Montreal-based Cirque Eloize is flying high with the help of pre-shipment financing, a financing product offered by Export Development Canada (EDC). The 10-year-old touring circus was the first cultural organisation in Canada to take advantage of the Crown corporation's Pre-Shipment Financing for Exporters, originally designed to aid manufacturers developing export markets.
Raising capital to fund pre-shipment costs is a major obstacle small exporters face when trying to win new export contracts. EDC developed the pre-shipment programme in conjunction with Canadian banks to eliminate this obstacle. Ottawa-based EDC typically guarantees 75% of a bank loan to pay pre-shipment costs necessary to complete export contracts. This frees up funds for the exporter during the production cycle.
