Operation Prospérité Outaouais is officially launched

Mélissa Gélinas

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Outaouais are currently facing numerous trade tensions, including the imposition of customs tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

To support and sustain all SMEs in the region, Export Outaouais launched Operation Prospérité Outaouais on February 4.

More specifically, this operation will have the primary objective of diversifying export activities to new markets. In this way, SMEs will be able to adapt more easily to global challenges while ensuring the economic prosperity of the Outaouais.

To do this, several tailor-made solutions will be proposed to meet the different needs of exporting SMEs. Indeed, concrete resources will be made available. Among its resources will be:

• personalized tools to explore new international markets,
• strategic support on Canada's free trade agreements,
• an online program to efficiently find all available solutions and resources,
• a special bulletin on market diversification, and
• a package to find the best market for the company, with the help and support of experts.

SMEs cover a variety of sectors, such as service, sales, construction, technology and more. They represent the majority of businesses in Canada and their contribution is essential to the country's economy.

According to information from the Government of Canada, there were 1.22 million SMEs in Canada in 2022. Of this number, 1.19 million were small businesses and 22,700 were medium-sized businesses. Furthermore, more than half of Canadian small businesses with 1 to 99 employees were located in Ontario and Quebec, of which 249,480 were located in Quebec.

On the Outaouais side, the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce (CCG) counted 14,843 SMEs in Outaouais (excluding self-employed workers) in 2019.