International Trade Committee on June 11th, 2026

[Pierre Cléroux]

I think there are a lot of opportunities. The world is much bigger now than it was in the past. What is important is that, typically, our businesses are small in Canada. Now we have an opportunity. There's a lot of business transition right now because we have an aging entrepreneur population. There are a lot of opportunities to scale up because, often, a business needs to be a certain size to be able to export. I see a lot of potential right now. As businesses become a bit bigger, they will have more capacity to be able to export.

As Véronique said, one of the roles of the BDC is to help Canadian businesses be stronger. We help them to grow, and when they grow to a certain point, they want to explore markets outside the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We have Mr. Lavoie, for five minutes, followed by Mr. Simard and Madame Lapointe, and then that's the end of the time that we have. We have 15 minutes remaining, and we'll split them that way.

Mr. Lavoie.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I didn't think I would have any more time, but I'm happy to be with you.

Let's go back to what we were saying earlier. Do you have any concrete examples to share with us?

Your response wasn't quite at the 50,000‑foot level; it was closer to a 10,000‑foot view. In other words, you spoke in general terms.

I know that Ms. De Franco told us a story, but do you have any more specific examples to share, examples involving companies?

I also asked you for examples that would allow us to compare the situation before with the situation after. Is there anything you weren't doing a year ago? For example, are there sectors that you didn't provide financing to but you are today?

[Pierre Cléroux]

I can give you a very concrete example of a Manitoba company that I met with yesterday. It's a steel company. As we know, steel is subject to tariffs. BDC is helping this company offset the fact that it's having a harder time exporting its products due to the tariffs. We're helping it reposition itself in the Canadian market, including in the defence sector.

As you know, we have a mandate to help companies explore opportunities in the defence sector. This company manufactures steel parts, such as beams, and even equipment made primarily of steel. We will therefore help it gain access to the defence supply chain. This allows a company affected by the tariffs to reposition itself within another market. This company currently has no operations in the defence sector, but we're confident that by helping it obtain the certification it needs, and perhaps also the necessary financing, we'll be able to help it explore this opportunity.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, if I understand correctly, at BDC, you haven't always been involved in the defence sector. In other words, you didn't necessarily provide financing to companies that had clients in the defence sector, but today you do. Is that correct?

[Véronique Dorval]

Absolutely. Defence wasn't a sector we systematically covered before.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

What led to this change? Is it only because the government or the department has established new guidelines and asked you to follow them? Is it something that came from you? Is it a bit of both?

Also, are there sectors you decide to explore even if they don't stem from a government directive?

[Véronique Dorval]

Certainly, as an organization, we're always keeping an eye on what's happening in the market and what entrepreneurs need.

The shift toward the defence sector stems from a process of reflection that was initially started by BDC. We subsequently involved our shareholder in the process to ensure alignment.

We realized that the situation we were in required a much stronger and much more sovereign defence sector. As a development bank, we see that we have an important role to play in this sector.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I would like to ask you one last question before I turn it over to Mr. Winterhalt.

If the government hadn't moved in that direction, would you have?

[Véronique Dorval]

According to our mandate, we're able to move in that direction as well.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Dorval.

Mr. Winterhalt, I'll ask you the same question. How do you determine that?

[Todd Winterhalt]

Certainly I would start at defence and security, where we received instruction from our shareholder, the Minister of International Trade, to reopen our support of the industry. As I mentioned earlier, in only a year that has led to over $1.6 billion in support for Canadian defence and security exports. That is a very significant and quite rapid change.

I'd also touch on our support for critical minerals. We talked a little bit about investment in domestic mine sites. What's very different there—and this is an EDC initiative—is to do what's called a pre-FID or a pre-final investment decision. This is to provide EDC equity or financial support much earlier in the process to help get those projects over the finish line and start production much earlier. That's a brand new space for us, and we see a lot of potential growth there.

The last example I would give is EDC's participation in the investment and financing of a spaceport in Atlantic Canada, the first that Canada will have. This is again tied a little bit to defence and security, where we see a lot of opportunity not only for space-related technologies and investment but also for those that are defence and security adjacent.

