Over the span of just over two years, Investissement Québec (IQ) has supported 18 projects in Laval as part of the Productivity Innovation initiative, for a total of $61.3 million in public funding.
This is the regional report produced by this public body since the launch – in autumn 2020 – of this program aimed at increasing productivity, competitiveness and business growth.
Lever
These investments from own funds and the large ESSOR fund resulted in a total investment of $222.7 million in the city-region. “Every dollar invested generated $3.6 of private investment,” said regional director Laval and Outaouais, Guylaine Larose, in a telephone interview.
Last month, for example, Investissement Québec disclosed a $4 million interest-free loan to French company Sonepar International following work to expand and modernize its Lumen distribution center and automate its cable cutting, a $90 million project. In this specific case, the leverage effect will have been around 22.5.
At the other extreme, manufacturer of high-precision mechanical and electrical products MEP Technologies took advantage of loans totaling $1,320,000 to finance the acquisition of innovative technology and automated equipment costing $1.65 million.
Labor shortage
The ESSOR program has been implemented to encourage companies to start or accelerate their digital transformation and automation of their operations.
The goal is “to increase the operational efficiency of companies […] do more with less while increasing employee well-being,” says Ms. Larose.
Referring to the shortage of workers that was already raging before the pandemic, he specifies that this technological shift is all the more essential for maintaining the competitiveness of companies in the sense that it “limits their dependence on the workforce”.
In this regard, he adds that “job creation is no longer a determining criterion in our analyses”. Furthermore, while Investissement Québec interventions always contribute to the creation of new positions, the financial arm of the provincial government is unable to quantify them within the ESSOR program.
Provincial budget
Throughout Quebec, 688 projects have been supported, representing more than $2 billion in funding since fall 2020.
The total value of these projects financed through the ESSOR fund exceeds $6 billion, while the Investissement Québec – CRIQ teams have provided approximately 3,700 support sessions to help companies implement a technology project.
Halfway through, the Quebec government representative points out that the funding goal of $2.4 billion over 4 years has been 84% met and that investment projects continue to flow.
Finally, Investissement Québec points out that the Productivity Innovation initiative covers the entire manufacturing value chain, targeting companies in the manufacturing, mining, construction, wholesale and retail trade, transport and warehousing, professional services, scientific and technical as well as waste management and remediation services.
