Thank you very much.
Thank you for inviting us and for giving us the opportunity to provide you with our point of view about the TPP.
The food industry is the largest in Quebec. Its output is in the order of $24 billion and it represents 16% of manufacturing shipments. It is also the largest manufacturing sector in Quebec, with shipments totalling $105 billion, representing 17% of manufacturing shipments and 2% of Canada's gross domestic product. It also employs 246,000 Canadians.
The sector is also the largest manufacturing employer in Quebec, with 62,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs, distributed among 1,600 companies.
The sector's exports were in the order of $7.5 billion in 2015. Quebec's trade balance in the area has remained positive for 15 or so years, except for 2009. However, imports reached $7 billion in 2015 and are increasing annually, with an ever-greater proportion of processed products.
Globalization and the opening of markets bring with them huge opportunities for the Quebec and Canadian food processing industries. The growth of cross-border business is indispensable for the food processing industry if it wants to remain competitive, dynamic, successful, and profitable.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will provide Canadian companies with easier access to a market of some 800 million consumers, or almost 40% of the world's economy. Following in the footsteps of the agreements with the European Union and South Korea, the TPP will greatly enhance Canada's presence in international markets, the most significant way in which companies can hope to grow. Canada must be part of this partnership; without it, Canadian companies would be at a major disadvantage. Canada must remain an economic player of primary importance in a globalized market that is more and more competitive.
The Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec, CTAQ, believes that the TPP is potentially very beneficial. The future of the food sector depends directly for its growth on our ability to export.
Thank you. I will now make way for my colleague.