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Investissement Québec intends to spend $4.5 billion by 2027 to accelerate business innovation and increase the province’s level of productivity, which, despite recent advances, continues to lag behind that of Ontario.
The provincial government agency on Tuesday unveiled its new campaign, dubbed Grand V, aimed at stimulating investment by local companies in technology.
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Investissement Québec says that since 2017, Quebec’s productivity has grown at a stronger rate than that of Ontario and the gap between the two provinces is narrowing. In 2023, Ontario posted a work productivity rate of of $56.70 an hour in the business sector, compared with $55 in Quebec.
“There’s really an acceleration in growth, in the productivity of Quebec businesses. But we want to go farther. When we compare with the United States, we’re really behind. They really pushed a lot of non-residential investments,” Investissement Québec CEO Bicha Ngo said.
The initiative focuses on the acquisition, implantation and development of innovative technology,.
“We can think about technologies in different domains,” vice-president for innovation François Gingras said. “Anything that deals with digital in a business, with automation and robotization.”
As the financial arm of the provincial government, Investissement Québec is offering term loans of $250,000, with a moratorium on repayment of capital of up to 48 months depending on the nature of the project. Financing can also be made available in the form of investment in equity capital.
“Our goal is to convince businesses to make the leap. So, for us, being able to offer flexible terms is a very important element,” communications vice-president Gladys Caron said.
The program is available to large and small businesses as well as startups.
Investissement Québec will also offer support services and webinars to companies trying to get their project up and running.
The Grand V initiative replaces the Productivité innovation and Compétivert programs launched a few years earlier. The two programs provided nearly $5 billion to 2,000 projects.
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