Yes, the timeline is interesting. If you go back five years, you would have seen a lot fewer companies even prepared to go global, as we say at EDC. Still, about 65% of all new exporters test out the U.S. market first and try to get their feet underneath them before they look to either a free trade market or an emerging market.
That's true in the e-commerce space as well. It's not just traditional exports. There is certainly a great deal of comfort with either a domestic online sale or perhaps an American platform vis-à-vis something further afield.
I had mentioned we estimate there are about 10,000 Canadian companies that are quite likely to be successful should they move into the e-commerce space, but many of those—the vast majority, probably in excess of 8,000—are very small firms. These are firms where the president is also the mailroom person, the CFO, and the lunchroom monitor. They're trying to do everything. To think about putting their product or service on Alibaba or on JD.com is very daunting.
Some of it is awareness. I would 100% agree. Some of it is market factor as well. There's a comfort with a certain culture, and a risk aversion that's very much Canadian that I think goes along with that. I would argue that the telling of success stories from those few companies that have started to be successful would be very beneficial in trying to raise that awareness and make more companies interested in taking the leap.