Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thanks for the invitation to take part in your study on connecting SMEs to new markets.
The Business Council of Canada, as you know, represents chief executives and entrepreneurs from 150 leading Canadian companies, from all sectors and regions of the country. Our member companies employ 1.7 million Canadians, which accounts for more than half the value of the TSX, contribute the largest share of federal corporate taxes and are responsible for most of Canada's exports, philanthropy and private sector investments in R and D.
Canadians rely on international trade to prosper. The trade of goods and services now represents 64% of our gross domestic product and, according to Global Affairs Canada, one in five jobs can be directly linked to exports. Recognizing the importance of trade to the Canadian economy, successive governments have negotiated free trade agreements to enable companies to access these new markets around the world. Put simply, trade agreements create a level playing field for companies to compete in foreign markets. They open markets to Canadian businesses of all sizes, not just large companies, by reducing trade barriers, such as tariffs, quotas and non-tariff barriers, and they create more predictable, fair and transparent conditions for businesses operating abroad.
Canada now has an impressive suite of trade agreements available for businesses to use. We have 14 trade agreement in force and, of course, with the CPTPP, the comprehensive and progressive trans-Pacific partnership agreement, we will have free trade with over 60% of the global economy. This gives Canadian companies preferential access to over 90% of existing export markets and it uniquely positions Canada as the only G7 nation with free trade access to the U.S., the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, including three of the world's four largest economies. We're truly in an enviable position, when it comes to our free trade access around the world.
Unfortunately, though, few small and medium-sized businesses have the capacity and resources to be first movers into international markets and most often, we witness big businesses leading the way. In fact, large enterprises represent only 2.6% of all exporting enterprises in Canada, yet they're responsible for over 60% of our total exports. Therefore, if Canada is to improve its trade performance, we need to change that ratio and help SMEs trade more and be responsible for a bigger share of Canada's exports.
Research we've done shows that Canadian SME exporters generally have better chances of surviving in emerging markets, if they're older when they enter, export to an advanced economy first, introduce new products more often and have access to financing and more export destinations.
We also find that technology-enabled SMEs that sell through online platforms are much more likely to export and to reach foreign markets than traditional large multinationals, although of course, their sales will be significantly smaller.
We believe that Canada's trade commissioner service does an admirable job of promoting Canadian exports abroad and supporting SMEs going global. We would like to congratulate the government for yesterday's announcement in the fall economic statement of an export diversification strategy that included $184 million, over five years, in new funding for the trade commissioner service. We think this is long overdue. Our trade commissioner service, when compared with other similar agencies in other countries around the world, is underfunded. We think this is a very valuable investment that will pay off, not just for SMEs but for large companies as well that use the trade commissioner service.
One area where we think there is some room for improvement is to see some better coordination between Export Development Canada, which is responsible for export financing, of course, and the Business Development Bank of Canada, which is responsible for supporting small and medium-sized businesses with the trade commissioner service. EDC and BDC service offerings, in support of going global, should be complementary and include a direct link to services offered by the TCS. There has been progress made on this in recent years, but there's still no explicit protocol between EDC, BDC and the trade commissioner service to make sure that Canadian exporters, SMEs in particular, are aware of the full suite of services that the government provides. It could be a single window or simply a protocol to ensure that there's better communication and coordination among those agencies, so that SMEs and large companies see the suite of services and are able to access them all at the same time.
Canada's impressive suite of free trade agreements, including CETA and CPTPP, will be more beneficial to Canadians, if there is broader awareness of the deals and tailor-made services available for exporters to take advantage of the market access negotiated.
With that I conclude my remarks. Thank you for the opportunity.