These are three simple examples of where we've seen new growth in a year.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I see that my time is up, but thank you for being here today. In a way, you are the government's financial arm. The role you play is important. I'll be looking forward to examples of things that you weren't doing before but that you are doing now. I would like to see you again in six months or a year to see how things have evolved and how you have supported businesses.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you.

Mr. Simard, you have four minutes, please.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much to my Conservative friends for helping me with my lack of speaking time.

I want to come back to the forestry sector.

As we know, the crisis has been going on since 2017. The last time I checked the numbers, more than $13 million belonging to people in the forestry sector was sitting idle in the United States because of a combination of countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties.

The first thing I'd like to know is whether the government consulted you in any way following the announcement earlier this month about the task force. The government-appointed task force submitted a report that proposed $10 billion over 10 years. In my view, that technically falls under your respective purviews.

Were you consulted on that? Were you consulted by this task force? Did you have discussions with these people?

[Véronique Dorval]

I can't give a specific answer regarding the task force. What I can say is that we're having discussions with the government, which is our shareholder, regarding this sector and the support we can provide to it. However, I can't speak specifically to the situation with the task force.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

I don't know whether you have seen a certain proposal made by the people in the forestry sector. The combination of anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties has reduced the profit margin for people in the forestry sector by 45%. For a long time, there was a proposal going around that the government could give them access to liquidity using the money that was sitting in the United States and recover that money afterward, once the dispute had been settled. However, the amounts are too high. People came to a compromise: At the end of every month, perhaps through EDC, why not have the government absorb 50% of the combined anti-dumping and countervailing duties, in other words, 50% of the 45%? That way, people could still have access to the market. It wouldn't be a subsidy, since the government would be able to recover that money when the dispute is finally resolved.

Have you already been informed of this proposal from people in the sector and major unions? Are you aware of that?

[Todd Winterhalt]

I have not.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

You've never heard of it. In that case, I'd be happy to send you this proposal.

I'd like to talk to you about something else, and I'm eager to see how this plays out. I don't know if it's the same for you, but when a forestry company asks the government for help, the company is immediately referred to Global Affairs Canada. However, the argument is that if we were to support those involved in primary processing, we would be violating Canada's trade agreements.

I've seen cases in my riding where this made no sense. I'm thinking, for example, of social integration companies that don't even have a market in the United States—whose market is entirely within Canada—but which cannot receive federal government support because they're supposedly in violation of Canada's trade agreements, even though they don't do any business in the United States.

Are you aware of this situation? Before this year or last year, when a forestry company asked you for support, did you yourselves have to go through Global Affairs Canada?

[Véronique Dorval]

In our case, when a business owner asks us for support in the form of funding or consulting services, we do not go through that process. We assess the funding request on the basis of financial information, the company's project, etc. So it doesn't go through—

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Do I have any time left for—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Monsieur Simard, I'm sorry. The time has run out.

We'll go to Madame Lapointe for four minutes, and that will be the end of the meeting.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have a question for you, Ms. Dorval.

Earlier, you made several references to defence. We held an event in the Laurentians focused on defence and all the opportunities it can create. Our event took place on March 31 with Connexion Laurentides, an organization that hosts events related to economic activity in the Laurentians. Even before that event, we were told that BDC was the organization that helps businesses enter the defence procurement system.

Is that the information you have? It's because certification is required. To get into the defence sector, businesses must go through the acceptance process.

[Véronique Dorval]

That's a good question. To explain the role we play, I'll refer back to our consulting services, because they're important in the defence sector.

We help contractors in defence-related sectors understand what will be required to get into the defence sector. To enter this sector, there are, among other things, important prerequisites regarding quality and cybersecurity. When contractors are interested, we help them understand these prerequisites. However, we are not the gateway to the procurement system. We can help them adapt their business model and understand the requirements, but they do not go through us for the validation process that will subsequently grant them access to the defence sector.

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

To that end, I met with BDC's CEO, Ms. Hudon. The process for a company to enter the defence procurement system is lengthy, but we were told that when you offer your assistance, it shortens the time it takes to get into the system.