QUESTION PERIOD — Global Affairs
Trade Agreements
April 16, 2026
My question is for the Government Representative. Senator, recently, the government has engaged in talks for a number of international agreements. It wants to increase or even double our non-U.S. exports. Signing an agreement is very nice. It’s quite an achievement, but it has to lead to actual results. Supporting SMEs’ export efforts is great, but to really move the needle on exports, there has to be a strategy with high-potential partners. What is the government’s strategy for ensuring that the agreements we sign produce concrete results?
That’s an excellent question, and that’s why the government created Export Development Canada, EDC, which provides export financing and risk management for international transactions. EDC offers four different solutions. It provides trade credit insurance to protect companies from the risk of unpaid invoices. It offers guarantees to secure more capital from financial institutions so companies can undertake new investment activities. It offers direct loans for overseas operations to accelerate growth through financing solutions tailored to specific businesses. Lastly, it invests to access development capital to support corporate strategy.
One of its initiatives is the $5-billion, two-year EDC Trade Impact Program.
Thank you. I understand all that. I think that one success factor might be to create a network among the various organizations involved. You mentioned Export Development Canada, but there are others that can provide support, like the Canadian Commercial Corporation or the Business Development Bank of Canada. Does the government intend to create some kind of network among these organizations to try to supercharge the export market?
Not only does it intend to do that, but major Canadian companies are already responding to this demand and paving the way for the network that the government wants to put in place. Furthermore, we can see that, following the Bank of Canada’s advice, Canadian businesses have already started diversifying their markets and improving their supply chains. Incidentally, Canada is the only G7 country that has entered into trade agreements with all —
Thank you, Senator Moreau.
