International Trade Committee on Nov. 17th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, Mr. Savard-Tremblay. Your two and a half minutes are up.

Mr. Chambers, go ahead, please, for five minutes.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

I was reviewing the departmental spending report that recently came out. I'm just curious if it includes some of the information in the budget that was recently tabled by the government.

[Sara Wilshaw]

I'm not sure whether the last report would include what is proposed in the budget for this year. I would assume not.

I don't know what the member was looking at, but if it was the past spending—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

It's your departmental spending report that came out this year and projects what you will spend.

[Sara Wilshaw]

Right. I think that refers to our current budgets for 2025-26, and the budget that is proposed now would be forward-looking, after that.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

The departmental spending reports were provided to parliamentarians after the budget was produced by the government, and the departmental spending report says what the department will spend in future years. I'm just asking whether it includes the measures that were in the budget.

[Sara Wilshaw]

Forgive me, but I don't know the answer to the question. It would be better referred to the CFO of Global Affairs Canada. I apologize.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

If you could follow up with an answer, that would be helpful.

I'm asking because if trade diversification is important—and I think we all agree it is—the departmental spending report shows a reduction in the trade and investment branch for the next few years.

I'm wondering how, on one hand, we can say it's really important to diversify trade, but, on the other, the government is signalling that it is actually going to spend less on the trade and investment branch in the next three years.

[Sara Wilshaw]

Budgets are a challenging topic at the best of times. We do the best we can with what we are allocated by Parliament. We know those aren't easy decisions to make.

We are doing what we can to create efficiencies and to find other ways to save the government and the taxpayers money. We believe we can do what we set out to do on trade diversification with the budget we've been allocated.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Your spending authorities approved by Parliament are about $420 million, but you typically only spend around $375 million. I'm wondering why you wouldn't spend the amount of money you're allocated. I think you actually lapse money every year in this branch. Is that correct?

[Sara Wilshaw]

I am not perfectly equipped today to respond to detailed questions on budgets.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

That's quite okay. No worries. I'll move on. I'm just making the point that if it's important, I'm not sure the budget reflects that.

This is for either of you. To your knowledge, have the sectoral tariffs on autos been discussed with our American counterparts yet? Has that been raised?

[Sara Wilshaw]

I haven't been privy to those discussions.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

In your information, Mr. Fowler, have you heard that autos have been discussed or not?

[Aaron Fowler]

Again, I'm not actively participating in those negotiations, so I would be speculating.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you.

I have about a minute left. I'm trying to understand what makes a good trade commissioner. How do we know if they're doing a good job? What metrics do you use to determine whether they're good at their job? Is it how many meetings they have? Is it their follow-through on orders? What are some of the things you use to measure them?

[Sara Wilshaw]

I love that question because I'm a real stickler for our key performance indicators across the board.

The trade commissioners we have in the field know that we track, and we provide reports to them, to their heads of missions and to their senior trade commissioners at each of the posts around the world, every month. The reports show how many services they have provided, how many companies they have dealt with and how many results there have been.

In terms of what you're looking for, we have a pipeline process. We offer services, and then we hope that people take up the opportunities presented to them—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

My final question in my last two seconds is this: Are they compensated based on those metrics?

[Sara Wilshaw]

They are not compensated by the metrics. They are incentivized by the metrics, by the follow-up we do and in the training we provide on them.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We'll go to Madame Lapointe, please, for five minutes.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to welcome the witnesses.

Thank you for joining us. This isn't your first appearance before the committee.

Ms. Wilshaw, you spoke about e‑commerce. I would like to know your strategy. What aspects do you take into consideration when it comes to digital matters and intellectual property?

It's difficult to quantify and measure these areas. What preventive measures are you taking to ensure that you reap all the benefits and secure what belongs to us?

[Sara Wilshaw]

Thank you for your question.

It's a fairly new field. Actually, e‑commerce isn't new, but it has exploded in recent years.

This is also the case for well‑known platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart in India or Alibaba in China, which offer their products. At the time, we implemented a strategy to help Canadian businesses, especially small and medium‑sized enterprises, access international markets more securely. This was particularly important for businesses that wanted to reach consumers directly.

Our trade commissioner service works mainly in the B2B sector, meaning business‑to‑business trade. However, consumers who want to access Canadian goods of a certain value or quality find it easier to do so using e‑commerce platforms. We guide businesses to make it easier for them to access these platforms, for example.

You said that intellectual property was a really important aspect. We've also implemented a strategy to provide more information about the risks associated with intellectual property when doing business abroad. This is certainly the case for small and medium‑sized enterprises, which don't have the same capacity to pay for this information and expertise.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

How does your trade commissioner service work? You said that it has been highly successful. How do you attract the interest of SMEs and other businesses? What's your approach?

[Sara Wilshaw]

Thank you for your question.

It's interesting.

We often use social media, especially LinkedIn, to provide information about upcoming missions. We also work with chambers of commerce, industry associations, our partners in the provinces and territories and business groups.

We also work closely with our federal partners in order to inform the businesses that may wish to participate in our missions.