Canada’s effort to sell more goods and services outside the United States is becoming increasingly visible on the ground. Export Development Canada, the federal Crown corporation that provides financing, insurance and market support to Canadian businesses, announced on October 1 that it is expanding its European footprint with new representations in France and Sweden this fall, followed by Poland in 2027.
The timing reflects a broader shift among exporters rather than an abandonment of the American market. The U.S. remains Canada’s dominant commercial partner, but EDC’s latest research found that 72% of exporters intend to enter new markets within two years, while 31% specifically identified Europe. With Canada-EU trade already expanding and exporters confronting a more unpredictable North American environment, Europe is becoming an increasingly important second pillar for Canadian companies looking to spread risk and find new customers.
France Gives Canadian Exporters a Bigger Foothold in One of Europe’s Largest Markets
France is an obvious place for EDC to deepen its physical presence because Canadian companies are already selling billions of dollars there, yet the commercial relationship still has considerable room to expand. EDC plans to open its new French representation this fall, adding another layer of support alongside the Trade Commissioner Service already operating through Canada’s diplomatic network. Canadian merchandise exports to France reached approximately $5 billion in 2025, up 14.1% from $4.4 billion a year earlier, according to Global Affairs Canada data based on Statistics Canada figures. Canadian imports from France were substantially larger at about $10.2 billion, illustrating both the scale of the existing relationship and the opportunity for Canadian firms to close some of that gap. France is especially relevant for companies working in aerospace, agriculture and processed foods, clean technology, information and communications technology, creative industries and life sciences. Those are sectors where Canada already has established expertise and where the Trade Commissioner Service sees active commercial opportunities. Canadian firms also benefit from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union, which has removed or reduced many tariffs and created more predictable rules for companies attempting to enter the EU market. France can therefore serve as more than a single-country opportunity; for some exporters, establishing customers or partners there can become a pathway into a much larger European commercial network.
Having a trade agreement, however, does not automatically mean companies capture all of its advantages. A July 2026 Global Affairs Canada study examining Canada-France trade found that Canadian exporters were not consistently using available CETA tariff preferences. The preference-utilization rate for Canadian exports to France fell to 49.2% in 2024 after reaching 70.5% in 2021, although the study noted that one major petroleum category distorted some of the headline result. Researchers identified rules-of-origin complexity, logistics and coordination across supply chains as barriers that can prevent companies from claiming preferential tariffs even when they technically qualify. That helps explain why EDC sees value in having people physically closer to European buyers, banks and potential partners: financing is only part of the challenge when expanding abroad. Canadian companies also need local knowledge about regulations, procurement practices and distribution networks. Quebec-based renewable-energy company Boralex provides an example of what sustained European expansion can look like. EDC says it has supported the company with working capital and project financing since 2016, while Boralex has grown into France’s largest independent producer of onshore wind power. Canada is also running programs linking Canadian semiconductor and quantum companies with French industrial clients, research organizations and supply chains. The new EDC representation is intended to make that type of market entry easier for more companies, particularly smaller exporters that do not have large international business-development teams of their own.
Sweden Opens a Door to Clean Technology, Batteries and the Nordic Innovation Economy
Sweden is a smaller economy than France, but its role in clean technology, industrial innovation, telecommunications and advanced manufacturing makes Stockholm a strategically different kind of foothold. EDC’s new Swedish representation is also scheduled to open this fall and will complement the commercial services already provided through the Canadian embassy. The Trade Commissioner Service identifies clean technology, forestry and wood products, information and communications technologies and life sciences as particularly promising sectors. Trade connections are already substantial. Canadian imports from Sweden reached roughly $5.2 billion in 2025, an increase of 27.7% from the previous year, with copper and vehicles contributing significantly to that growth. The expanding relationship is supported by a Canada-Sweden strategic partnership concluded in 2025 that includes cooperation in areas such as critical minerals, clean technologies, industrial development and innovation. Those themes overlap closely with industries in which Canadian firms are seeking international customers. Sweden also offers access to the wider Nordic economy, while participation in CETA gives qualifying Canadian products preferential access under the same Canada-EU framework available in France and Poland. For a Canadian technology or industrial company, that combination of sophisticated customers, European market access and strong research networks can make Sweden disproportionately important relative to its population.
