Prime Minister Mark Carney says "more intense" trade negotiations with the United States have started since his call with President Donald Trump last weekend.
"We've made progress but we haven't finished," Carney told reporters Tuesday in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda.
Carney said some of Canada's "red lines" have been taken off the table, including language, culture and Canada's ability to negotiate trade deals with other markets.
"They're asking less and they're offering more but we're not quite there," he said.
Trump told Fox News in an interview Tuesday that a deal with Canada is imminent.
"Canada is very good, we're going to make a deal with Canada very soon. We're going to make ā a great deal," he said.
He also claimed Canada would provide fertilizer to the United States tariff-free. Canada does not charge any export tariffs on fertilizer or its components, including potash.
Carney called off formal trade talks with the United States in August at the eleventh hour as the two sides worked to finalize a deal before a new round of U.S. tariffs was imposed on nearly $28 billion worth of Canadian goods.
The prime minister said Tuesday there are still important issues that need to see progress in negotiations but didn't say what those are. He also did not say when Canada's chief negotiator is likely to return to Washington.
"Because we have made progress, it was felt (to be) important to acknowledge that publicly," he said. "It's not always necessary to have the trade negotiators go in formally into the U.S. trade representative's offices or the Department of Commerce."
