working across the time difference.
At a glance
- Investment into India
- USD 4,344 million
- Cumulative foreign direct investment into India from Canada, April 2000 to March 2026: USD 4,344 million, 0.55 per cent.
- Source 1
- Indians living there
- 1,388,300
- 1,388,300 non-resident Indians live there, the fourth-largest number in any country.
- Overseas Indians in all, non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin together: 3,247,980.
- Source 2
- Investment treaty
- None listed
- Bilateral investment treaty. The register of the Department of Economic Affairs lists no India-Canada treaty.
- Source 3
India and Canada: the legal framework
No investment treaty is listed and a trade agreement is under negotiation; tax and social security each have their own agreement.
| Area | Agreement | Status | What the source records | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment protection | Bilateral investment treaty | None listed | The register of the Department of Economic Affairs lists no India-Canada treaty. | 3 |
| Double taxation | India-Canada agreement for the avoidance of double taxation Its page in Law | In force | Agreement of 11 January 1996, whose Articles 10 and 11 a note on this site applies to dividends and interest. | 4, 5 |
| Trade agreement | India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement | Under negotiation | Under negotiation; terms of reference signed 2 March 2026. | 6 |
| Social security | India-Canada Social Security Agreement | In force | In force from 1 August 2015; contributions are paid in the home country for a posting of up to 60 months. A separate agreement with Quebec is in force from 1 April 2017. | 7 |
| Documents: the Apostille Convention | Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, 1961 | Applies | The status table lists Canada among the contracting States. | 8 |
Where Canada invests in India
The official sources this page relies on give no list of sectors for investment from Canada into India. The sector pages below are those the notes on Canada draw on.
Sector pages on this site
- Infrastructure and projects
Named in the notes on Canada below
Legal work on capital projects and the resources that feed them: land acquisition and compensation, environmental clearance, statutory licensing, EPC and concession disputes, power sector regulation and mining.
- Financial services
Named in the notes on Canada below
Legal work for lenders, listed companies, funds and financial technology businesses: SARFAESI and DRT enforcement, insolvency, SEBI proceedings, AIF and FEMA compliance, and the RBI licensing regimes that govern payments and digital lending.
Where the two countries are working together
The Ministry of External Affairs brief on India and Canada, July 2026, names among the fields of cooperation clean energy, critical minerals and agri-food. 6
Questions from Canada
A business from Canada
Does a treaty protect a Canadian investment in India?
India and Canada have no investment treaty in force, on the list of the Department of Economic Affairs.
Is a Canadian pension fund’s income from Indian infrastructure taxed?
Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Table, Sl. No. 7) leaves out of total income the dividend, interest and long-term capital gains that a notified foreign pension fund or sovereign wealth fund earns on investment in specified Indian infrastructure vehicles, made on or after 1 April 2020 and on or before 31 March 2030 and held for at least three years.
The fund must be named in a Central Government notification.
How are dividends and interest paid to Canada taxed where no exemption applies?
Articles 10 and 11 of the India-Canada tax agreement leave India’s tax on dividends at the domestic 20 per cent, because the treaty ceiling of 25 per cent is higher, cut to 15 per cent for a company holding at least 10 per cent of the votes, and cap tax on interest at 15 per cent.
Can a company incorporated in Canada invest in an Indian company without approval?
The Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 set the routes and the conditions on which a person resident outside India may acquire equity instruments of an Indian company.
They allow it without prior approval where the sector is on the automatic route and the sectoral cap is not crossed, at a price not below fair value, with Form FC-GPR (Foreign Currency-Gross Provisional Return) filed with the Reserve Bank of India within thirty days of issue, as the note on a United States company sets out.
When do India’s data protection duties start?
The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 were notified on 13 November 2025, but everything a data fiduciary has to build, the notice, the security measures, breach reporting, erasure and the rights machinery, starts on 13 May 2027, as do sections 3 to 17 of the Act.
Indians living in Canada
When is an Indian citizen living in Canada resident in India for tax?
Under section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, on 182 days or more in India in a tax year, or on 60 days plus 365 days in the four years before; a citizen visiting from abroad is outside the 60-day test unless income other than from foreign sources exceeds INR 15 lakh, when the test runs at 120 days.
A citizen with such income above INR 15 lakh who is liable to tax in no other country is deemed resident, but only as a person not ordinarily resident.
Selling a flat in India while living in Canada: the tax and the money
For a sale in the tax year that began on 1 April 2026, the buyer withholds tax under section 393(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and a non-resident’s long-term gain on a flat is taxed at 12.5 per cent under section 197.
Remitting a Non-Resident (Ordinary) Rupee account balance is limited to USD 1 million a financial year without the Reserve Bank of India’s prior approval.
Can a family member living abroad inherit property in India?
Under section 6(5) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and rule 24(c) of the Non-debt Instruments Rules, a non-resident Indian or an overseas citizen of India may inherit any immovable property in India, agricultural land included.
An authorised dealer bank may remit inherited assets and their sale proceeds abroad up to USD 1 million a financial year; whether probate or a succession certificate is also needed turns on the asset.
