Finance committee  Thank you for your question. In general, we support these companies by providing insurance called accounts receivable insurance. If the company sold lumber or pulp and paper to an American firm, for example, it will have accumulated corporate debt. We insure that debt for 60 or 90 days, or something like that.

Finance committee  It is easy to quantify because businesses in Quebec or Canada must declare the exact amounts of their exports to the United States or elsewhere. We insure 90% of the amount declared and the remaining 10% represents the company's risk. It is a type of risk sharing in the contract.

Finance committee  The amount depends on the export level. For example, for a purchase of $100 million made in the United States this year, the amount would be less if the same purchase had totalled $150 million last year. It depends on export levels. It is a matter of arithmetic. This year, exports are lower than usual, lower than last year.

Finance committee  I would say it's not a fair statement, because we have authorized considerably more than that; we just haven't actually signed the final legal documents with the companies.

Finance committee  It's a fair statement on the financing front; however, we also have other tools at work. There's the bonding facility and the reinsurance facility for accounts receivables insurance, which works triangularly through the customers' banks. They get more capacity that way.

Finance committee  Yes, it is. Thank you for the question. As I mentioned in my remarks, we have between $800 million and $900 million altogether. Most of that is in a pipeline that is not yet signed. That's a process that takes sometimes weeks, or sometimes a month or two.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're very pleased to have this opportunity to report to the members of this committee on our progress in helping Canadian businesses access more credit. Since our president last met with you in March, the volume of demand for our credit insurance, in particular, has grown at a swifter pace than we've ever experienced in EDC's history.