Inverness Chamber of Commerce, Chief Executive Colin Marr reflects on its recent virtual trade mission to Canada that has helped to kick start nine Scottish businesses international journeys.
Is your company considering exporting for the first time or looking to expand its international activity into a new territory?
Trade missions are a great way for businesses to find out about the trading environment in another country and to make links with agencies and businesses on the ground that can help them fully develop their potential to export. Virtual trade missions are particularly good for a company who is at the beginning of its exporting journey, or who want to test the possibility of engaging with a new territory, because representatives can take part from their own desk without the time or financial commitment of travel.
In February 2024 Inverness Chamber of Commerce ran a virtual trade mission to Ontario, Canada. We had nine delegate companies – mainly from the Highlands but ranging from Edinburgh to Orkney and covering many sectors including technology, retail and tourism and hospitality.
There are lots of compelling reasons why Canda is a great market for our businesses. With a large Scottish diaspora there is a natural interest in Scottish products and companies. Canada has a large domestic market of nearly 40 million but with most major Canadian cities being only 90 minutes away from the US, and with free trade with the rest of North America, Canada can potentially open up a market of 500 million people. There’s also a bilateral trade arrangement with the UK, meaning that we get the same deal as Euro zone countries, with 99% of trade being tariff free (but don’t mention cheese!).
On the first day of our mission the delegates heard from Andrew Smith from the High Commission of Canada in London and from Jayesh Menon from the City of Brampton. While on day two, delegates heard from Nadine Oliver from Toronto Global.
These speakers all gave a good overview of the advantage of doing trade with Canada and with their respective cities including their support through incubator and accelerator schemes. Toronto and Brampton are both growing fast and have workforces educated to a high level, but which demand lower salaries than their US counterparts. They also stressed how well connected they are to the rest of the world, and their friendly and open nature – 51% of the Toronto population were born outside Canada.
Day three of our trade mission was all about the tax and legal regimes in Canada and what the delegates should look out for when they start to do business with Canada.
In the morning of day four we heard from Scottish based representatives from Scottish Development International (SDI) and the UK Department of Business and Trade. Both these organisations offer support to companies to achieve their international goals through training courses, web-based resources and research, and through their staff based in Canada they can offer links and contacts.
Later on that day, we had the networking session which was probably the highlight of the week. With support from the British-Canadian Chamber it was attended by 14 Canadian businesses and agencies, including locally based SDI staff, and our delegates got to meet them in three breakout sessions. Some of the links were immediate and apparent. This included some potential retail partners and connection between the technology company delegate and one of Ontario’s medical task forces and one of their discovery districts. Other links might take longer to evolve.
The end of the formal sessions doesn’t mark the end of the work and opportunities – in many ways these are only now starting. All the delegates receive the presentations from throughout the week and they are all put in touch directly with everyone from the networking sessions that had a useful connection – whether that was a direct or indirect connection. Each delegate will also have at least two direct business to business meetings with a company or agency who can help them further their international aims.
It was a great week – and I’m now wondering how I can get a job in Toronto! We will keep working with all our delegates and our new Canadian contacts and I’m sure there will be lots of developments and connections that emerge over the coming months – watch this space.
