International Trade Committee on Feb. 19th, 2019

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Karen, what do you think?

[Karen Greve Young]

Yes, I would like to add that the really good news is that we talk to each other. I've been in this space for about eight years in Canada, before that in the bay area in California and in the U.K.

Eight years ago, all the different players were not really effectively talking to each other. It felt much more competitive than collaborative. Now we know that, again, this is a team sport. We all need to play our roles, and we really do complement each other. If you were looking for someone to get the word out to tens of thousands of Canadian entrepreneurs, you're going to call Startup Canada. If you're looking for someone to reach out to those companies that are at that launch stage, looking for particular resources in every community across Canada, they're going to talk to us.

We're similar to Startup Canada. We're more mainstream and tech. Then there are organizations that are specifically tech. There are organizations that are specifically AI within tech.

I think it feels more confusing from the outside. I think for entrepreneurs it feels confusing when they first get in. I think we're doing a better and better job of helping entrepreneurs to reach other resources. We try.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

So you're not scared to refer to each other and say, hey, this is—

[Karen Greve Young]

We're not only not scared to; none of us can service everyone who comes in our door. We have two and a half applications for every entrepreneur we finance or mentor. Those who we can't support, we'll refer to others.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

I'm going to change direction here a little bit and go to our member of the chamber of commerce because I want to take advantage of the scenario. One thing the previous Conservative government did was trade agreements. It opened up market access for a lot of Canadian companies. One thing we're seeing happening in the U.S. now is they're not doing trade agreements. In fact, they're not getting market access. They don't have the market access that we have here in Canada. We're hearing the bigger companies in the U.S. now saying that they can't export out of the U.S., so they're shutting down. They're rationalizing...to the U.S. market. They say, “Okay, we have to locate a facility somewhere else.”

What are we doing through our trade commissioners, through the federal government, to actually attract those companies? We say, “Do you know what? If you come up to Windsor or if you come into Quebec, you can actually have a very competitive platform. You can go to Europe, you can go to Japan, Asia, into Central and South America. You still have the NAFTA route...USMCA sitting there in the background. It's still okay. And you're in the same continent, you're in the same district time zones.”

Are you doing any of those types of promotions because we always hear about how the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Mr. Hoback, sorry, you have half a minute left.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Just let me finish, Mr. Chair.

You always hear about the U.S. coming up here and grabbing our companies, but what are we doing to go down there and grab their companies?

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

You're going to have to give very short answers.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

You have lots of time, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Go ahead, Mr. Naidu.

[Rakesh Naidu]

That's a great question, and I think it's something that we're doing all the time, highlighting which American companies we need to go after. We have a very strong relationship across the border with the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, DEGC. Through them, we are reaching out to companies that they find are better suited to be on the Canadian side. We have a foreign trade zone in Windsor-Essex, so we leverage that.

We also identify to them that, if they're on this side of the border, they can serve not just the Canadian market but also the European market through CETA and through other programs. We are always leveraging our locational advantage and also the various free trade agreements we have that the American companies can take advantage of.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

That wraps up the time for Mr. Hoback. We're quite far over.

We're going to move over to the NDP now.

Ms. Ramsey, you have three minutes. Go ahead.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

I'll try to be quick.

The crux of this study, really, is that SMEs are not typically at the table, when we're bargaining trade agreements, to put forward all of their things they require out of a trade agreement. We recognize that the majority of opportunity that exists in trade agreements is for SMEs, because the big players know how to do this. They have the resources to do it. They're at the table when they're negotiating, and they're making sure they're getting the best out of it.

We've heard, unfortunately, from the CFIB that a lot of small businesses, when trading within the first two years, drop off that trading because of all the barriers that exist or just the complication. How should we be communicating, after signing trade agreements, to SMEs?

Maybe I'll turn it over to Mr. Naidu.

[Rakesh Naidu]

On these, one can never communicate enough. I find that many times, when somebody's looking at new markets, it is very overwhelming. The country is new, the rules are different and the culture is different. It becomes very overwhelming for small businesses to really venture into that.

The more we can provide in terms of information and support, the easier we can make it for them to understand what the market requirements are. We can help them connect with somebody who has already done it, has penetrated the market and there are some success stories. Pair them with those people, share some good case studies and help them understand and simplify the rules and regulations. All of that will go a long way in terms of demystifying a new market or making it easier for them to really look into it closely and say, “Yes, we can do it. It's not as difficult as it seems.”

Communication is very, very important, and of course, matching them with people who have succeeded, but so are interactive sessions where we can get some people who have done it to offer support to them and have trade commissioners come and talk about how they can help in terms of tapping the new market.

[Karen Greve Young]

On that point, I'm going to go a little bit earlier. I think, as important as it is to communicate effectively to the small and mid-sized businesses, especially the small enterprises and the newer enterprises, it's equally important to have their perspective as the negotiations are happening and to not assume that we know it.

