Our Story

It all started in the City of Montreal. One office. One client. Our first time helping a region attract investors. CIDEP was founded by University of Montreal Graduates Frédérick Bernard and Ludovic Ortuno to meet U.S. and European Economic Development Organizations’ (EDOs) needs in the Canadian market. CIDEP has grown to comprise of a team of passionate International Affairs graduates with expertise in Foreign Direct Investment. To date, CIDEP continues to fast-track numerous EDOs’ FDI attraction efforts and assist a wide array of American and European corporations to enter and flourish in new markets, namely, Canada.

Our Approach

We believe lists of leads are important as long as they are supported by a sound, practical, and measurable strategy. The provision of lists is the fundamental first step in CIDEP’s process to enable fruitful connections between prospective companies, EDOs, and exporters alike.

What CIDEP delivers is the result of:

  • Human-curated data

  • A critical evaluation of your region’s ecosystem and an identification of the best-fitting companies

  • Pre-existing relationships with target companies as well as key industry associations, multipliers, institutional investors, and incubators

CIDEP’s Methodology

By thoroughly following the methodology outlined above, our experienced in-market team delivers the following for our clients:

  1. A vetted database of prospects that demonstrates a deep understanding of the client's business case

  2. The appropriate context for the development of a personal relationship with qualified prospective companies

  3. The fruition of FDI and export projects

Our Milestones

  • CIDEP established business relations with more than 15 clients across Western Europe, including major economic development agencies in France such as ADIELOR (Lorraine Foreign Investment Development Agency), Dunkirk Promotion, and Normandie Development.

  • CIDEP entered the U.S. market and signed a contract to be the Canadian in-market representative for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. CIDEP was also selected by the State of Arizona’s Department of Commerce as the official state representative in Canada for its trade and investment activities.

  • After growing its client base in Europe, CIDEP became the official representative in Canada for Enterprise Florida, the Economic Development Agency for the State of Florida. CIDEP also expanded its trade and export services vis-à-vis the EDOs they worked with by helping their region’s exporters with their market entry strategies in Canada.

  • More US States, such as Missouri, Colorado, Delaware, and Georgia, have begun using CIDEP as their local offices in Canada for Trade Services.

  • CIDEP was elected as the first in-market representative for the State of Vermont in 2021. In 2023, CIDEP becomes the Canadian in-market representative for Business Oregon as well as Rhode Island Commerce. Moreover, CIDEP is elected as the Canadian Partner of the State International Development Organization (SIDO) to act as the Canadian extension of exporters across all U.S. States.