International Trade Committee on Oct. 27th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, Mr. Groleau, but your time is up.

Thank you.

Mr. Lavoie, go ahead, please.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Viel, we both come from Quebec City and we worked together when I was in my former position at the chamber of commerce. You likely remember that, for four years, I kept saying that governments should provide predictability to businesses. A year later, I often say that it is hard to provide businesses with predictability. In the current context, what is your view on the lack of predictability?

The government has also announced that it wants to double Canada's exports to places other than the United States, including by increasing exports to Europe. What's your opinion?

[Carl Viel]

Thank you. I'll answer the second part of your question first.

It's very important to help businesses diversify. It is a long process, but worth the effort. It's a bit like the investment principle that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket or invest all your savings in the same stock. However, as others mentioned earlier today, supply chains are so integrated between Canada and the United States that it will take more time and more effort to develop exports to other countries.

There is also another aspect that is sometimes underestimated, which is the fact that the costs of internal trade from east to west or from west to east within Canada are much higher than the costs of exporting south of the border. Therefore, we also need to improve the distribution network across Canada.

Regarding the first part of your question, predictability is very important. Since companies are making medium and long-term investments, they want to know how things are going to evolve. As a result, we need to support predictability and give businesses an idea of where they're headed in the coming years.

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

Thank you, Mr. Viel.

Mr. Hamel, I know your industry very well. I was a logger until I was 25. I come from a logging family and I have family who work in the bush. I also worked at the National Bank, where I was vice president of commercial accounts. The bank funded companies like yours. I know what you're going through.

You want investments from the Government of Canada. Therefore, you are probably interested in Build Canada Homes. The government talks about investing billions of dollars in construction, it talks about making generational investments and it talks about “buy Canadian”. These are all strong government measures that probably interest you.

[David Hamel]

That's true, but I wonder how it will materialize. We often hear about the housing shortage, but will contractors get help? Yes, there is a housing shortage and houses will be built with wood, but can contractors take on all the risks, given the current costs? Will they be sure that the units will be rented?

I think some things need to be clarified in order to get housing construction started, ramped up and fast-tracked to stimulate the lumber market and push the market to use all the lumber produced in Canada.

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

What you just said is absolutely true. We see that with Build Canada Homes, an agency that aims to increase the housing supply. We've had joint programs, particularly the affordable housing fund, if I'm not mistaken. The government has invested $1.5 billion in the fund to help finance businesses. You were talking earlier about modular housing that can be built quickly. In Rimouski, I saw a modular building put up in 10 months. We can really see the investments that are being made.

As I understand it, you see this initiative as a good decision. We have to keep pushing in that direction. You see that as part of the solution. Am I correct?

[David Hamel]

Yes.

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

We also need to remove interprovincial barriers.

[David Hamel]

Yes.

There aren't a lot of barriers in the lumber industry, but transportation is so expensive that we are still limited. We transport lumber to Ontario and New Brunswick, but those are the only two places.

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

Proximity is all.

[David Hamel]

The United States is an hour's drive from the plant. It obviously used to be a very attractive market. However, I think it's better to use our own lumber and let the United States run low rather than insisting on selling our lumber to them. That would be the smarter decision. The United States will end up buying and paying for our lumber anyway, eventually.

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

Okay. Thank you, gentlemen.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

You have 40 seconds remaining.

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

Okay, Madam Chair. I'm sorry. I thought I had five minutes.

Ms. Pohlmann, the government wants to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers. How will that affect small and medium-sized businesses? What impact will it have on them? We're talking about saving $200 billion for investments in Canada.

[Michelle Auger]

I'll answer the question.

We see a lot of opportunities right now when it comes to reducing interprovincial barriers. However, we would like a lot more concrete action to be taken and much more quickly. Things are moving slowly, but we're seeing some provinces starting to enter into agreements among themselves.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much. I have to move on.

Mr. Bonin, go ahead for six minutes, please.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Viel, do you feel that Quebec SMEs are consulted and involved enough in the review of CUSMA right now? Were you contacted directly to express your comments and concerns?

[Carl Viel]

The consultation was conducted through stakeholders that include the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec and Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec. We also took part in the consultation and gave our support. Consultations and surveys were conducted to gather the opinions of Quebec SMEs. That's the first thing that came out of the consultations.

The second thing that came out of them is that our SMEs are often headed up by individual men and women, and we need to be able to support and help them through the process. Part of our daily work is to keep them informed and support them so that they can continue to be as effective as possible.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Are there any other improvements to the consultation process that you would like to see?

[Carl Viel]

It's not necessarily about the consultation process, but about points that were brought up a little earlier. The suspension of the de minimis exemption in the United States has had an impact on some companies since tariffs were imposed on exports, which was not the case before. Prior to the suspension of the de minimis exemption, the U.S. did not impose duties on imports of goods valued at or below $800 U.S. I think that's an important point.

A second point was mentioned earlier in a presentation, namely that we must ensure that professional mobility is streamlined in the review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement. During Mr. Trump's first term, we saw that companies that wanted to send some of their employees to the United States ran into problems. I think those are things to consider.

A third point that we would also like to bring to your attention in terms of reviewing the agreement is the tendering component. There's something we've noticed, and I'll draw a parallel. We have an agreement with Europe, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. We've noticed that Canadian companies have not performed as well as European companies internationally. We didn't take advantage of the possibility of issuing calls for tenders. I think that's something to consider when conducting consultations. The tendering component should be adjusted in the review of the agreement.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Do you think the government is currently doing enough to take measures and make efforts to develop new markets abroad?

[Carl Viel]

Luckily enough, in Canada, we have several agreements with a number of partners in Europe and Asia. However, as we mentioned, we are so used to working on a north-south axis and our supply chains are so integrated that it makes it easier for us to export our products down south. By diversifying their export markets, companies could get together and win contracts much more quickly. It would be a longer and more complicated process, so it would take time. Have we maximized our agreements with the other partners? We probably still have some leeway. There are still a lot of opportunities ahead of us and we need to continue along that path. We need to help businesses diversify their export markets in various ways.

Over the next month, we will be expanding our missions in a variety of countries. I'll give you a basic example. We are working with business leaders in the French market, who will help our business owners communicate properly with their executives. Although we speak the same language, we don't always use the same terms and we don't always have the same working methods. It's important to take the time to help our businesses. They're not going to reach new markets or get new contracts overnight.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Viel.

Mr. Hamel, thank you for being here. Indeed, this situation is worrisome for you, and I thank you for putting it into context. Compared to other sectors such as aluminum, steel or automotive, do you feel that forestry and sawmills are currently sufficiently supported by federal government measures? Should more measures be put in place?

[David Hamel]

Right now, we feel rather abandoned. Yes, Mr. Carney just made an announcement, and I think we just got some information, but it's still quite nebulous. It's not clear.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You haven't received a penny yet.