What do we do?

We provide insurance and financial services, bonding products and small business solutions to Canadian exporters and investors and their international buyers. We also support Canadian direct investment abroad and investment into Canada. Much of our business is done in partnership with other financial institutions and through collaboration with the Government of Canada.

In 2017, EDC was entrusted by the Government of Canada to create a Canadian development finance institution (DFI). Created as a subsidiary of EDC, the DFI’s core mandate will be to support sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries by providing financial services in support of private sector initiatives.

How we operate

Unlike most export credit agencies that rely on governmental annual appropriations, we are financially self-sufficient and operate much like a commercial institution. We collect interest on our loans and premiums on our insurance products. We also have a treasury department that sells bonds and raises money in global capital markets.

We are committed to the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Our rigorous due diligence requirements ensure that all projects and transactions we support are financially, environmentally and socially responsible. We believe that good business—adopting and embracing these principles while we facilitate trade for Canadian investors and exporters—is good for business. 

Benefits to Canada

Since we were founded in 1944, we have facilitated more than $1.5 trillion in exports and foreign investment by Canadian companies. This is important because Canada’s economy relies on trade. Given our small domestic market, Canadian businesses have to think globally to compete and grow.

In 2018 we helped more than 13,100 Canadian companies do business in most markets around the world. The majority of companies were small businesses, and 25% of this business was conducted in fast-growing emerging markets. Using our financial products and services, our customers’ export sales and investments approximated $105 billion. We estimate that this helped generate $67 billion of Canada’s GDP, nearly four cents for every dollar earned, and helped sustain 488,637 jobs.

Making the connections to create trade

Critical to Canada’s trade success is the ability for Canadian companies, particularly small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to make a connection with international buyers. But many of these companies do not have the size or visibility to make that happen, particularly in emerging markets. One of EDC’s strategies is to help make these connections through match-making sessions with the Canadian Trade Commissioners’ Service, through our equity investments and by leveraging our financial relationships with foreign buyers to encourage them to procure from Canadian suppliers. This strategy is particularly geared toward helping Canadian small- and medium-sized business grow internationally.

Partnership preferred philosophy

We collaborate with the industry’s most trusted organizations to provide Canadian companies with access to the latest trade knowledge and solutions that are complementary to EDC’s offerings, helping companies go, grow and succeed internationally

See who we work with