The negotiations will build on a recently released Canada-Japan Joint Study, which estimates that a free-trade agreement could boost Canada's gross domestic product by up to $3.8bn annually and increase exports to Japan by as much as 67 percent. Canada also is negotiating free-trade agreements with India and the European Union.
"Our government is creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians through increased trade," said Harper in a prepared statement. "A free-trade agreement with Japan ... would strengthen the Canadian economy by generating billions of additional dollars in commercial flows between our two countries."
