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OTTAWA — As talks to put ink to paper and finalize Canada’s free trade agreement with the European Union drag on, negotiators are only now heading down the thorny path to ratification of a similar deal with South Korea.

The need to expand export markets has become a national mantra. Too bad not enough companies have been listening.

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But that hasn’t prevented Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz, the former head of Export Development Canada, from bending the ear of corporate Canada and providing businesses with not-so-gentle nudges to open up new global markets.

So far, there have not been as many takers as hoped for.

“Canadian exports rose only modestly in the middle part of the last decade when the global economy was booming,” says Benjamin Reitzes, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

The strong Canadian dollar had a lot to do with that, along with a poor record of productivity.

“The productivity issue isn’t one that can quickly be addressed, so it looks as though the Bank of Canada has keyed in on the dollar,” he says.

The governor has made no secret of his belief that “a weaker loonie is the icing on the export cake, meaning that the bank anticipates that firmer U.S. demand is going to be the export driver,” adds Mr. Reitzes.