TEC member Jill White is President of Waterplay Solutions Corp.
If there’s one criticism about Canadian businesses that crops up time and again, it’s that they aren’t eager enough to pursue opportunities in foreign markets. As a Senate report noted in 2015, “An aversion to risk may…prevent Canadian businesses, particularly SMEs, from pursuing international trade opportunities.” Of course, risk aversion isn’t the whole story. The same report from the Senate standing committee also observed that other factors seem to deter Canadian companies from being more export-oriented. Whether it’s language barriers, a lack of information on specific opportunities abroad or uncertainty about details on tariffs, there are a wide variety of reasons many Canadian businesses remain too close to home…