International Trade committee  I think there were some comments earlier about looking at those global value chains. I think that's an important piece and a lot of smaller firms don't quite understand how those work and how they can seek those out. That's where I think we can also help grow some domestic firms that may not want to go straight into trade yet but that could potentially feed into companies that are doing that international type of trade.

International Trade committee  We do have some data about companies that sell to other companies that then export, so I can get you that. I don't have it in front of me. That would be on the first one.

International Trade committee  As I said earlier, it's really about finding ways to make it clear to them that there are resources available that can help them deal with the complexities of trade, because trade is complex; there is no doubt about it. The Trade Commissioner Service is a great one, and there are other organizations out there that do that kind of work.

International Trade committee  I would suggest that probably something like 98% are small businesses.

International Trade committee  Absolutely. I would strongly agree with Mr. Fine's testimony. We hear exactly what he says many times over. E-commerce, for example, has been a boon for many smaller companies that have been able to access international markets in a much easier way than they could have 10 or 15 years ago.

International Trade committee  I think part of that is not understanding what the advantages are of going into new markets. So it's helping them understand why agreements like this can make it easier to do business in new markets, especially those beyond the United States, because that tends to be the focus first for a lot of smaller companies.

International Trade committee  Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to share CFIB's perspective on Bill C-30, an act to implement the CETA agreement. You should have a presentation in front of you that I'd like to walk you through over the next few minutes. First, CFIB is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that represents more than 109,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to share CFIB's perspective on the temporary foreign worker program, or TFWP. You should have a slide presentation that I'd like to walk you through over the next few minutes. The CFIB is a not-for profit, non-partisan organization representing more than a 109,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.

International Trade committee  I was just going to add that I agree with all of that from the education perspective. I think the other piece of this is that those who are already out of school who are looking for assistance and advice on how to enter into new markets are another key piece of this. I think we need to do a lot more work and better work at trying to open those doors for them and educate them better on what they need to do and what the barriers might be.

International Trade committee  I just wanted to add that e-commerce is essential for smaller businesses. This is a key aspect of the trade deal because that's how they can reach those new markets much more easily. The big feature for a lot of small companies and why they don't get involved in international trade is cost, and part of that cost is the cost of movement.

International Trade committee  As I mentioned, the areas that we've heard the most from are for specific sectors that feel like this could have a negative impact and those are the supply-managed industries as well as the small auto parts manufacturers. Certainly, on the supply-managed industries, we have been pushing for compensation for those types of industries that are going to be affected negatively.

International Trade committee  No, I was just going to say that we haven't done any work in this area, so we wouldn't have anything further to add.

International Trade committee  We have not specifically asked about TPP at this point. Most of the feedback we've received has been through.... We get about 28,000 phone calls a year from members on a variety of different subjects, so it's been coming in through that source. We have surveyed on international trade, generally speaking, but we haven't specifically asked about TPP.

International Trade committee  Go ahead.

International Trade committee  I would agree. I think we need to take a lead on this. I did want to comment on the last question about whether we were consulted. I would say we were probably not consulted as much as I would have liked, to be completely honest with you. We were brought in probably later on in the process when most of this had been completed.