Investissement Quebec is deploying $2 billion to help small businesses

Minister of Industry Melanie Joly, centre and Christine Frechette, Quebec minister of economy, innovation and energy look at the shell of a Boeing B777 simulator as they tour CAE Inc., in Montreal on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. Boeing signed a $110 million investment in Espace Aero to strengthen Quebec's Aerospace competitiveness. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

Investissement Quebec has devoted nearly $2 billion in one year to supporting the productivity of Quebec businesses through its “Grand V Initiative” program.

This capital supports more than $5 billion in projects, according to an initial annual report released on Friday.

Despite trade tensions that are causing entrepreneurs to delay their projects, Investissement Quebec is ahead of its target of investing $4.5 billion over three years, said CEO Bicha Ngo.

“We are very proud, in a difficult context with a lot of uncertainty, to say that these companies have still spent to improve their productivity,” she said in an interview.

During the first year of the Grand V initiative, Investissement Quebec carried out 658 technology support mandates for projects related to productivity, innovation or reducing environmental footprints.

The Crown corporation advised entrepreneurs across Quebec, noted François Gingras, Vice-President of Innovation at Investissement Quebec, during the same interview.

“Seventy-seven per cent of the companies we supported with Grand V are located in non-urban MRCs,” he said. “So it’s representative of really everywhere in Quebec.”

‘The impact is significant’

At a time when the Legault government’s economic interventionism is being questioned by its critics, Ngo believes that Investissement Quebec’s support for innovation has been beneficial to the economy.

The Crown corporation commissioned Statistics Canada to measure the impact of its previous productivity support programs.

“It was important for us to have something neutral,” explained the CEO.

Between 2019 and 2023, companies that invested with the help of Investissement Quebec saw their productivity increase by 44 per cent, according to the analysis.

This compares to gains of 3.5 per cent over the same period for all Quebec manufacturing companies.

“So the impact is significant for companies that choose to make this shift,” said Ngo. “What we want is for more of them to do so.”

A unique feature of the current version of the program is that it includes research and development in eligible projects. Approximately $130 million has been allocated for this purpose under the Grand V initiative.

Research and development often marks the beginning of an innovative project, explained Ngo.

By providing financial support at this stage, she believes that Investissement Quebec will help SMEs “move on to the next stage.”

“The more companies invest in research and development, the more technologies are developed and, therefore, the more companies innovate,” she summarized.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 28, 2025.