International Trade committee  To add to that, the relationship has definitely deepened over the last number of years. Shannon mentioned the referral program. In the last three years, about 1,200 Canadian companies were referred between the two organizations at the right point in time, and that's important. Th

International Trade committee  I can discuss a new program we launched last year, called the trade connections network, which is essentially that. It's an online portal. It's needs-based, so a Canadian company goes in today and answers three fairly simple questions, it would then be provided access or directio

International Trade committee  It's very much a real concern, I think, for many Canadian companies, especially when they're looking to a new market for the first time, and in particular a new partner that they've never worked with before. What we've done at EDC to try to help raise the level of awareness and h

International Trade committee  Today we are just starting to get into that space, to recognize the change. For 75 years we have focused on traditional goods and services exports. As we move into software as a service, for example, the needs in that segment are changing. That's an area where I'm very happy to s

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Thank you. I again think it comes back to awareness of the opportunities that are present. Because most of the companies that we're talking about are small or medium-sized exporters, there's a lack of understanding, first of all, for what the opportunities are, what the risks ar

International Trade committee  Again, it's perhaps a very similar response to the Asian opportunities that are present. A little bit closer to home for many companies, we certainly see, in terms of Canadian export trends, about 30% of new Canadian companies that have never exported choose a free trade market

International Trade committee  Yes, the timeline is interesting. If you go back five years, you would have seen a lot fewer companies even prepared to go global, as we say at EDC. Still, about 65% of all new exporters test out the U.S. market first and try to get their feet underneath them before they look to

International Trade committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and honourable members. Thanks for much for inviting Export Development Canada to be before the committee today. We appreciate your interest in our work with Canadian exporters and our perspective on international trade, and more specificall