An 11-company mission to Toronto lands as Ottawa diversifies trade partners, tears down internal barriers and funds AI, energy and strategic metals, a shift Puerto Rico can use to export and attract investment
The Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) has joined 11 Puerto Rican companies on a trade mission to Toronto, Canada, as part of an effort to expand the island’s international commercial presence and create new export opportunities.
The delegation includes companies from strategic sectors such as technology, engineering, biotechnology, food manufacturing and professional services.
Among the companies are:
The mission reflects Puerto Rico’s ongoing efforts to increase exports and broaden its commercial reach beyond traditional markets as officials seek to stimulate economic growth through international business development.
DDEC designed an individualized schedule of meetings tailored to each company’s products and business goals. The agency also plans to follow up on contacts and opportunities generated during the mission to help facilitate future commercial agreements and export growth.
The trip also lands at a moment of unusual change in Canada. Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ottawa is trying to reduce its dependence on the United States, knit its provincial markets into a single economy and steer capital toward strategic sectors.
For the companies listed above, and for Puerto Rico, that shift could matter as much as any single meeting in Toronto. Before traveling to Canada, participating companies received training and mentoring from experts familiar with the Canadian market, according to Soraya Morón, DDEC’s assistant secretary for Entrepreneurship and Business Development.
“Business preparedness is essential for successful commercial expansion,” Morón said. “Participants received workshops and mentoring focused on identifying opportunities, defining objectives, and strengthening their commercial proposals. We want our companies to have the knowledge and tools necessary to enter new markets strategically and sustainably.”
A Canada rewriting its playbook
Much of the agenda is now law.
Trade diversification is the other pillar. Ottawa aims to double exports to markets beyond the United States over a decade, including doubling two-way trade with India to C$70 billion a year by 2030, and is negotiating agreements with India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Philippines.
The United States took 72% of Canada’s goods exports in 2025, but exports to other markets grew 11.1% and the non-U.S. share reached its highest level since 1981, according to Global Affairs Canada.
Progress is uneven: Statistics Canada reported that the non-U.S. share fell to 30.2% in August from 33.9% in July.
The economy has responded, though it remains a work in progress. Real GDP grew at a 3.3% annualized pace in the second quarter, the fastest since early 2023, as exports rose 15.1% and business investment jumped 12.3% from the prior quarter, according to Statistics Canada.
But first-quarter growth was revised to just 0.3% annualized, higher energy prices lifted corporate incomes, the population fell for a third straight quarter, and new 50% U.S. tariffs on about C$20 billion of Canadian goods took effect after talks broke down, according to published reports. How much of the rebound reflects the reform agenda is not yet clear.
Services sit largely outside that exposure. Global Affairs Canada reports that services exports reached a record C$240 billion in 2025, that 47% of them already went to markets other than the United States, and that they face no border stops, shipping delays or physical tariffs, which makes the technology, regulatory-consulting and marketing firms in the Puerto Rican delegation the part of the Canadian relationship least exposed to the trade dispute.
How mission companies can fit in
The mission, organized through DDEC’s PromoExport program, forms part of the government’s strategy to promote Puerto Rico’s products and services abroad, strengthen commercial ties, and help local businesses enter new markets.
During the mission, participating firms engage in business-to-business meetings with potential buyers and commercial partners, as well as strategic discussions aimed at identifying opportunities for collaboration and expansion within the Canadian market.
“This mission showcases the quality of our products and services, as well as the talent, innovation and expertise that distinguish Puerto Rico. Every Puerto Rican company that succeeds in a new market contributes to diversifying and strengthening our economy.”
Governor Jenniffer González
Technology is the clearest fit. Inteldot, Sociants by REMA, IncentivesPRO and Puny.bz may find opportunities in Canada’s C$2.3 billion AI strategy, which includes C$500 million to help businesses adopt AI in sectors such as life sciences, energy and manufacturing.
There is also a C$700 million fund to help small and medium-sized companies pay for computing power, according to Waterloo EDC, a regional development agency. Firms that implement technology for those adopters could find buyers.
Biotechnology and regulated industries follow. Omics Global Solutions, IMC-Innovations and QRC Group work in a field where Puerto Rico’s experience with federal standards, which DDEC cites below, can translate into credibility.
Ontario, where Toronto sits, is Canada’s largest life sciences cluster, with more than 2,000 companies and over 72,000 workers, and the province targets 85,000 jobs by 2030, according to its government.
Engineering and food round out the group. TCM Group could look to the pipeline of Major Projects Office referrals, which spans mining, transmission and Arctic infrastructure, for engineering demand. Food manufacturing, represented by Chocolate Forteza, is also a DDEC priority export sector.
Puerto Rico’s pitch to a Canada in motion
Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said the initiative highlights Puerto Rico’s capacity to compete internationally and supports broader efforts to diversify the island’s economy.
“This trade mission to Canada showcases the quality of our products and services, as well as the talent, innovation and expertise that distinguish Puerto Rico,” González Colón said. “Every Puerto Rican company that succeeds in a new market contributes to diversifying and strengthening our economy.”
DDEC Secretary Carlos J. Ríos Pierluisi said the participating industries are critical to Puerto Rico’s economic development and emphasized the island’s competitive advantages for international business.
“Puerto Rico has entrepreneurs with the talent and capability to compete globally,” Ríos Pierluisi said. “As a U.S. jurisdiction, Puerto Rico offers access to the U.S. market, a bilingual workforce, and experience operating under federal and international standards. Our priority in this mission is to continue diversifying our markets, strengthening trade relations with Canada, and helping more Puerto Rican companies expand beyond the island.”
The pitch can run both ways. Canadian companies exposed to U.S. tariffs, and those drawn by Ottawa’s push into AI, energy and critical minerals, may look for U.S.-jurisdiction footholds, and Puerto Rico offers incentives, including a fixed 4% income tax rate for eligible companies.
At the same time, the Free Trade and Labor Mobility in Canada Act should make it easier for a Puerto Rican company that wins a first customer in Ontario to move goods, services and workers to other provinces, though the benefit depends on provincial implementation.
Morón added that DDEC designed an individualized schedule of meetings tailored to each company’s products and business goals. The agency also plans to follow up on contacts and opportunities generated during the mission to help facilitate future commercial agreements and export growth.
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