France

Fact Sheet

France – Fact Sheet

Contacts and Organizations

Consulate Office of France in Vancouver

Nicolas Baudouin Consul General
1130 West Pender street – suite 1100
Vancouver, BC V6E 4A4
604-637-5284
nicolas.baudouin@diplomatie.gouv.fr

European Union Chamber of Commerce in Canada

Website: http://eu-canada.com/

La Chambre de Commerce Francophone de Vancouver

Tel: (604) 601-2124
Email: Info@Ccfvancouver.com

Trade Commissioner Service France

Tel: +33(0)144432900
Email: france-td@international.gc.ca

Export Development Canada

Market Entry Advisors

Webinars

CETA: Unlocking the Potential

CETA: Your introduction to 500 million EU consumers

Market Environment

France is a wealthy OECD country with a strong commercial relationship with Canada. The country is one of Canada’s top trading partners and enjoys a stable, healthy and modern economy with a strong political system. EDC sees excellent business and investment potential across a wide range of sectors in the market. Priority sectors include clean-tech, renewable energy, utilities, aerospace and defense, ICT, oil and gas, and automotive. France has many world-class companies and a sound banking sector. The slow pace of business investment, which has hampered economic competitiveness, is expected to strengthen going forward. France will continue facing challenging public debt dynamics, with its high public debt expected to decline gradually from an estimated 96 per cent of GDP in 2018. Canadian exports to France will continue to get a boost after the the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) comes into effect. France ranks 22nd out of 137 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, making it an attractive location for investment.

Key Sectors

Aerospace
Mining & Metals
Oil and Gas
Power
Renewable Energies
Telecom
Transportation Services

Trade Agreements

Trade Shows

Trade Shows in France

Tourism

Visit France

Canada and France Relations

Canada and France maintain strong and mutually beneficial economics relations. Trade in high value-added products and services continues to be strong. The two countries are expanding their partnership in the form of direct investments, strategic alliances, and scientific, technology and innovation collaborations.

Trade and Investment

Economic relations between Canada and France offer significant growth potential. The two countries are part of the Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement and the European Union, respectively, and are gateways to these two major regional mar- kets. Canada and the European Union signed a historic economic agreement, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), provisionally applied since September 2017. The main purpose of CETA is to reduce the costs of goods by eliminating tariffs, to increase mobility of people and to intensify trade in goods and services. In 2018, compared to prior-CETA 2017, bilateral trade between Canada and France increased by 11% for goods, trade in services stabilized and bilateral direct investment stock grew by 14%.

In 2018, France was Canada’s tenth largest partner in the world and the third largest in Europe in terms of overall trade of goods and services.

In trade of goods, France was Canada’s ninth global partner and the fourth largest in Europe in 2018, with bilateral trade of 10.6 billion Canadian dollars ($). Canadian exports to France amounted to $3.4 billion, while French exports to Canada were $7.2 billion. Half of all Canadian exports to France are from hi-tech sectors (aeronautics, electrical/electronic/mechanical equipment, medical and measurement instruments) in addition to diversified products (minerals and metals, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, forestry and agri-food products). France exports to Can- ada capital goods (aeronautics, electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, medical instruments) and consumer goods (wines and spirits, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, books and newspapers, various agri-food products).

In trade of services, France was Canada’s fourth largest global partner and the second largest in Europe in 2018. Bilateral trade in services stabilized at $6.7 billion. Canada is a net importer of French services ($46 million). Regarding tourism, the record of 604.200 French tourists in Canada was reached while 1.2 million Canadian tourists visited France. France is the fourth source country for international visitors to Canada, the fourth most popular country in the world for Canadians, and the second European country in both directions.

Cross investments are also important and diversified. The attractiveness of France for Canadian investors is confirmed. Nearly 250 French subsidiaries of Canadian companies, employing ap- proximately 25,000 people2, are spread across the French territory. Major companies are present, such as Bombardier, Boralex, CGI, Innergex, Magna, McCain, Mitel-Aastra, OpenText, Vermilion. Many are among the leaders in their sector. France, as a country of immediate destination3 for Canadian direct investment abroad, is the sixth European destination and the twentieth world- wide, with a stock of $7.4 billion at the end of 2018, up 9.5% on 2017.

France is an increasing source of investment for Canada. Approximately 1,130 Canadians subsid- iaries of French companies are established in Canada and employ nearly 105,500 people4. In 2016, French companies held $77 billion worth of assets in Canada. They are mainly located in Quebec and Ontario, and are growing across Canada. Almost all French multinational groups, big names in industry and services and more and more SMEs are present. France, as an immediate5 foreign investing country in Canada, is the sixth largest investor from Europe and the twelfth worldwide, with a stock of $ 13.5 billion at the end of 2018, up 17% on 2017. As an ultimate6 foreign investing country, France held direct investment stock worth $ 17.8 billion at the end of 2017 and was one of the top 10 investing countries in Canada.

Science, Technology, and Innovation

France is one of Canada’s priority countries for scientific cooperation and technology partnerships. Canada and France pledged to strengthen their cooperation in science, technology and innovation. High value-added partnerships with a focus on innovation are being developed in strategic sectors: aerospace; medical technologies; biotechnology as applied to medicine and agro-industry; technologies for precision agriculture; green technologies; renewable energy; advanced materials; nanotechnologies; and information and communication technology.