Mr. Chairman, distinguished committee members, thanks for the invitation to appear.
The proposed amendments to the Business Development Bank of Canada Act were foreshadowed in a report by the Minister of Industry tabled in Parliament on June 16, 2014. They can be characterized as a fine-tuning of the act and would not change BDC's mandate, nor would they alter our focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. Rather, they would enable us to better fulfill our mandate by authorizing certain activities that BDC is presently unable to perform and that are in the interests of Canadian entrepreneurs.
BDC is proud to serve over 30,000 entrepreneurs through about 100 business centres throughout the country.
Our clients employ over 690,000 Canadians and generate revenues of nearly $200 billion. Of our clients, 16% are exporters and generate export revenue of over $22 billion.
BDC is a long-term lender and investor, with a greater appetite for risk than regular financial institutions. While we are profitable and pay dividends to the government, our primary focus is serving the needs of Canadian entrepreneurs, and the proposed amendments would allow us to do that better.
Let me elaborate on three amendments, division 12 of the act.
First, BDC would now have the ability to provide financing directly to a foreign subsidiary of a Canadian firm, which is what some entrepreneurs need to grow their business.
Second, there would now be a provision allowing BDC to invest in foreign-registered venture capital funds only when managed by Canadians with an ongoing commitment to invest in Canada.
Third, we would be able to increase our support to entrepreneurs through third-party organizations, which have better access to a certain type of client. It would allow us, for example, to deepen our collaboration with Futurpreneur, formerly known as the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, and reach out to more young entrepreneurs.
The other amendments would introduce additional very modest changes to better position BDC to support entrepreneurs and modernize the bank's governance arrangements.
I'd be happy to respond to any questions that you may have on the amendments, or any of BDC's operations.