International Trade committee  The program helps businesses in a number of ways. First, it helps them boost their productivity and compete with international companies in their sector. That makes them visible to major contractors. They can benefit from measures taken by major contractors, but they have to comply with the standards and meet their requirements.

International Trade committee  Yes. Those programs are ongoing. They don't just end. There's no end date. People come back with new projects and we work with them to move their projects forward.

International Trade committee  I would say that the story we have is much more related to the pandemic and the end of the pandemic. We are getting back to normal. What I was trying to say earlier is about automation and the right systems in the company. Small and medium-sized businesses sometimes do not have the capacity to build a resource management system.

International Trade committee  Maybe I can provide a brief answer to this important question. The way the regional development agency works is mostly to support small and medium-sized businesses, so we do not necessarily touch a full sector. We work business by business in various sectors to try to improve their capacity to supply and participate.

International Trade committee  Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify about the work done by Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, or CED, to help Quebec businesses break into global markets. With me today is Marie‑Claude Petit, who is vice‑president of operations.

Official Languages committee  No. These are long-term agreements so the organizations can stabilize their workforces and do work on the ground. They are multi-year agreements.

Official Languages committee  That is probably something we will have to check. If you want an overview of investments in terms of diversity, I think we can do that work and provide you with that information in the next few weeks.

Official Languages committee  For CEDEC, it is $1.17 million in funding over four years. It is not $1.6 million per year.

Official Languages committee  It is YES. I should point out that both organizations have mandates that involve multiple regions.

Official Languages committee  They did not necessarily go through those organizations. A lot of businesses come directly to Economic Development Canada to apply for funding.

Official Languages committee  That's right. No door is closed.

Official Languages committee  In fact, the mandates are very different. The work done by YES and CEDEC is much more focused on coaching, not on funding.

Official Languages committee  Allow me to make a clarification. For example, the businesses that are served by CEDEC—

Official Languages committee  The two main organizations are CEDEC and YES, for serving the official language minority communities in Quebec. However, all of the organizations we fund, in most cases, are required to offer services in both official languages. It is not one or the other; it is often one and the other.

Official Languages committee  People ordinarily self-identify when they request our services. Given that they have access to our regular programs in any event, it does not really matter whether they are anglophone or francophone entrepreneurs. However, the data enable us to see whether both communities are using our programs.