The numbers behind Sweden’s technology economy help explain EDC’s choice. Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service estimates Sweden’s information and communications technology market was worth approximately C$39.3 billion in 2024 and accounted for about 4.7% of Swedish GDP. It projects an 8.8% compound annual growth rate for the market through 2032 and estimates Sweden represents more than 40% of the Nordic ICT market. Mining and critical minerals provide another area of overlap. Sweden accounts for roughly 20% of the value of EU mine production excluding coal, while its bedrock contains 26 of the 30 materials identified on the European Union’s critical raw materials list. Canadian expertise in mining automation, electrified equipment, resource development and environmental technology therefore has potential applications in a market facing many of the same technical challenges as Canada. The commercial machinery is already being put in place. A special Canadian Technology Accelerator focused on Sweden’s battery value chain is running from September through November 2026, while another program targeting autonomous and dual-use technologies in Germany and Sweden is scheduled to run into 2027. These initiatives give Canadian companies introductions and market intelligence, but an EDC team on the ground can add financing, risk management and longer-term relationships with Swedish companies and financial institutions. That is particularly valuable in industries where a sale may depend less on finding a consumer and more on becoming part of a multinational company’s supply chain.
Poland Could Become the Expansion’s Most Important Long-Term Growth Market
Poland is the third piece of EDC’s European expansion, although its timing is slightly different. The Crown corporation’s latest October 1 announcement says the Polish representation is planned for 2027, while earlier EDC planning documents had listed France, Poland and Sweden among representations expected as part of the 2026 expansion. The updated timetable does not diminish Poland’s importance. Canadian merchandise exports to the country climbed from about $1.1 billion in 2024 to $1.5 billion in 2025, an increase of 36.1%. The Trade Commissioner Service identifies opportunities in aerospace, agriculture and processed foods, clean technology, defence and security, seafood and information and communications technology. Poland also offers something different from the mature Western European economies: it provides Canadian companies with an increasingly significant base in Central and Eastern Europe. Its infrastructure development, energy transition and security requirements are creating large procurement opportunities, while CETA gives Canadian firms preferential trade access. Defence is an especially fast-growing component of the bilateral relationship. Global Affairs Canada reported approximately $216.8 million in Canadian military goods and technology exports to Poland in 2025, making Poland one of Canada’s largest non-U.S. destinations for those exports. The opportunity is substantial, although Canadian government market guidance also warns that companies entering Polish defence procurement often need local partnerships, sustained in-country engagement and the ability to satisfy requirements designed to build domestic Polish industrial capacity.
One Canadian investment already demonstrates why EDC wants deeper local relationships in Poland. Toronto-based Northland Power owns 49% of Baltic Power, a 1.1-gigawatt offshore wind project developed with Polish energy group ORLEN. In July 2026, the project achieved first power and delivered what the company described as Poland’s first electricity generated by offshore wind to the national grid. Once fully operational, Baltic Power is expected to produce approximately four terawatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to supply more than 1.5 million Polish households. EDC has provided financing support for the project, making it a useful example of how an export-development agency can help a Canadian company move beyond simply shipping products abroad and become involved in major overseas infrastructure. EDC’s broader European expansion is designed around that model. The agency says it facilitated approximately $16.2 billion in Canadian business in Europe in 2025 and supported more than 1,700 companies in the region. Its latest Trade Confidence Index found 31% of Canadian exporters are considering Europe over the next two years, while EDC Economics estimates Canada could have more than US$104 billion in additional goods-export potential and US$41 billion in services-export potential in the region by 2035. The U.S. will remain enormously important—81% of exporters surveyed by EDC were still active there—but France, Sweden and Poland show what diversification increasingly means in practice: not replacing the American market, but building enough substantial alternatives that Canadian businesses are less dependent on a single customer base when trade conditions change.
