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The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, minister of international trade, and the Honourable Bardish Chagger, minister of small business and tourism, have announced CanExport, a new program that will provide $50 million to help Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises take advantage of global export opportunities.
CanExport is one of the building blocks of the government’s export strategy: it will help Canadian companies take advantage of opportunities abroad and increase their competitiveness, while creating jobs and growth at home.
CanExport will provide Canadian small businesses with matching contributions of between $10,000 and $100,000 toward export development costs. The new program will benefit hundreds of companies each year over the next five years.
CanExport was launched at Communitech, an industry-led innovation centre that supports and fosters a community of nearly 1,000 tech companies at all stages of growth and development, many of which will be able to take advantage of this new program.
To be eligible for the program, companies must employ fewer than 250 employees and have annual revenue in Canada of between $200,000 and $50 million. Eligible activities must promote export development and go beyond an applicant’s core activities, as well as represent new or expanded initiatives.
“CanExport is an investment in growing our economy, strengthening the middle class and helping those working hard to join it. I’m thrilled to begin 2016 with this new program that is a key part of our strategy to help Canadian companies succeed abroad. This program will enable small businesses in Canada to explore new opportunities, giving them an advantage in competitive and potentially lucrative new markets, while creating good-quality jobs at home,” said Freeland.
“CanExport is part of our plan to support small businesses that are seeking to become more productive, more innovative and more export-oriented. With this program, which is part of Canada’s trade strategy, we want to make it easier for small businesses to take advantage of government financing and export-oriented supports,” said Chagger.
Quick facts
- Trade accounts for approximately 65 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product, with one in five jobs linked directly to exports;
- Small and medium-sized businesses employ 10 million Canadians, nearly 90 per cent of the total private sector workforce;
- Over 99 per cent of all Canadian businesses are small or medium-sized;
- CanExport will be delivered by Global Affairs Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service, in partnership with the National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program;
- Eligible CanExport costs include travel, participation at trade fairs, market research, adaptation of marketing tools for new markets and legal fees associated with distribution and representation agreements.