I'll give an example that is not related to a trade agreement, and I'm embarrassed that I can't remember what this benefit is. There is a program to help small companies export—I wish I could remember what it is; I can follow up with the committee—but it explicitly only benefits companies that don't have any export revenue in that market. One Internet sale in that market excludes them from participating.

If someone from an SME had been at the table when that was thought up.... That's why I think we all really appreciate your taking our insights. We represent these companies even though we aren't these companies. I think having that perspective during that development phase is vital, because otherwise we risk making assumptions about needs as opposed to reflecting the needs accurately.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Thank you, Ms. Ramsey.

We've got time for one more MP.

Mr. Dhaliwal, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Thank you.

Thank you to the presenters for the work that you and your organizations are doing in your respective communities, particularly Ms. Karen Young. Thank you for helping over 10,000 businesses and particularly young people aged 18 to 39.

I'm very pleased to share with you that you fellows helped over 20 SMEs in Surrey as well. In communities like Surrey, where there are a lot of issues with young people—gangs and crime situations—parents want something like this where young people can be inspired to do better in their future lives.

You have covered a lot, but is there anything you haven't covered to see what proactive approach can be taken to increase the numbers of people that you help and will be able to help?

[Karen Greve Young]

I was in nearby Vancouver late last week.

I think the important thing is to think as creatively as the entrepreneurs do about what they might need and what a new company might look like. As an example, we launched a side hustle program a couple of years ago. There are some communities where an entrepreneur doesn't feel ready to launch right away. They don't feel comfortable quitting their day job, or they have home requirements that don't let them go full time into their start-up life. We try to have nimble opportunities to meet entrepreneurs where they are. That's an example.

To be honest, the more we can help these young entrepreneurs understand what these opportunities are, see entrepreneurship as a viable pathway, see the experiences of others who have succeeded, the more we can help them in getting a little ahead to understand what it looks like next. What is the next barrier they're going to face? Succession planning is a huge area right now where we recognize that some entrepreneurs don't start a business because they had a great idea. They just want to be a business owner. We're getting into that space.

We have our offerings. We're expanding in these areas. As the government thinks about the way it wants to support small business owners as they grow into medium and large-sized business owners, thinking creatively about what business ownership can be for different age groups is an important factor.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Thank you, both you and Mr. Rémillard. My riding of Surrey—particularly the city of Surrey—has a very diverse South Asian population. We have a diaspora.

How can we help them do business internationally and be prosperous?

[Karen Greve Young]

They benefit from the diaspora to some extent. What we see a lot of is that community not only becomes very supportive within their community, but they are able to leverage their international diaspora. A great number of the entrepreneurs we support are food businesses, for instance, and a lot will be food related to the ethnicity of the entrepreneur who founded that company. I think, seeing that as a benefit as opposed to a barrier, we need to make sure that those entrepreneurs see themselves in our offering.

We are working very hard. One of my focus areas in particular is to make sure that all the entrepreneurs who could benefit from our program see themselves in our program and don't feel excluded on the basis of barriers they face in other places.

I don't know if that helps.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Mr. Rémillard.

[Richard Rémillard]

Thirty-six per cent of the attendees at our Canadian export challenge in 2018 were newcomers to Canada, immigrants. Even though I thought that was not a bad statistic, I hope we're more successful than we were last year in attracting an even greater percentage this year.

If I can just come back to the question that Ms. Ramsey asked: what will you do differently? One thing that struck me as not being in the discussion so far is when you look at the barriers that small and medium-sized enterprise managers and owners are facing, there is a distinct lack of awareness of the opportunities out there, created by trade agreements or the services provided by the truly excellent trade commissioner service.

But there are also two other factors that I don't think we have a good handle on yet from a messaging communications perspective.

Number one is: what's this going to cost me?

I have in my own mind a study that someone might do showing the cost of exporting from P.E.I. to B.C. versus the cost of exporting from P.E.I. to Maine. I don't know what that number is. I might be terribly surprised. I suspect that might be a smaller number for many goods and services. Get me some numbers, as Richard says.

Number two is risk. The perceived risk of selling your good or your service to New York City or to Seattle, Washington—how does that compare with Belarus? Or China? Or some other exceptionally difficult places? Then, that begs the question: what is being done by the Government of Canada and other partners to mitigate that risk and to put it down to a measurable level that you can export, with comfort? An EDC guarantee? Fine, maybe. That's just one possible way to look at it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Thank you. Mr. Dhaliwal, your time is up.

That ends our dialogue with the MPs. That wraps up this afternoon's session. I'd like to thank the witnesses for joining us. You not only represent thousands of companies, families and workers, but you're also a system. We appreciate the good work you're doing. Our study will be coming forward in the upcoming months. You're welcome to have a copy of it.

To anybody who is travelling, safe travels.

We're going to adjourn for a few minutes here to let the witnesses leave, and then we're going to go right back. We have some future business.

[Proceedings continue in camera]