An FTA could only benefit Canada, and urgency is of the essence, said Sarah Kutulakos, the executive director of the Canada China Business Council (CCBC).

"Canada needs China more than China needs us. If Australia is willing to conclude an agreement and Canada doesn't, we will be marginalised in dealing with China," she said.

In 2012, Canada and China concluded a Canada-Economic Complementarities Study, which was designed as a precursor to free trade negotiations.

Back then, China offered to launch negotiations immediately but Canada chose not to take action, according to Kutulakos, who pointed out that it took the Australians and Chinese 10 years to reach an FTA, which has just been put in effect.

She said the time was right to pursue a trade agreement with China.

"Competitor countries have continued to be more aggressive in their approach towards China," she said.

She said tariff reductions inherent in an FTA would have a strong impact on Canadian companies, and recent calls by prominent Canadian business leaders showed that there was an appetite for progress.

"CCBC is hopeful the new Canadian government would take action to begin negotiations soon, and Trudeau's recent meeting with Xi and the specific mention to expand trade bode well for this," she said.

According to HSBC Canada Executive Vice-President Linda Seymour, despite China's economic slowdown, the outlook for Canadian firms doing business in the country remains firmly positive.

HSBC's research projects that 74 percent of Canadian companies expect to expand trade with China next year.

Kutulakos said China's role in the overall market is one of competing and internationalising, and Canadian companies need to do the same, as it is a global market.

She compared Canada to Australia, with the latter chalking up more than $150 billion in trade with China compared to Canada's $73 billion, suggesting a more aggressive approach by Australia.

With the trade push by the Trudeau government, changes may be in the pipeline and a fresh era might emerge, spurred by Canada's first RMB trading hub in Toronto that became operational in March this year.