Annual Public Meeting 2022/23

Hello, bonjour, and welcome to the Canadian Commercial Corporation’s Annual Public Meeting. Thank you for joining us. 

I’m Douglas Harrison, Chair of CCC’s Board of Directors, and I am pleased to be here today to review the organization’s results for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. 

We are presenting our meeting online so that we can reach the greatest number of Canadians. Should you have any questions pertaining to the information shared in this video, please direct them to [email protected] and it will be our pleasure to provide you with an answer via email. 

I’d like to acknowledge that I am in Toronto today, and that the land on which we are gathered is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, and most recently, the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We pay our respect to the Indigenous Peoples, their ancestors, and their contributions to this great country. 

For more than 75 years, CCC has been supporting the Government of Canada’s international trade and foreign policy agendas while helping Canadian companies sell goods and services to governments around the world. 

CCC’s government-to-government contracting strategy aligns with the Government of Canada’s policies in international trade. It creates opportunities to develop and strengthen bilateral relationships while facilitating export opportunities for Canadian companies that might otherwise be beyond their reach.   

By mitigating the foreign buyer’s risks in this manner, CCC’s G2G contracting approach creates an additional incentive for governments around the world to buy Canadian. 

Despite a challenging economy in 2022–23 that was marked by widespread supply chain disruption and evolving geopolitics, CCC continued to deliver strong results for Canadians and for Canadian exporters.   

CCC delivered a 60% year-over-year increase in contracts signed during the fiscal year and we continue to focus on growing the number of government-to-government exporters in Canada.  

CCC delivers its services through three business lines: 

• The Defense Production Sharing Agreement, which provides access to procurement opportunities with the US Department of Defense;   
• International Prime Contracting, which serves government-to-government opportunities across a range of industries and countries; and 
• A Sourcing and emergency response line, which serves various Government of Canada departments. 

These lines of business will be discussed in greater detail later in the meeting. 

CCC’s strategy to deliver on our mandate and on these three business lines are approached through three pillars: Growth; Operational excellence; and Environmental, Social and Governance practices.   

• The Growth pillar seeks to serve a greater number of Canadian companies and encourage their growth in international markets. 
• The Operational Excellence pillar leverages data, technology and processes to simplify doing business with CCC while managing cost, complexity, execution and risk oversight.   
• The Environmental, Social and Governance pillar ensures a focus on ESG within our business and actions. 

CCC enters commercial contracts with both foreign government buyers and Canadian exporters. This business model mitigates risks for Canadian exporters because CCC leverages its capacity as a Government of Canada organization to monitor progress and resolve issues that may arise in fulfilling contract requirements.  

As Canadian firms seek to increase international sales, CCC’s involvement can reduce payment collection risks and business development costs; support more advantageous contract and payment terms for Canadian exporters; identify new markets and opportunities; and help manage project execution risk while also focusing on environmental, social and governance practices.  

Our ESG strategy sets the foundation for stronger environmental stewardship, it broadens engagement with all sectors of Canadian industry in international trade, and it bolsters influence across the exporter community to conduct international business responsibly and sustainably.   

The Corporation introduced a Code for Exporters in 2022-23. The Code sets clear expectations and performance standards with respect to labour and human rights, health and safety, environmental protection, transparent and responsible supply chains, and compliance with international laws prohibiting bribery and corruption. 

I’m very pleased to report that last year, CCC was cited by the United Nations’ Working Group on Business and Human Rights as an example for employing business practices in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.  

During the 2022–23 fiscal year, CCC also developed a plan to align with the Greening Government Strategy to guide and measure the Corporation’s progress in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.  

As we look to the future, CCC’s corporate strategy remains focused on financially sustainable growth, serving our customers and adding even more value to their businesses, in addition to continuing to strengthen our commitment to positive environmental, social, and governance practices.   

I would like to personally thank Minister Mary Ng for her continued support for the important work of CCC and her trust in our vision. 

I would also like to thank my Board colleagues for their dedication and stewardship, as well as CCC’s management team and all our team members for their contributions throughout this record year. 

We are confident in CCC’s future. The organization remains well-positioned to bring Canadian skills and experience to bear in foreign markets, strengthen bilateral relations with governments around the world, and help execute on the Government of Canada’s trade agenda. 

Now I’d like to introduce Kim Douglas, CCC’s Vice-President of Business Development and Marketing.  

Bonjour à tous, and a warm welcome to everyone watching.  

My name is Kim Douglas, and it is my honour to serve as Vice-President of Business Development and Marketing at the Canadian Commercial Corporation.  

Before I continue, I’d like to acknowledge that Juliet and I are in Ottawa today, where CCC’s office is located. We are on the traditional unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg nation, the original stewards of this beautiful land. Our hope at CCC is that by recognizing the land on which we live, work and play, it is a step to bringing about a meaningful path to reconciliation.  

