Question Period Note: Support for clean growth in Quebec

Support for clean growth in Quebec

• Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions contributes to government objectives by supporting businesses and communities in their transition to clean, sustainable economic growth.
• Through its interventions, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions helps businesses and organizations that develop, commercialize and adopt clean technologies in order to grow the economy while protecting the environment.
• Since November 2015, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions has backed 468 clean technology projects for authorized assistance of nearly 330 million dollars, generating total investments of nearly 2.7 billion dollars.
• CED contributes to the shift towards a green economy by supporting projects involving the commercialization and adoption of new technologies and clean products in various fields, such as bioproducts, bioenergy, energy efficiency and sustainable development measures.
• CED prioritizes green economy projects, specifically through the Jobs and Growth Fund (JGF) and the Aerospace Regional Recovery Initiative (ARRI).

CED participates in the transformation to a cleaner, more sustainable economy and prioritizes projects from businesses or organizations that contribute to the achievement of this objective both for those submitted under its regular programs and those covered under recovery initiatives such as the JGF and ARRI.

In the 2016 Budget, the federal government required the regional development agencies, including CED, to double their annual investments in clean technologies. For CED, this represents an annual target of $25 million, which has been achieved every year.

CED’s support for clean growth, both through its regular programs and special initiatives, can be broken down as follows:

• Support for start-up or growth projects by businesses that develop and commercialize clean technologies
• Support for projects involving the adoption of clean technologies
• Prioritization of projects whose primary goal is not necessarily to enhance environmental performance, but which nevertheless have a positive impact in this regard.
• Support for organizations that assist or help organize clean tech related businesses
• Referrals to other relevant government programs (e.g. Sustainable Development Technology Canada)

Projects submitted under Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) and Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) temporary initiatives may include elements that promote the adoption of more environmentally sustainable practices.

Examples of projects

• FTEX inc.: In January 2022, under the JGF, CED authorized a repayable contribution of $190,000 to this Montreal-based company, which specializes in the design and manufacture of intelligent motor controllers for electric vehicles that significantly increase their performance.
• Centre Techno-Pneu inc.: In July 2021, CED authorized a repayable contribution of $304,000 through the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program to this Rimouski-based company, which owns the only tire remolding plant in Quebec that gives a second life to used tires. The company uses a technology that uses no water, recycles 100% of the original material and emits no air pollution.
• Centre technologique en aérospatiale (CTA): In June 2022, under the ARRI, CED authorized a non-repayable contribution of $6,012,823 to this aerospace technology transfer center so that it could develop its expertise and technical capacity to support companies in their hybrid electric propulsion research and development projects.

Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) is actively involved in the transformation to a cleaner and sustainable economy. Through both its regular programs and special initiatives, CED contributes to clean growth in various ways, notably by supporting start-up or growth projects of businesses that adopt, develop or commercialize clean technologies.