Request for Expressions of Interest
International Business Development Consulting Services for Atlantic Canadian SMEs Exploring Opportunities in the Benelux Region
Scale-Up Hub Benelux is a strategic initiative designed to help Atlantic Canada’s clean tech and energy innovators land and grow in Europe.
This program will help small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) throughout Atlantic Canada unlock new partnerships, gain market access, and position themselves for long-term growth across the European Union (EU), using the Benelux region as the launchpad.
econext is leading the program in collaboration with the governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador with and tech NL supporting.
This EOI is an invitation by econext on behalf of its partners to prospective proponents to submit proposals for the provision of consulting services.
Date of Issue: October 22, 2025
Submission Deadline: November 19, 2025
Download Request for EOIs
Questions and Answers
Questions received on or before November 25, 2025 will be published here (unattributed) with accompanying answers.
The EOI mentions a total budget of CAD 150,000 (including applicable taxes). Could you please confirm whether this amount represents the total available budget for all 15 participating SMEs combined? We would like to confirm whether this figure covers all costs, such as travel and expenses for the organization of two trade missions, or whether it refers only to consulting fees.
The budget represents the total available for all participating SMEs. This figure is meant to cover consulting fees. Consultants are not expected to travel or organize trade missions.
The EOI states that the maximum project budget is $150,000 ‘inclusive of applicable taxes’. This stipulation puts companies in jurisdictions with a higher taxation rate at a disadvantage.
The EOI has been adjusted (October 25, 2025) to indicate that the maximum project budget is $150,000 ‘exclusive‘ of applicable/required taxes. This places all respondents on event ground regardless of geography.
Please provide more information on Atlantic Canadian SMEs.
The Atlantic Canadian SMEs that will participate in the project have not yet been selected. SMEs will be selected following a competitive process before the end of 2025. To get a general idea of the types of companies that might participate in this program, you can view the econext membership directory. It is important to note that this list of SMEs is only representative of clean technology and environmental service companies in Newfoundland and Labrador, whereas Atlantic Canada also includes the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.
The organization of two trade missions: are these the main activities or just a small part of the overall program? What would be the targeted number of meetings per participant during these trade missions? And would be the target countries for these trade missions (only one country or all three)?
The two trade missions are important activities in the overall program because they will provide opportunities for in-person meetings and the building of business relationships. The level of importance to each company will depend on their specific needs. For some companies this may be the centerpiece of their market engagement. For other companies this may be more straight-forward and used to maintain existing relationships. It is expected that the minimum number of new business leads or potential clients will be at least 15 per company. The target countries for the trade missions is ‘to be determined’ as this will depend on the expressed preferences of the companies.
What would be the specific interest of companies from the sectors concerned in Luxembourg? For the Netherlands and Belgium, the market opportunities are clear. However, for Luxembourg, market opportunities in these sectors might be smaller.
We agree that opportunities in each market will be different and at different scales. Ultimately, it will be up to the companies selected to the program to identify which market(s) they are interested in and why.
What will be the most decisive expectations for this project?
Quantitative measures include (1) total number of new business leads or potential clients for companies, and (2) total number of capital engagements (i.e., funding/financing, strategic partnerships, MOUs, etc.) through the life of the project.
To what extent do the services go? For example, is it limited to selecting trade partners for the delegates and presenting these partners to them? Does it include setting up one-on-one meetings with these partners? Or does it go beyond this, such as participating in meetings with prospects or trade partners, carrying out direct follow-up initiatives, and providing assistance during possible negotiations?
This depends on the needs of each participating company. It is possible that assistance is provided in all of the ways that are described above. Ultimately, each company will be able to use the hours available to them from consultants towards services that the company and consultant agree would be the most helpful and impactful.
