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Canada Creates Strategic Exports Office to Win Big Foreign Contracts

The office will centralize diplomatic advocacy, government financing and industry deal teams to shield exporters from looming U.S. 50% tariffs.

Although Ottawa already has a number of tools to help companies source foreign deals and to facilitate exports, Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu says the new strategic exports office will allow for better co-ordination and provide a platform for personalized deal-making.

Overview

  • International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu announced the new Strategic Exports Office as a government-level dealmaker that will coordinate advocacy, finance and diplomatic support for Canadian firms.
  • The office will pool staff from Global Affairs, the Trade Commissioner Service and Export Development Canada to form 'deal teams' focused on sectors such as aerospace, defence, nuclear energy and infrastructure.
  • Sidhu said the office will include diplomatic and financial experts and will work with a 14-member advisory council made up of senior industry executives to target high-value contracts.
  • The launch is presented as a near-term response to U.S. measures that impose roughly 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian exports, with Ottawa seeking new markets after worries that current coordination has cost Canadian companies deals.
  • The move builds on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s earlier pledge to double non-U.S. exports and is part of a broader push of financing, trade deals and infrastructure spending intended to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S. market.