Exporting from Canada

Canada Border Services Agency helps ensure that exporters comply with national policies, processes, procedures, regulations and legislation related to exporting commercial goods. Here are some tools CBSA offers to exporters:

Exporting checklist
Exporting requirements, quick reference

When it comes to Exporting 101, the importance of diversification can’t be stressed enough, especially since Canada is a relatively small market. To grow, many Canadian companies diversify their customer base by expanding sales from Canada to the world, with many starting in the U.S. But the financial collapse of 2008 showed Canadian exporters how important it is to expand their buyer base beyond our southern border.

The Global Export Forecast identifies the major forces acting on the world economy and their implications for Canadian exporters. It describes which foreign markets will offer the best opportunities for Canadian exporters for the coming year, and analyzes the sales outlook by sector. It also discusses the major risks faced by exporters.

As Canada’s Consul General in Chicago, Roy Norton represents Canada and promotes Canadian interests – including trade and investment – in three key mid-Western States: Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin. He has also served as Canada’s Consul General to Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, based in Detroit and, from 2006 to 2010, was Minister at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., having previously served in the Embassy’s Economic Section from 1990-1994.

Here are six basic steps from Export Development Canada (EDC) that will help you get started in foreign trade, from identifying your best market prospects to delivering to your customers.

1. Finding Your Target Market

2. Developing Your Export Strategy

3. Finding Customers, Intermediaries and Partners

4. Checking Customers and Managing Risk

5. Negotiating a Contract

6. Coping with logistics and customs​

The Trade Commissioner's Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting is intended to help you learn about the world marketplace and how your company can do business there. It concentrates on the overall principles of exporting and describes the processes that businesses commonly use to develop export strategies tailored to their needs. Among other things, the guide will help you: