OTTAWA — Export Development Canada has launched a $5-billion program to help Canadian businesses diversify their trade in overseas markets and manage risks that could come from U.S. tariffs.

“I think Canadian businesses today are really looking at trade diversification in a way that they have not looked at before,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said Friday in Ottawa.

It was one of several moves the federal government announced Friday to help Canadian workers and businesses get through the looming trade war with the U.S. They include an expansion of the work-sharing program available through the Employment Insurance regime; $500 million in new financing tools and advice for small and medium-sized businesses from the Business Development Bank of Canada; and $1 billion in new financing available from Farm Credit Canada to help producers facing cash crunches.

“Canadians can rest assured that we will match every move, check every change, attack every allegation and react vigorously to any and all encroachments on Canada and our business community and our jobs,” said Employment Minister Steven MacKinnon.

The support came the day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would lift the 25 per cent tariffs for goods that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and lower the tariff on potash to 10 per cent, in line with the level of tariff levies on Canadian energy products. The reprieve expires on April 2, though, when Trump has said he will bring in unspecified levels of reciprocal tariffs on many countries around the world.

The new program from Export Development Canada (EDC), backed by existing funding to be rolled out over the next two years, packages together and expands the capacity of a number of products from the Crown corporation, which provides Canadian exporters with support and expertise in trade, including capital and risk management.

That includes taking on some of the risk borne by a financial institution lending money to a Canadian exporter, which Ng said can help businesses manage current contracts and get ready for a potential loss of U.S. sales. EDC’s credit insurance can help protect Canadian companies from losses if a foreign buyer does not pay. “This will help our businesses to continue to have the confidence to continue to export during these uncertain times,” Ng said. 

Other supports EDC plans to provide include a foreign exchange facility guarantee to help Canadian companies cope with currency fluctuations, and financing options and logistical support to help Canadian exporters and investors expand in international markets—or acquire foreign companies.

Todd Winterhalt, senior vice-president of international markets at EDC, said in a recent interview with The Logic that Canadian exporters to the U.S. should be taking a close look at their supply chains and looking for alternatives—both within Canada and overseas. They should also be looking for help managing customs uncertainty and changes to shipping logistics.

The EDC has been encouraging companies for decades to diversify exports and is still doing so now, but Winterhalt acknowledged that is a medium-term solution. Those looking further afield, such as to Europe or the Indo-Pacific, should be doing due diligence on buyers, regulations and taxation before jumping in, he said. “It’s not something you just flip a light switch on,” he added. “It takes some thought and some time.”