Recovery Through Reform: Export Development Canada’s role in fossil fuel subsidy reform

The document argues that Export Development Canada (EDC) provides disproportionately high levels of support for oil and gas compared to clean technology, often lacking transparency in its transactions. It highlights that EDC's domestic mandate expansion, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has facilitated continued fossil fuel financing. The brief recommends that EDC phase out public finance for fossil fuels, set clear climate action targets, and implement 'green strings' (climate-related conditionalities) to ensure economic recovery is aligned with the Paris Agreement and Canada's 2050 net-zero goal.

• Canada provided the highest amount of support for oil and gas exploration, production, refining, and transportation among G20 OECD countries, with the majority of this support originating from Export Development Canada (EDC).
• EDC provides an average of over CAD 13.2 billion annually in support for oil and gas, which constitutes more than 12% of the institution's committed finance; approximately 30% of this is directed toward domestic operations of Canadian companies.
• Between 2016 and 2019, EDC's financial support for oil and gas was at least seven times greater than the support reported for "cleantech".
• EDC lacks transparency regarding transaction-level data, screening processes for social and environmental risks, and the writing off of loans, making it difficult to assess exact subsidy levels.
• EDC's climate change policy, first released in 2019, does not reference Canada's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target and lacks concrete emission reduction targets for its portfolio.
• The COVID-19 Emergency Response Act of 2020 expanded EDC's domestic mandate and increased its liability limits, with the Canada Account limit rising from CAD 20 billion to CAD 75 billion and overall liability limits increasing from CAD 45 billion to CAD 115 billion.
• EDC has provided over CAD 10 billion in loans for the Trans Mountain Pipeline and expansion via the Canada Account, which is administered on behalf of the government and bypasses EDC's standard due diligence.

APA

Corkal, V. (2021). Recovery Through Reform: Export Development Canada’s role in fossil fuel subsidy reform. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/export-development-canada-fossil-fuel-subsidy-reform.pdf

Chicago

Corkal, Vanessa. Recovery Through Reform: Export Development Canada’s role in fossil fuel subsidy reform. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/export-development-canada-fossil-fuel-subsidy-reform.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Corkal |first1=Vanessa |title=Recovery Through Reform: Export Development Canada’s role in fossil fuel subsidy reform |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=February 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/export-development-canada-fossil-fuel-subsidy-reform.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{corkal2021recovery, author = {Corkal, Vanessa}, title = {{Recovery Through Reform: Export Development Canada’s role in fossil fuel subsidy reform}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/export-development-canada-fossil-fuel-subsidy-reform.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }