Last month, Minister Ng announced some exciting and very relevant additions to the CanExport program. The CanExport program offers government grants of up to $75,000 to small and mid-sized Canadian companies that take their business into new markets. With COVID-19, entering new jurisdictions has become much less accessible and businesses have had to look at new ways of reaching clients in international markets. The deadline for submitting an application for 2020/2021 funding is December 14, 2020.

Minister Ng shared how the program will assist companies with going global even during the pandemic. With international travel restrictions in place, the CanExport program will now offer partial funding to companies that want to develop and expand their e-commerce presence. This funding will cover the costs of online sales platforms, digital strategy consulting, advertising, and search engine optimization. The program will also offer funding for attending virtual trade shows and other business-to-business events. If your company needs new international market certifications or requirements due to COVID-19 restrictions, the program is offering partial funding to cover those costs.

In addition to all of these grant opportunities, the program is working to implement new ways to provide support to small businesses that are Indigenous and woman-owned and have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. If any of these circumstances match yours, we recommend considering how the program might benefit you.

These new additions to the program create more opportunities for Canadian companies to share their services globally. Without physically leaving Canada, you have the opportunity to share your products and services with new markets. If this is something you are interested in, we would be happy to give you more information and discuss how this can work for your business.