Category: Insurance. Country: Canada.
Unique financial and insurance services. EDC is a Crown corporation that provides trade finance and risk management services to Canadian exporters and investors in up to 200 markets worldwide. These developing markets offer a wealth of opportunity for Canadian exporters and investors, but also involve greater risk. We help them assess the long-term potential and manage the increased complexity and risk. Last year, Canadian business concluded $54.9 billion in export and domestic sales and investments in markets using EDC trade financing services, up 6 per cent over the previous year. Without our deal-structuring capabilities, many of these deals would not have been possible. Committed to small business. Nearly 90 per cent of our customers are smaller companies. We’ve developed a number of programs, many in partnership with other financial institutions, to service their particular needs. For example, we joined forces with Montcap Financial and Accord Business Credit Inc., to launch ExportEase. With this service, exporters can concentrate on developing business leads while we provide administration and risk management support such as collections and cash management. Delivering service. Our financial services include credit insurance, bonding and guarantees, political risk insurance, direct loans to buyers and lines of credit in other countries to encourage buyers to ’buy Canadian.’ We also provide limited recourse financing arrangements, and joint ventures for projects involving long-term leasing arrangements and equity participation. Why Trade Is Crucial To Canada: Trade is a crucial factor in Canada’s economic health because exports account for one in three jobs. On the surface it looks as though the continued success of Canadian exporters means they have little trouble accessing adequate trade finance. However, a closer look shows this is not the case, particularly over the longer term. First, Canadian trade is highly concentrated. Five firms account for 20 per cent of exports, and the top 100 exporters account for more than 50 per cent of total exports. As well, 85 per cent of our trade is with the US and our market share is falling in many other countries. Second, foreign-owned companies continue to play a dominant role here and, while it’s important to make Canada a good place to invest, we also need to nurture our own global companies because these are the ones who typically invest in technology and research and development. Yet, Canada is home to less than 2,000 of the roughly 60,000 global companies that now exist. Of these, only three make up the list of the world’s top 100. Canada also lacks the financial strength to mobilize debt and investment financing to the same degree as our more highly capitalized international competitors. As a result, we face real challenges in mobilizing credit to support our exporters’ international efforts.
Address: 151 O’Connor, Ottawa, K1A 1K3, Phone: 613 598 2500 Fax: 613 237 2690
