NEWS RELEASES

October 6, 1997 No. 159

MARCHI PRESENTS 1997 CANADA EXPORT AWARDS

International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi today presented the 1997 Canada Export Awards to 10 Canadian companies, selected from over 200 candidates, for their outstanding export accomplishments. The presentation ceremony was held in Quebec City, in conjunction with the second annual meeting of the Alliance of Manufacturers & Exporters Canada.

"I applaud the success of these firms in capturing new markets and providing job opportunities for thousands of Canadians," said Mr. Marchi. "They are an inspiration for all Canadian businesses to look beyond our borders to sell their products and services and I encourage other firms to emulate their entrepreneurial spirit."

Under the theme Partners in Trade, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade welcomed Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Export Development Corporation (EDC), and Stentor, the alliance of Canada's only full-service telecommunications companies, as official sponsors of the 1997 Canada Export Award program.

"The Canada Export Awards symbolize the successful partnership between government and the private sector," said Mr. Marchi. "Team Canada partners are setting the stage to do business abroad so that more Canadian companies can succeed internationally."

For the first time, special recognition was given by the program's sponsors to three Canada Export Award winners. Under the auspices of the Canada Export Award program, Wulftec International from Ayer's Cliff, Quebec, was honoured with the CIBC Job Creation Achievement, Berg Chilling Systems of Scarborough was presented with the EDC Smaller Exporter Achievement, and the Bell Canada Innovation and Technology Achievement went to Nortel's (Northern Telecom Limited) Belleville Location.

This year, as in previous years, Canada's geographical and industrial diversity is well represented, with winning companies from coast to coast, and a wide range of innovative products and services including entertaining family programming, sophisticated dental implant technology, and state-of-the-art communications systems and software.

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A list of the 1997 Canada Export Award winners and company profiles is attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Leslie Swartman

Director of Communications

Office of the Minister for International Trade

(613) 992-7332

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

1997 Canada Export Award Winners

Berg Chilling Systems Inc. (Scarborough, Ontario) -- EDC Smaller Exporter Achievement

Berg Chilling Systems Inc., a small, family-owned business, which employs 81 people, designs and manufactures industrial refrigeration equipment, ice makers and machinery for process cooling. Among its many clients are those involved in heavy industry, car manufacturing, plastics, graphics/printing, metal forming and agri-food. Berg also supplies food freeze-drying systems to the food-processing industry.

Blitz Design Corp. (Langley, British Columbia)

Blitz Design Corp. develops and markets unique sugar-free "power" breath mints. In just four years since the 10-person firm was formed, its breath fresheners are stocked on grocery and drugstore shelves in more than 15 countries around the world. In the United States, its largest market, Blitz has made it to the top 10 in sales of breath fresheners -- hot on the heels of such established name brands as Breathsavers, Tic Tac, Certs and Clorets. In the past three years, Blitz's total sales have grown by 257 per cent, with exports currently making up 84 per cent of its sales.

Cinar Films Inc. (Montreal, Quebec)

Children in more than 100 countries are hooked on Cinar Films Inc.'s menu of solid family entertainment programming that is easy on the eye and full of positive images for impressionable young minds. Cinar creates and distributes such name brand shows as Arthur^TM, Lassie^TM, The Busy World of Richard Scarry^TM, The Adventures of Paddington Bear^TM and Wimzie's House^TM -- beloved, familiar characters to kids of all ages.

Hummingbird Communications Ltd. (North York, Ontario)

Hummingbird Communications Ltd. develops and sells world-class personal computer (PC) Internet-working and document distribution software solutions designed for seamless integration within corporate networks. The fastest-growing software company in Canada, according to Profit Magazine (1995 and 1996), Hummingbird is the fourth-largest Canadian software company by revenue, and employs more than 400 people.

Image Processing Systems (Scarborough, Ontario)

Image Processing Systems (IPS) develops, makes and sells automated vision inspection systems that are used by manufacturers of television sets, computer monitor displays, automotive glass and beer bottles. The company is best known for its Automated Display Alignment and Inspection (ADI) System, which is used to ensure that each television and computer monitor tube is focussed, full-sized, colour sharp and properly positioned vertically and horizontally, while detecting any defective units immediately.

Innova Technologies Corporation (Toronto, Ontario)

Innova Technologies Corporation manufactures and markets a dental implant technique known as the Endopore System, which is used to anchor dental prostheses such as dentures, partial plates, bridgework and single teeth to the jawbone. Unlike other implant systems, which rely on screws to moor dental work into place, the Endopore System is a thimble-shaped implant with a porous coating that allows bone to grow into its surface, thus meshing the implant with the jaw. The Endopore System is easy to install, provides a shorter recovery period and less discomfort for patients, as well as better long-term performance than more traditional types of dental implants.

McCain International Inc. (Florenceville, New Brunswick)

McCain International Inc. is the international market development arm of McCain Foods Limited. It exports a full line of processed frozen convenience foods such as french fries, potato products, vegetables, desserts, pizza, juice, onion rings, appetizers and oven-ready meals to more than 65 countries.

Nortel's (Northern Telecom Limited) Belleville Location (Belleville, Ontario) -- Bell Canada Innovation and Technology Achievement

Nortel's (Northern Telecom Limited) Belleville facility produces advanced telecommunications equipment such as private digital switching systems, which permit communication among voice, data and multimedia terminals. The Belleville plant maintains design ownership of Nortel's Meridian 1 Small Systems, Meridian 1 Integrated Solutions, Magellan Passport base hardware and Passport Bandwidth Consolidation (voice and transparent data services). In 1996, Nortel Belleville, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, contributed $1 billion to Nortel's worldwide sales. More than 80 per cent of Belleville's products are shipped to customers in some 150 countries outside North America.

Tesco Corporation (Calgary, Alberta)

Tesco's top drive systems are installed in land and offshore rigs in more than 20 countries. These systems are essentially robotic machines made up of a drilling motor and pipehandler used for drilling oil, gas and geothermal wells. Tesco's fiscal 1997 exports comprised $60.3 million, or 60 per cent, of its sales, climbing an incredible 1051 per cent from $5.2 million in 1995. Its employment ranks have burgeoned too -- from three people when the company first opened its doors, to 440 today.

Wulftec International Inc. -- CIBC Job Creation Achievement (Ayer's Cliff, Quebec

Wulftec International Inc., formed in 1990, designs and manufactures a line of stretch wrapping machinery used in factories across the United States, South and Central America and Europe. From soft drink cases to farm produce, Wulftec's machines can automatically apply a full web of recyclable polyethylene film or netting around pallets of goods, providing convenient, secure shipment to stores and warehouses worldwide. Some of Wulftec's models can wrap up to 110 pallets an hour, achieving a uniform stretch and consistent appearance that could never be matched by hand.