Justin Trudeau's Belgium-bound plane returns to Ottawa due to 'mechanical issues'

The Canadian Prime Minister had been catching the plane to fly to Brussels to sign a free trade agreement with the EU

Trudeau was to meet with European Union leaders in Brussels on Sunday in order to sign a free trade agreement with the EU which has already been plagued with delays (AP)

Justin Trudeau’s plane has returned to Ottawa due to mechanical problems after taking off late on Saturday.

According to The Toronto Star, the Canadian Prime Minister’s office said there were “mechanical issues” with the plane involving the flaps so it flew back to Ottawa around 30 minutes after it took off. The plane then landed without problems.

The flight was initially delayed by roughly 90 minutes past the scheduled takeoff time.

Mr Trudeau was to meet with European Union leaders in Brussels on Sunday in order to sign a free trade agreement with the EU which has already been plagued with delays. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a comprehensive wide-ranging deal that has been in the process of being drawn up for seven years.

The ceremony was initially intended to take place on Thursday but was delayed after Wallonia, a staunchly socialist french-speaking area in southern Belgium with just 3.6 million people, voted against the terms of a deal. Wallonia was opposed to the deal because of fears local workers would be laid off if the agreement were to lead to cheaper farming and industrial imports and concerns Ceta favoured big corporations over small businesses and would erode environmental standards.

Wallonia managed to withstand significant pressure from various sides until it achieved concessions - for regional farming interests and guarantees that international investors will not be able to force governments to change laws. This permitted Belgium to sign the deal late Friday and thus allowed Donald Tusk and Mr Trudeau to set a new date.