Export Grants: Complete Guide to CanExport SMEs & Provincial Export Programs

The Canadian funding landscape for export and commercialization is more active right now than it has been in years. Between the federal CanExport SMEs program, the Agri-Marketing fund, and a patchwork of provincial programs stretching from Quebec to British Columbia, a well-structured company can realistically stack $50,000 in federal funding on top of another $40,000 to $60,000 from a provincial equivalent — all for the same category of export activities. But the programs have tight rules, specific deadlines, and common rejection patterns that trip up unprepared applicants every year. Here is what you need to know to get it right in 2026.

The Economic and Political Context Driving These Programs

The uncertainty created by U.S. trade policy — tariffs moving up and down with almost no warning — has pushed the Canadian government into a visible posture of market diversification support. Canada already has 15 free trade agreements covering roughly 51 nations, and new trade partnerships are actively being negotiated that would add access to markets totaling 1.5 billion people. The government is signaling very clearly which direction it wants Canadian exporters to go: away from exclusive dependence on the U.S. and toward building stable, diversified global customer bases.

This is not just policy language — it has direct implications for grant prioritization. If you are selecting target markets for a CanExport application and you choose a country with which Canada has an existing trade agreement, that strengthens your application. The government evaluates submissions partly on alignment with its own trade development objectives. Knowing that, and structuring your market selection accordingly, is one of the easiest ways to give yourself a competitive edge before you write a single word of your application.

Diversification also does not have to mean purely geographic expansion. It can mean entering new customer segments, testing alternative business models, or repositioning your offer for a market that is structurally different from the one you have been serving. CanExport funding is designed to help you do exactly that — assess margin impact from tariffs, develop new partnerships, enter untested territories — without bearing 100% of the cost.

CanExport SMEs 2026: What's Changed and What You Need to Qualify

CanExport SMEs is the flagship federal export grant and it is the one that touches the widest range of Canadian businesses. For 2026, the maximum grant is $50,000, covering up to 50% of eligible project costs. The federal budget announced a $68.5 million increase over four years to the program, so the envelope is larger — but so is demand.

The key eligibility changes this year are worth paying close attention to. The revenue threshold is now a minimum of $300,000 and a maximum of $100 million in annual revenue. The employee minimum has moved from one full-time employee to three full-time employees. Importantly, part-time employees can be counted toward that threshold — two part-time employees can be combined to count as one full-time equivalent, so six part-time employees satisfy the three full-time requirement. All employees must be based in Canada.

The program is also operating differently in terms of timing this year. Rather than holding a fixed window open for the entire intake period, CanExport 2026 will close as soon as available funds are exhausted. The current open window runs until May 29, 2026. Projects must start after April 1, 2026 and end before March 31, 2027. This first-come, first-served dynamic means that submitting early is not just tactically smart — it is increasingly the difference between getting funded and missing the cycle entirely.

The U.S. market remains eligible in theory, but only 10% of the total CanExport envelope will be allocated to U.S.-focused projects this cycle. That 90/10 split in favor of the rest of the world reflects the government's explicit decision to deprioritize U.S. market development. Companies can still apply with the U.S. as their target market, but they will be competing for a much smaller slice against strong demand. There is an important structural rule here as well: if you include the U.S. as a target market, you cannot include any other country in the same application. For non-U.S. markets, you can include up to five target markets in a single application, with each country counting as one market. This is a significant strategic variable. Going outside the U.S. with five markets in a single application gives you far more flexibility and a much better chance of approval given current funding priorities.

The 10% revenue rule also applies to whether a market is eligible at all. If your current sales in a given target market already exceed 10% of your total company revenue, that market is ineligible — CanExport is explicitly designed to help you enter markets where you have minimal or no commercial footprint, not to subsidize markets where you are already established. If a returning applicant's previous CanExport-funded market has since grown beyond that 10% threshold, it will no longer qualify as a target. Companies can reapply in subsequent years for an existing market, but only if they continue to fall within the eligibility threshold and can demonstrate continued progression.

There is a minimum project size of $20,000 in total eligible expenses. You do not need to have a trade show booth to qualify — a participation fee as a visitor is sufficient — but your total budget cannot go below that floor.

Agri-food companies should note that CanExport SMEs does not accept applications from this sector in 2026. The relevant federal program for agriculture and food is Agri-Marketing, which is covered below.

What CanExport Will and Won't Fund

The list of eligible expenses is broader than most applicants assume, but there are meaningful limits. Covered expenses include prospecting travel, participation in international trade shows and conferences, booth costs and registration fees, translation of your website for target markets, adaptation and translation of marketing materials, interpretation services, market research, B2B prospecting, commercial and legal consulting fees related to overseas partnerships, and intellectual property costs.

A few nuances matter here. Shipping product samples to a trade show is eligible as long as the samples are not sold at the event. Pre-sale technical training conducted at a prospect's facility has become more eligible this year than in past cycles, though the exact boundaries of that expansion are not fully codified yet. Consulting fees for regulatory, trade compliance, and legal support related to market entry are eligible — the test is whether the consulting is directly connected to accessing the new market. Import-related consulting does not qualify. Certification costs are now largely excluded, with narrow exceptions.

