For Innovators Only: Canadian Companies’ EU Export Experience

Now that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will be opening doors to the EU market, how can Canadian companies best take advantage? This briefing helps answer this question by examining the experience of Canadian companies in that market.

We analyze how exporting to the EU has affected Canadian company sales and profits and how this compares with the performance of those that have exported elsewhere or not exported at all. We assess the characteristics and strategies that have led to past success and failure. And we consider what these findings mean for taking full advantage of the EU market once CETA is in place.

Rather than examining the experience of a sample of Canadian companies, we analyze the experience of the almost 900,000 Canadian companies established since the mid-1990s and follow them through to 2008. Our analysis draws on Statistics Canada data on both traded products and company balance sheets.