Evidence of meeting #43 for International Trade in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was support.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Steeve Lavoie Liberal Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you, Ms. Dorval.
I see that my time is up, but I'll have another turn and I may give the EDC representatives a chance to respond then.
Liberal
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Ms. Dorval, as you know, the softwood lumber dispute began in 2017. However, to my knowledge, there was no support program for the forestry industry until 2025. Actually, it wasn't launched until 2026.
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
That's right. The BDC had no forestry industry program until 2025.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
Neither did EDC. There was no export support specifically for the forestry sector from 2017 to 2025.
Senior Vice-President, International Markets, and Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Export Development Canada
Yes, we've always been open for business to support the forestry sector, from—
Senior Vice-President, International Markets, and Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Export Development Canada
Yes, sir.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
After the meeting, could you send us, in writing, the type of support you provided, by province, from 2017 to 2025?
Senior Vice-President, International Markets, and Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Export Development Canada
We'd have to come back to the committee with that.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
Thank you.
In 2025, the government announced that there would be a liquidity support program for the forestry sector. If memory serves, the announcement was made in August 2025. The briefing from your office took place in late October or November. There was a presentation. However, in January and February, companies were still calling me to say they hadn't received any funding and that they were really struggling.
I'm not criticizing you. That said, I would like you to tell us—without naming the companies if that's not possible—at what point companies began to have access to liquidity. I'm most interested in Quebec, but you can also tell me how things are in the other provinces.
My colleague asked a similar question earlier. You mentioned $300 million in loans. Apparently that's the amount you've granted in loans to date. It would be helpful if you could provide us with this information in writing, indicating when it began and breaking down the data by province. Do you know when it happened?
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
The program was officially launched on October 15, 2025. I don't happen to have the date the first loan was made, but I can confirm that more than $300 million has been disbursed—
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
Yes, that's for all of Canada. The money was disbursed in the form of loan guarantees and loans, sometimes directly, sometimes through financial institutions.
Yes, we can provide you with that information in writing, broken down by province.
Furthermore, we support this sector not only through this program but also through our standard offerings. We have always supported this sector.
We can provide you with that information.
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
Yes, with our standard offerings, excluding special programs, we've always—
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
What did you have for the forestry sector from 2017 to the present? Would it be possible to share that information with us as well?
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
Yes, we can send it.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
To be clear, I'm asking about assistance that was offered.
If I remember correctly, Isabelle Hudon was the one who said that the loan guarantees applied mainly to businesses that traded with the United States. That makes a certain amount of sense. However, in the forestry sector, a sawmill with a capacity of, say, 300,000 cubic metres or less is generally considered medium-sized and may focus on the domestic market. A Quebec-based company, for instance, does business in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada but does not necessarily export its products.
In recent years, due to market dynamics, large forestry companies have partially withdrawn from the U.S. market and have been increasingly selling their products on the Canadian market, thereby competing with small businesses. Those small businesses do not have access to the liquidity program, and I wonder if that's still the case.
I spoke with Minister Hodgson about this, and he told me he was in favour of reforming the existing system.
Does the program still apply only to businesses that have money held in trust at the border? Is that still the case?
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
No, it's not. That's an excellent question.
Last week, we announced that we're expanding the program. For the portion related to loan guarantees, the maximum amount has gone up from $30 million to $50 million. What we offer now covers the entire value chain from harvest to processing to transportation. We're able to support much smaller businesses. Although they're not directly affected by tariffs, obviously, the entire supply chain is indirectly affected.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
The people who are unfortunately overlooked in all this are the small-scale forestry entrepreneurs. They're the ones who do the harvesting. They're a key link in the chain, from sawmills to paper mills to those involved in processing. The forestry sector is a chain. If one link is missing—such as harvesting in the forest—the rest of the chain falls apart.
I'd be curious to know if you've offered any kind of support to small-scale forestry entrepreneurs, to those who do the harvesting.
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
We can provide details about the expanded program, but I can tell you that, at this point, thanks to our expanded program for the forestry sector, we can help small businesses involved in harvesting and transportation and so on.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
You're talking about loan guarantees and access to liquidity, right?
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada
The access to liquidity program has two components. First, it provides access to liquidity ranging from $1 million to $50 million. Second, we have a transformation-focused program designed to help entrepreneurs who want to improve their productivity or pivot their businesses. We can offer them assistance of up to $25 million.
