Bryan Nugent is an international trade finance specialist with Export Development Canada (EDC), which helps Canadian exporters with their sales all over the world. He provided an overview of the organization and its benefits at the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s (CFGA) 16th Annual Conference: Greener Horizons: Technological Innovations in Forage and Grassland Management. The conference took place Nov. 18 to 21 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and was organized in partnership with the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NBSCIA).

Producers exporting forage face many challenges and risks when shipping their products to foreign markets whether its across the border into the United States or halfway around the world. These risks include fluctuating exchange rates, supply chain challenges and delayed payments. The EDC helps mitigate these risks by offering credit insurance.

Brian explained that the EDC supports producers by completing due diligence checks such as reviewing credit reports on the receiving company. Insurance payment policies ensure producers are covered up to 90 per cent if the customer defaults.

Aside from risk mitigation, these policies help exporters who are looking for working capital in the form of additional financing through their bank. Banks typically don’t count overseas receivables, but if the EDC provides insurance on the receivables, the bank knows its investment is protected and is more likely to extend the credit.

The EDC also provides account performance security guarantees such as standby letters of credit which can be a valuable tool for exporters.

Other tools include an export guarantee program where the EDC partners with the exporter’s financial institution to share risk when lending up to $25 million USD which could be used for working capital or general capital expenditures.

Whether its innovative financing, insurance or risk mitigation solutions, the EDC is designed to help Canadian companies, such as forage exporters, protect and expand their business internationally.

Additionally, the EDC offers a variety of resources and tools to help Canadian companies exporting around the world in its knowledge centre. Knowledge is power when it comes to exporting and the EDC has the tools and expertise to help producers navigate international trade.

2025 conference recordings  
Would you like to hear all this presentation? Online access to recordings of all the conference sessions is available for purchase. For more information, email [email protected].

2026 CFGA annual conference

Registration for the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s (CFGA) 17th Annual Conference is now open. This year’s conference takes place Nov. 9 to 12, 2026, at the Best Western Calgary Plaza Hotel in partnership with the Agriculture Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA).

With the theme Canadian Forage Systems: Designing for Durability, this year’s event brings together Canada’s forage and grassland community to explore resilience and long‑term system design. Watch the CFGA website, follow the CFGA on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn or subscribe to the CFGA quarterly newsletter to stay up to date.