Export Development Canada (EDC) has launched a trial program through which it will match investment dollars for small- and mid-sized companies (SMEs) that export their products from Canada, the latest in a suite of government-backed fiscal programs to help businesses grapple with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The credit agency, a Crown corporation that operates at arm’s length from the federal government, will match investments of up to $5 million in financing from venture capital and private equity investors as well as corporate partners, according to an undated internal memo obtained by The Logic. The program is meant “to enable the rapid deployment of liquidity” in response to COVID-19, the memo says.