Minister Ng announces investment to create export and scale-up opportunities for businesses across Saskatchewan

Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade outlined how the federal government is helping Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs expand into the global marketplace

December 18, 2019 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

When Canadian businesses export, they become more productive, create more jobs, grow faster, and invest more in research and development.

This week, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, was in Saskatoon to meet with entrepreneurs and business owners to talk about the ways the Government of Canada is supporting their success.

On December 17, Minister Ng announced a $240,000 investment to launch the Trade Accelerator Program in partnership with the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership. This investment will help dozens of businesses in Saskatchewan overcome barriers to exporting and prepare for long-term success in new markets.

Minister Ng then met with industry leaders to discuss the CAN Health Network. In July 2019, Minister Ng announced the Government of Canada’s support for a $20 million project to scale up companies in health and biosciences. An initial $7 million investment is supporting the development of the CAN Health Network with its first network partners.

With $3.5 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada, the Saskatchewan Health Authority is leading the creation of the CAN Health Network in western Canada, working with:

• Vancouver Coastal Health
• Alberta Health Services
• Northern Medical Services
• Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba

With $3.5 million from FedDev Ontario, Trillium Health Partners is leading the creation of the CAN Health Network in southern Ontario, working with:

• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• University Health Network
• Grand River Hospital
• Bruyère
• Prism Eye Institute
• SE Health

These investments went toward building the first points of the national network in western Canada and Ontario, with further expansion planned for Quebec, Atlantic Canada and northern Canada.

Throughout her tour, Minister Ng met with local business owners, including women entrepreneurs. She spoke about Saskatchewan’s trade history and outlined how the government is committed to the success of the province’s traditional exporters, including the region’s canola farmers.

Minister Ng also highlighted the government’s many initiatives that are making it easier for Canadian business owners to do business, such as:

• lowering the small business tax rate to 9%, one of the lowest rates in the world;
• getting credit card companies to lower the fees they charge businesses when their customers use credit cards;
• launching the Canada Business app, which brings the world of government programs and services to your fingertips and provides helpful notifications;
• providing access to over a billion and a half new customers through trade deals like the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, commonly called the new NAFTA;
• introducing the Accelerated Investment Incentive that will allow businesses of all sizes in all sectors of the economy to write off a larger share of the cost of newly acquired assets in the year the investment is made;
• committing to universal high-speed Internet across Canada;
• investing $2 billion to help double the number of women-owned businesses by 2025; and
• reducing over 450 federal rules that impose an administrative burden on business.