You do not need to submit invoices or formal quotes at the time of application. Written estimates are acceptable. That said, having actual quotes from suppliers — an agency, a legal firm, an event organizer — strengthens the application because it demonstrates that you have done real planning and can name specific vendors and scope. The grant reimburses after the fact, and the reimbursement timeline can be six months or more after you incur the expense. That cash flow reality is something the program considers when evaluating applications. Companies with solid financial resources to front those costs are viewed as better candidates. Do not interpret the grant as a cash advance — it is a retroactive reimbursement, and you need the liquidity to bridge the gap.

Grants are also taxable income. That is an important planning consideration when projecting net benefit.

Why Applications Get Rejected — and How to Avoid It

The acceptance rate for well-prepared applications is roughly 70 to 75%, but rejection happens, and it follows identifiable patterns. The most common reason an application fails is lack of specificity. Reviewers want to understand exactly which companies or contacts you plan to meet at a trade show, what your realistic commercial objective is for the market over the next 12 months, and why you chose this particular market at this time. Citing a market study, referencing specific industry data, or demonstrating prior exploratory work all strengthen the market rationale section considerably.

The second most common rejection driver is the presence of a related company — a subsidiary, sister company, or associated entity — in the target market. Even when that related company technically operates in a different sector, the doubt it creates is often enough for reviewers to decline the application. If you have any corporate connections in a market you are considering, approach that target with caution or avoid it altogether.

Financial readiness matters. The government wants to fund companies that are genuinely positioned to execute the project and front the costs, because underfunded projects often go unspent — which defeats the program's purpose entirely. Applications from businesses in financial distress, or that appear to lack the cash flow to front expenses, are at higher risk of rejection. This is a program for companies that have the means to act but want to reduce the cost of doing so.

Finally, the eligibility criteria themselves are exact. A company sitting at 11% revenue in a target market — just barely over the 10% threshold — will be rejected even if every other aspect of the application is strong. These thresholds are not approximate.

The Quebec PSCE and How to Stack It with CanExport

For businesses with operations in Quebec, the PSCE Component 2 program is among the most valuable provincial export grants available. It offers up to $60,000 per project and covers 50% of eligible costs for a first project, 40% for a second, and 25% for a third. One of the defining features is that the program tends to award applicants the maximum amount they apply for — which makes it a particularly generous tool compared to programs that negotiate the grant amount down.

Unlike CanExport, PSCE does not require business headquarters in Quebec — having a Quebec business number and an operational presence in the province is sufficient. Also unlike CanExport, PSCE explicitly accepts interprovincial trade activities: developing markets within Canada outside of Quebec qualifies. The U.S. market, however, is entirely excluded — not deprioritized but removed as an eligible target territory.

PSCE opens by cohort according to the target geography. The Winter 2026 intake for Canada-targeted projects ran from January 15 to January 29. The Spring 2026 cohort, focused on Europe, is still to be confirmed. Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Oceania will open in Fall 2026. Planning your project against this calendar is essential — you cannot apply outside the relevant cohort window for your target geography.

PSCE's eligible expenses differ from CanExport in one important way: business travel is not accepted. But the program does fund hiring a sales representative outside Quebec, with the salary being an eligible expense. It also covers booth and exhibition costs, online advertising and paid social media, sponsored newsletters, search engine marketing like Google Ads, and consulting fees for marketing or export strategy. The overlap with CanExport on expenses like trade show booths and marketing materials is exactly what creates the stacking opportunity — you can apply the same activities to both programs without double-counting, as long as the specific expense dollars are not claimed twice. Together, a Quebec company maximizing both programs could receive $110,000 in combined funding for the same export development cycle.

Provincial Programs Across the Rest of Canada

Every province except Ontario, P.E.I., and Newfoundland has its own export support program that can be stacked with CanExport. The principle is consistent across all of them: eligible expenses closely mirror CanExport's, businesses only need to be registered in the province rather than headquartered there, and applying for both the federal and provincial program simultaneously is the standard approach for maximizing return.

Manitoba's Export Support Program goes up to $50,000 and covers between 50 and 75% of costs — the highest cost-share ratio of any program in this landscape. At 75%, the co-investment required from the business is significantly lower than the federal baseline. Stacking CanExport's $50,000 with Manitoba's $50,000 creates a potential $100,000 in support for a single export initiative. The program includes trade preparedness training as an eligible expense, which is broader than some federal-level definitions of what qualifies.

Saskatchewan's Market Diversification Program covers up to $40,000 at 50% cost-share and is administered by the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership. One structural feature unique to this program: it can fund companies returning to a market within 24 months of an initial visit where minimal or no sales were achieved — meaning exploratory missions that did not immediately generate revenue can still form the basis of an eligible follow-up application.

Alberta's Export Expansion Program is structured differently from the others in that it reimburses based on per diems and event registration rather than a project budget. The per diem is $400 per day for the first traveler and $200 per day for the second. Event registration is reimbursed at $1,000 per event. All expenses must be incurred first and reported after the fact, making the cash flow management more demanding than with other programs.

