Minister Carr announces investments to help Canadians access new markets, new customers, new jobs

From: Global Affairs Canada

News release

April 9, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

Canada’s continuing prosperity depends on innovative, hardworking, entrepreneurial and ambitious Canadian exporters accessing new markets abroad leading to new jobs at home. There has never been a better time to diversify into expanding markets and new sectors.

Today, Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr highlighted the expanded opportunities available to Canadian entrepreneurs abroad through New Markets, New Customers, New Jobs: Canada’s Trade Diversification Strategy - an investment of $1.1 billion over six years to help businesses to succeed in new markets. Minister Carr was in Ottawa to meet with business leaders in high-tech at the Kanata North Business Association. The Minister also reiterated how new trade agreements have now given Canadian businesses access to over 1.5 billion new customers in over fifty countries. 

A key component of the Trade Diversification Strategy is an investment of $290 million over five years to help Canadian businesses export and grow, and to strengthen the Trade Commissioner Service and enhance the support it provides to Canadian exporters. This investment includes $100 million in additional funding for the CanExport program which will help businesses develop and access new export opportunities, especially high-growth emerging markets and markets benefitting from free trade agreements.

With these investments the government continues in its efforts to make Canada the most well-connected trading economy worldwide, which is helping to create more jobs at home.

Quotes

“Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises drive economic prosperity and create jobs for the middle class and people working hard to join it. The investments we are making today will further support Canadian businesses by connecting people, ideas and products to customers around the world and attracting foreign investment.”

    -Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification

Quick facts

  • Trade agreements such as the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) can help SMEs expand their businesses and take advantage of new opportunities in markets abroad.

  • To date, the CanExport program has supported more than 1,200 Canadian SMEs with 1,500 projects to expand their markets and increase export activities in more than 110 markets around the world.

  • CanExport has a proven track record in helping businesses diversify their exports to international markets: 44 percent of participants reported success in exporting to their target market within one year of project completion generating $376 million in exports to new markets since 2016.

  • Canada had an excellent year in 2018, with FDI inflows increasing by close to 60% compared to the previous year. It attracted FDI worth $51B. It is particularly striking when most other developed economies experienced a drop in their FDI inflows in 2018.

Associated links

Contacts

Isabella Brisson-Urdaneta
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Trade Diversification
343-203-7332
Isabella.Brisson-Urdaneta@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaTrade

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