The Government of Canada could have, on our advice, authorized the ombudsperson to enter into mutual legal assistance agreements and letters rogatory. You can do desk research and site visits, etc.
The power to compel documents and testimony would be vis-à-vis the companies in Canada, which means that there are some circumstances in which an investigation would not be able to be completed if the information that's being looked for is being held exclusively overseas. Having the power to compel documents and testimony vis-à-vis Canadian companies would go a very long way to getting that information.