The BC Agriculture and Food Export Program is sector-specific, requiring an applicable NAICS code in agriculture, food, or beverage. Up to $50,000 at 50% cost-share, it covers most of the standard eligible activities and adds one distinctive category: product packaging modifications developed specifically for a target export market.

Nova Scotia's Export Development Program offers up to $15,000 across two streams — one for travel, trade shows, and conferences; the other for hiring a consultant or service provider. It opens March 5, 2026. New Brunswick's Export Funding NB also tops out at $15,000 but covers up to 65% of costs, which is among the highest ratios available in the Atlantic provinces. The New Brunswick program is notable for including a range of digital marketing activities: SEO, paid online advertising, social media strategy, video production, e-commerce functionality, and AI tool integration.

For agriculture-focused businesses across the country, the federal Agri-Marketing program provides up to $2 million per year at 50% cost-share and covers in-store promotions, product demonstrations, trade missions, market research, technical training for buyers, trade seminars, and trade show participation. This is the program that picks up where CanExport SMEs leaves off for the agri-food sector, and it is operationally suited for industry associations conducting large-scale market development campaigns.

A Real-World Case Study: How One Quebec Manufacturer Structured $188,000 in Export Costs

A Quebec-based manufacturer of electric vehicle battery components with $22 million in revenue and 90 employees set out to break into the German and Dutch markets for EV components. Their total project budget was $188,000, allocated across a specific mix of activities: $90,000 to hire a dedicated sales representative, $12,000 to exhibit at The Battery Show Europe in Stuttgart in June 2026, $8,000 for travel and accommodation for two people, $15,000 for a B2B matchmaking platform subscription, $15,000 for a market study focused on Germany, $10,000 for translation and adaptation of marketing materials, $25,000 for European certifications, $8,000 for legal fees to adapt commercial agreements, and $5,000 for advertising.

This project is well structured for two reasons. First, the mix of activities precisely maps to what CanExport and PSCE accept as eligible expenses. The sales representative salary and the marketing strategy costs fall squarely within PSCE Component 2's eligible expense list. The travel, market study, trade show participation, B2B matchmaking, translation, and legal advisory work are all eligible under CanExport. By separating the activities by program, the company can draw the maximum from both without double-counting a single invoice.

Second, the scale and specificity of the project signal real readiness. A $188,000 project with named events, defined geographies, specific vendors and services, and a logical sequencing of prospecting-then-sales-rep activities is exactly what reviewers at both the federal and provincial level want to see. The government is looking for evidence that the money will actually be deployed and that the company has the resources to front it. A manufacturer with $22 million in revenue submitting a $188,000 project passes that bar clearly.

The result is a project co-funded by CanExport on travel, trade show, market study, matchmaking, translation, and legal fees — and by PSCE Component 2 on the sales rep salary, marketing strategy, certifications, exhibition space, and advertising. Two programs, layered over the same initiative, with separate budget lines for each.

What to Do Next

Start by establishing your eligibility. Confirm that your revenue falls between $300,000 and $100 million, that you have at least three full-time equivalent employees based in Canada, and that your target markets represent less than 10% of your current revenue each. If you are in agri-food, pivot your focus to Agri-Marketing rather than CanExport SMEs. If you have a related company in any of your intended target markets, remove that market from your plan before you go further.

Next, define your target markets deliberately. If you are going non-U.S., you can name up to five countries in one application. Choose countries with Canadian free trade agreements where possible — this aligns with the government's stated priorities and strengthens your market rationale. Avoid the U.S. as a primary target this cycle unless you have a compelling strategic reason and can tolerate the lower probability of selection given the 10% funding allocation.

Then build your expense budget concretely. Name the trade shows, get real quotes from consultants, identify the events and registration costs, and specify what your marketing materials need to be adapted for each market. The more specific and sourced your budget, the stronger the application. If you can attach actual supplier quotes, include them — they are not required, but they lift the quality of the submission. Keep your total eligible expenses at or above $20,000.

If you are in Quebec, build PSCE into your plan from the start and design the expense allocation so that the sales rep and marketing costs are claimed under PSCE and the travel, market study, trade show, and legal costs are claimed under CanExport. In Manitoba or another province with a matching program, do the same analysis — identify which expense categories the provincial program accepts and assign them accordingly, then claim the rest under CanExport.

Prepare your narrative around three things: the value your business creates for the Canadian economy (Canadian employees, Canadian suppliers, Canadian R&D), the specific commercial objective you are pursuing in each target market, and the realistic plan for what happens with additional revenue if the project succeeds. Reviewers are evaluating both your readiness and the impact of the funding on Canada — answer both questions explicitly.

Finally, move quickly. CanExport SMEs closes at May 29, 2026 at the latest — and possibly earlier if funds run out. Provincial programs have their own windows that may close sooner. Applications submitted early tend to face less competitive pressure and more available funding. The businesses that move in the first weeks of an open intake cycle consistently outperform those that start preparing in the final month.