Export credit plays an important role in a country’s trade performance and profile on the world stage. Periodic strategic reviews of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) help ensure these critical institutions remain relevant and effective in the face of global change.
That’s why Global Affairs Canada turned to Momentus (formerly IFCL) to conduct an independent 10-year review of Canada’s ECA, Export Development Canada (EDC).
We developed a project-specific website and conducted more than 300 interviews to inform and collect input from stakeholders. Our analysis focused on nine main themes:
- EDC’s complementary role with the domestic private sector
- EDC’s place within Government
- Meeting Canadian evolving business needs
- Role of EDC in the changing global context
- EDC’s approach to Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights
- Comparison of the capacity of the Canadian trade financing system to that of other countries
- Review of EDC’s domestic powers, as an ECA
- Governance of Canada Account
- The role of EDC in supporting FinDev
We reviewed EDC comprehensively from the perspective of governance, strategic alignment, operations, level of capitalization relative to risk appetite, risk management, CSR practices, product relevance and efficiency. This meant an assessment of EDC against the legislative, regulatory and policy framework underpinned by the Export Development Act and benchmarking EDC’s risk profiles with that of Canadian commercial banks and other ECAs globally.
The Report was tabled in Parliament by the then Minister of International Trade (and can be accessed here).