Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The most recent change to our budget occurred in the context of the global commerce strategy, wherein we were allocated additional resources providing us with a certain amount of flexibility. Our opening of new offices in China was one of the results of having this little bit more flexibility.
An element of how we work in the trade commissioner service is that we are very much a results-based organization. Each post and trade section around the world in our regional offices actually measures results. We can tell you, to the individual, what kinds of services are being performed in support of Canadian exporters. On the basis of that, we're continually reassessing and recalibrating where we are to ensure that we are not falling behind in the context of major emerging markets.
To be very frank, the way in which this works is that countries compete against countries, so we're always seeing what Austrade is doing, what UKTI is doing, what the U.S. Commercial Service is doing so that we can ensure that, if a Canadian exporter from any one of your ridings wants to be present, for instance, in a secondary city in China, we have somebody on the ground who can help and assist. That's an ongoing part of it.
In terms of exact numbers, we have a little over 1,200 people in the field in terms of our trade commissioners. It breaks down to about one Canada-based trade commissioner for every two locally engaged trade commissioners.
I hope that addresses your question.