Investor Yazan Al Homsi’s Vancouver-Dubai Footprint and the Canada-UAE Trade Agreement

Negotiations on a Canada-UAE free-trade agreement were concluded on July 24 after 47 days of talks that UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi said were among the fastest of the 38 such agreements the UAE has concluded (The National). Yazan Al Homsi has had a firm in each country since 2018: Founders Round Capital in Vancouver, founded in 2017, and Catalyst Communications DMCC in Dubai.

Terms and next steps

International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told a press conference in Toronto on July 24 that the next steps were legal review, signing and ratification, The Canadian Press reported (CTV News). Once ratified and in force, the agreement will cut tariffs and expand market access for businesses in both countries, a UAE government statement carried by the state news agency WAM said. The same statement put bilateral trade at about US$4.2 billion in 2025, up 21%. The National, citing Ottawa, gave a lower figure of $2.48 billion for 2025, with Canadian exports up 10%.

The agreement aims to lower barriers to goods, services and investment, The National reported, and could help draw capital into energy, mining, artificial intelligence and ports. The UAE’s US$50 billion pledge, made in November 2025, was expected to target liquefied natural gas, ports, mines and other large projects, and Al Zeyoudi said on July 24 that he expected investment announcements soon. Iron and steel products (16%) and aluminum (12%) make up Canada’s largest imports from the UAE.

For the UAE, it was the 38th such agreement since 2021, part of a drive to lift non-oil foreign trade to $1.089 trillion by 2031. Canada’s own goal, Sidhu said, is to double its non-U.S. exports by 2035, to the tune of $300 billion. He also set a target of attracting $1 trillion of new investment. More than 70% of Canadian exports go to the United States, and the UAE is already the largest market for Canadian exports in the Middle East, The National said.

Yazan Al Homsi’s Vancouver and Dubai firms

Business groups in Al Homsi’s two cities have already explored trade and investment cooperation. A Dubai Chambers delegation met Vancouver business groups as part of a tour of several Canadian cities and provinces. TradeArabia reported the visit on June 17. The delegation’s meetings included Invest Vancouver, the Business Council of British Columbia, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the British Columbia Institute of Technology and Launch Academy. Launch Academy is a Vancouver accelerator for early-stage technology startups. The agenda focused on Canadian companies expanding into Dubai and the wider region, and the Launch Academy talks covered how Canadian and international startups can reach Dubai. A Dubai Chambers statement carried by WAM said the visit was part of its “Growth Corridors” initiative to expand trade and investment cooperation between Dubai and promising markets.

Yazan Al Homsi spent more than a decade at PwC in the Middle East, where he worked on due diligence, M&A advisory and IPO preparation and rose to director, before founding Founders Round Capital. It describes Catalyst Communications DMCC as a link between North American innovation and Middle Eastern capital markets and lists sustainability, clean technology and healthcare small caps as his focus. Home Business Magazine described his practice in March as connecting North American and Middle Eastern investment ecosystems.

Consultation findings

Before talks began, Global Affairs Canada consulted the public from Dec. 13, 2025, to Jan. 27, 2026, and received 95 written submissions plus one letter-writing campaign of 107 more (Global Affairs Canada). Of the unique stakeholders, 75 supported or conditionally supported negotiations, and 20 were neutral or negative. Of the written submissions, 45 raised regulatory issues, the most of any topic, followed by market access (30) and government support (28). Businesses said they’d welcome help using a new agreement. Five sub-federal governments and agencies backed it and asked for commitments on small businesses, state-owned enterprises and Indigenous Peoples. Dairy and poultry groups weren’t opposed to talks. They asked that market access for supply-managed products stay within existing volumes. Provinces and territories named digital trade, critical minerals and mining, and advanced technologies as emerging industries to cover.

Civil society groups wanted enforceable labor provisions and asked the UAE to adopt two International Labor Organization conventions, on domestic work and on workplace violence and harassment. The letter-writing campaign was focused entirely on human rights concerns about the UAE’s role in the conflict in Sudan, the summary says, and said that Canada shouldn’t engage commercially with the UAE on those grounds. The UAE has denied supporting either side in the war. Its embassy said in a statement reported by The Canadian Press in November that it condemns the Rapid Support Forces’ violence.

Most stakeholders support negotiations, the department concluded, in particular if the agreement delivers enforceable, commercially relevant outcomes while protecting sensitive sectors.