Signing a power of attorney in Canada for property in India
Two routes lead to a document Indian authorities will take: signature before an Indian consular officer, or signature before a foreign notary followed by an apostille under the Hague Convention of 1961.
The status table of the Hague Conference lists Canada among the contracting States.
What may an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder do in India?
An OCI cardholder is a foreign national with a lifelong multiple-entry visa and parity with a non-resident Indian on buying and selling immovable property other than agricultural land, a farm house or plantation property.
Four heads of activity need special permission, and the registration can be cancelled under section 7D of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Divorce, maintenance or custody where one spouse lives abroad
These are governed by the personal law statutes and by the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, and a judgment of a foreign court is conclusive in India only within section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Practice areas and counsel for this corridor
Practice areas
- Transaction advisory
Structuring, documentation and due diligence for acquisitions, joint ventures and restructuring transactions under Indian law.
- Capital markets
Advisory on public and private capital raising, listing compliance and continuing obligations under Indian securities law.
- RERA and real estate
Advisory and representation on real estate regulatory compliance, project registration and disputes under the RERA framework.
- Taxation and fiscal
Advisory and litigation on goods and services tax, direct tax and indirect tax disputes before departmental and appellate forums.
Advocates who write the notes on Canada
Advocates who write the notes for the region, North America
Adv. Harsha Swaroop PPartner
- A United States company investing in India: entry under the foreign exchange rules, no investment treaty, and dividend tax under the 1989 convention
- An NRI or OCI cardholder selling a flat in India and sending the money abroad: the rules from 1 April 2026
- An heir living abroad can inherit property in India, but money leaves the country only up to USD 1 million a year without Reserve Bank approval
Working across the border
The practice advises on Indian law. Where a matter turns on the law of another country it is referred to counsel qualified there, and the advice states which part rests on that referral.
Time difference
India Standard Time is five hours and thirty minutes ahead of UTC throughout the year.
- Toronto is ten hours and thirty minutes behind Bengaluru, and nine hours and thirty minutes behind while daylight saving time is in force there.
- Vancouver is thirteen hours and thirty minutes behind Bengaluru, and twelve hours and thirty minutes behind while daylight saving time is in force there.
- India does not observe daylight saving time, so the difference changes on the dates Canada changes its clocks.
Instructions are taken between 07:00 and 21:00 India Standard Time (IST), Monday to Friday, as the offices page states. In Toronto that is 20:30 the day before to 10:30 at standard time, and an hour later on the local clock while summer or daylight saving time is in force.
Documents signed there
India is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, 1961, so a public document from another contracting State that carries an apostille issued by the competent authority there is accepted in India without further legalisation. The status table of the Hague Conference lists Canada among the contracting States.
Offices
- Bengaluru
7th Floor, Raheja Towers, East Wing, 26/27 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Craig Park Layout, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001
+91 76765 68787
- Mumbai
Unit No. 4, 3rd Floor, Inspire BKC, Village Kolekalyan, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400051
- New Delhi
L29 to L34, First Floor, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
Notes for readers there
Notes on Canada
From the region: North America
- A United States company investing in India: entry under the foreign exchange rules, no investment treaty, and dividend tax under the 1989 convention
- An NRI or OCI cardholder selling a flat in India and sending the money abroad: the rules from 1 April 2026
- An heir living abroad can inherit property in India, but money leaves the country only up to USD 1 million a year without Reserve Bank approval
- What an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder may and may not do in India: rights, property, work and cancellation
- A power of attorney signed abroad to sell a flat in Bengaluru: the route, the stamp clock and the limit
- A Put Option Against a Resident: What Makes It Enforceable, and at What Price
Sources
- Official pageDepartment for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade: Quarterly Fact Sheet on Foreign Direct Investment inflow, April 2000 to March 2026dpiit.gov.in
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs: Population of Overseas Indians, January 2026mea.gov.in
- Official pageDEA BIT register, pages 0-9 searched; no Canada rowdea.gov.in
- Official pageAgreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of India for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, 11 January 1996, Articles 10 and 11 (Canada Treaty Series 1997 No. 16), as published by the Government of Canadatreaty-accord.gc.ca
- Note on this siteNote on this site: A Canadian pension fund in Indian infrastructure: the income-tax exemption, and the treaty rates where it does not apply
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs, India-Canada bilateral brief, July 2026mea.gov.in
- Official pageEPFO, International Workers - Social Security Agreements, partner country list (page last updated 27 Oct 2026)epfo.gov.in
- ConventionHague Conference on Private International Law: status table of the Apostille Convention, 1961hcch.net
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs: Attestation and Apostillemea.gov.in
Limits of this page
Nothing on this page is advice, and nothing on it is a statement that any provision applies to a particular set of facts. It is not an offer of engagement. Reading it creates no advocate-client relationship.
Each agreement is stated as its official source records it: a status only where the source states it, and an agreement no verified source records is left out rather than guessed. Each answer on this page restates a note, a law page or a practice page on this site, which carries the detail and its sources.