Are you a Canadian Government organisation?

CSPA’s membership is entirely from the private sector. But as a recognised trade association, we are able to maintain good working relationships with arms of government, such as the Canadian Trade & Investment staff located in consular offices around the world.

What about Government in the U.K. and Europe?

We have contacts to government departments in the U.K. and certain other countries in the E.U. We also work closely with the British and other European Consulates General in Toronto and with the Department of Trade and Industry in London.

How about your contacts outside government?

We work closely with many other organisations which foster trade and inward investment. Prominent among these are:

British-American Business Council
British Canadian Chamber of Trade & Commerce
British Consulate-General
British Service Providers Association
Bridge to Britain
Canada UK Chamber of Commerce
Greater Toronto Marketing Agency
Scottish Enterprise
Toronto Board of Trade
Welsh Development Agency
 
Do you work with anybody else?

Lots of people! We maintain links to banks, law firms, chambers of commerce, companies and individual business people in:

Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, Washington, New York, Los Angeles, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brussels, Amsterdam, The Hague, as well as in the countries of the European Union and the United States.

Do you only deal with trade and investment involving Canada?

Not at all. We just suggest that European companies entering the North America market usually find it easiest to get used to the differences this side of the Atlantic in a country with the smallest number of them. In the Canada, for example, the legal framework and the nature of business have more similarities to Europe, particularly the UK, than is the case in the United States.

However, the CSPA network allows us to work in a similar way in the United States.
 
Who actually provides the services?

All the CSPA member companies are specialist service providers, and most of the time one (or two working in conjunction) will have all the necessary expertise and people in-house. As the majority of members are SMEs, however, they maintain a network of other specialists on whom they can call from time to time. Any CSPA client thus has access to that extended network as well, but with the project always being managed by the CSPA member.

How do you charge?

The CSPA itself makes no charges to clients, being financed by its membership dues. Each project is individual, the fees arising being a matter of negotiation between the client and the CSPA member(s).

When do you charge?

Again, this is a matter of negotiation related to each individual project As a rule-of-thumb, proposals and tenders (as well as, naturally enough, exploratory enquiries) would not give rise to charges unless of a particularly time-consuming nature, and then only by agreement.

If we live in Europe, do we ever get to meet you face-to-face?

Individual CSPA members travel regularly to the UK and other parts of Europe.  In addition, small groups attend specific events such as trade fairs, and will also occasionally join in trade missions organised by other Canadian organisations. It is also common for us to meet individual business people or trade missions coming to the Canada or the United States. Toronto.