Before Canada signs its next economic agreement with Europe, someone in Ottawa should ask a plain question: Could a 20-person business in Trois-Rivières, Que., or Red Deer, Alta., actually use it?

The question matters more now than it did a year ago.

Prime Minister Mark Carney told the European Parliament on Sept. 17 the goal of a deeper Canada-EU partnership is “collective resilience.” His government is moving quickly with the EU on defence, critical minerals, energy, digital trade and investment.

The direction is correct. Canada depends far too much on one customer, the United States. What worries me is who ends up on the other side of the doors Ottawa is opening with other countries.

Statistics Canada reports that our top 500 exporters – about one per cent of all exporting businesses – generated 77.7 per cent of Canada’s goods exports in 2024. The problem is that any trade diversification strategy depending on a few large exporters can be undone by decisions in a few boardrooms.

On the other hand, trade diversification spread across an increasing number of the more than one million small businesses in Canada, which generate about half of the country’s private sector GDP, is much harder to take away. That is the version of collective resilience worth building.

There are two changes the federal government can make now to achieve that goal:

Ensure every major economic agreement Canada signs with another country comes with a standard implementation package for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Establish a simple annual measure showing how many SMEs actually trade under each such agreement and set targets for it.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which took effect in 2017, expanded trade with the EU substantially. The Library of Parliament reports Canadian merchandise exports to the EU hit $42.8 billion in 2025, a 23.4 per cent........

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