Business View Magazine | May 2019

163 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 is crucial. Our government has recognized this reality and has, over the past three years, worked to put into place a platform on which Canadian companies can grow and succeed, and the economy and society as a whole can benefit. AN OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITY Just this past year, our government has opened up three new avenues for international trade through trade agreement: the new NAFTA, and our trade agreements with the European Union and with the Asia-Pacific region. With these deals, Canada has become the only G7 country to have free trade agreements with all other G7 countries, giving us access to almost two- thirds of the world’s markets and its 1.5 billion consumers. And our government is keeping up with the momentum: We are setting a target to increase Canada’s overseas exports by 50 percent by 2025. We know more has to be done to help Canadian exporters take advantage of the opportunities created by the trade agreements we have secured, and our ambitious Export Diversification Strategy will do just that. Our proposed measures will invest $1.1 billion over six years to help Canadian businesses access new markets. THE ECONOMIC SCALE The fish and seafood sector is a growing sector in Canada; it employs over 76,000 workers from coast to coast. In 2017, the commercial fishing industry landed almost $3.9 billion worth of fish and seafood, and is now the single largest food commodities exported by Canada, valued at almost $7 billion, annually. This sector is incredibly important to the economic vitality of Canada. THE MINI STRY OF F I SHER I ES , OCEANS , AND THE CANADI AN COAST GUARD