At CCC, we help Canadian businesses compete in the increasingly complex and competitive government procurement markets, where government contracts are often at the crossroads of international business and foreign policy.  

Our mandate is clear: develop trade between Canada and other nations — and we’ve been delivering on it for more than 75 years.  

CCC delivers on its mandate through three important services: 

• the Defence-Production Sharing Agreement; 
• the International Prime Contractor service; and 
• our Sourcing service.  

As the custodian of the Canada-US Defence Production Sharing Agreement, known as the DPSA, CCC enables Canadian exporters to compete on equal terms for contracts as part of the U.S. Department of Defense domestic supply base.  

Secondly, as the International Prime Contractor, CCC signs government-to-government contracts with foreign government buyers to help Canadians win more international contracting opportunities across various industry sectors.   

And finally, our Sourcing Service. CCC provides procurement support that enables departments and agencies of the Canadian Government to deliver in-kind aid to foreign governments, including for urgent and emergency disaster relief. 

CCC pursues diverse areas of business and addresses priority strategic projects in many sectors, including aerospace, agriculture, defence, infrastructure, and information and communications technology.  

One of CCC’s successes in 2022-23 was helping General Dynamics Mission Systems–Canada win a contract to help the Portuguese Air Force modernize its fleet of P-3C aircraft. General Dynamics will provide equipment and technology to upgrade the communications and mission electronics of the Portuguese fleet, which are used to support maritime patrol and reconnaissance activities. 

Another success for CCC and Canada’s aerospace sector was partnering with the International Test Pilot School for a pilot training contract with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The training will include flight test demonstrations in simulators at facilities in London, Ontario.  

A significant contract from our DPSA line of business in 2022-23 is to supply Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion Kits from Emergent BioSolutions Canada to all branches of the U.S. military. These kits are designed to remove chemical warfare agents from the skin.   

This Canadian company, with manufacturing and research and development operations in Winnipeg, provides many solutions for complex and urgent health threats. 

We are accelerating our growth and operational excellence efforts to help build the CCC of the future – one that is results-driven, customer-centric, and financially sustainable.  

We know CCC will succeed when we help more Canadian companies access and win more contracts around the world. 

Now I’d like to turn things over to Juliet, who will speak to CCC’s 2022-23 results. 

My name is Juliet Woodfield and I’m pleased to serve as CCC’s Vice President of Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer.  

CCC surpassed its corporate financial goals during the 2022-23 fiscal year. This is testament to a clear strategic corporate vision and strong relationships with Canadian exporters.  

Throughout the year, we continued to take decisive steps to fulfill the objectives set out in our long-term Corporate Plan.  

I’m pleased to report that for the year ended March 31, 2023, CCC had a record-breaking value of export contracts.  

The value of new export contracts signed across CCC’s entire business was $2.26 billion in the year ending March 31, 2023 — an increase of over 60 percent compared to 2021-22. 

CCC was active in 50 countries and served 761 Canadian companies, 75% of which were small- and medium-sized entreprises.  

Through CCC, Canadian businesses exported $3.5 billion in goods and services to governments around the world, supporting approximately 13,400 jobs in Canada. 

This includes $885 million through the Canada-U.S. Defence Production Sharing Agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. CCC receives a $13 million annual parliamentary appropriation to administer Canada’s DPSA commitments and support Canadian exporters selling to the US DoD. 

The total value of new export contracts also includes $903.8 million in International Prime Contracts. This represents significant growth for IPC contracts both in the value and number of contracts signed in 2022–23. Our IPC business line supports a broad range of Canadian clients and industries to sell and execute contracts with governments around the world. 

CCC’s Sourcing line provided unwavering support to the Government of Canada’s aid efforts for Ukraine. On behalf of Government of Canada departments, CCC executed contracts and delivered $475.7 million-worth of Canadian equipment.  

In addition to these three business lines, CCC builds awareness of our government-to-government contracting services among Canadian companies of all sizes and with diverse ownership profiles.  

We also provide advisory services and connect companies to export services with other Government of Canada international trade organizations.   

We complemented this growth by delivering value to Canadian exporters through several operational excellence initiatives. These continuous improvement projects focused on adding more value to clients and modernizing our digital operations.  

We also enhanced our HR strategy to ensure that we have the skills to satisfy the evolving needs of Canadian exporters, and with a view to building a results-oriented, diverse and engaged workforce.  

In closing, I’d like to thank the Board of Directors for their continued support and guidance.  

I’m also grateful to my management team colleagues and all our team members for their support of our clients.  

As we look forward, I’m optimistic about CCC’s ability to serve the evolving needs of Canadian companies even more effectively and to support the Government of Canada’s economic recovery efforts and trade priorities.  

We’re here to help Canadian companies win contracts with governments around the world, and by doing so, contributing to creating jobs in Canada and growing our economy.  

Thank you for joining us today.