Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Tourism — EPRTNT 2025-2027 – Digital Development of a Company

• Completed and signed application form submitted in Excel format
• Supporting documents demonstrating sustainable development measures, if applicable
• Complete business plan for the project
• Financial statements for the last two years, if required
• Board or council resolution authorizing the funding application

• The applicant must be a tourism business, municipal entity, Indigenous community or nation, or a grouping of these clients.
• The organization must be legally constituted under Quebec or Canadian law and operate in Quebec.
• Tourist accommodation establishments must comply with applicable laws and hold a valid registration number.
• Nature and adventure tourism businesses must comply with, or commit to comply with, the Aventure Écotourisme Québec Quality-Safety program.
• Applicants must have fulfilled obligations linked to any previous funding received from the partners.

Who is eligible?

• Tourism businesses operating as for-profit entities.
• Tourism non-profit organizations.
• Tourism cooperatives.
• Municipal entities involved in tourism projects.
• Recognized Indigenous communities, nations and their tourism organizations, and groupings of these clients.

Who is not eligible

• Provincial or federal Crown corporations, ministries and government agencies.
• Applicants listed in the Register of enterprises ineligible for public contracts.
• Businesses not compliant with the Office québécois de la langue française francization process.

Eligible expenses

• Professional fees for support and implementation of digital solutions.
• Purchase of technological or other equipment required to use the solution.
• First subscription (up to 24 months) to cloud-based services for the solution.
• Purchase of software, applications, integrated management systems, or e-commerce solutions enhancing client interaction and sales.
• Project-specific salaries and benefits, training-related professional fees, eligible travel expenses, and non-recoverable taxes linked to direct costs.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Project promoters’ regular salaries, operating and management expenses.
• Purchase or rental of land, buildings, installations and related capital expenditures.
• Bandwidth, recurring operating fees of the business solution, and online sales or booking commission fees.
• Working capital, debt service, operating or capital losses, cost overruns and financing fees.
• Server rooms, video game and infrastructure development, compliance and maintenance costs, recoverable taxes, in-kind contributions, promotion and marketing, legal fees, and costs incurred before application submission (except project design fees).

Eligible geographic areas

• Organizations legally constituted in Quebec or Canada that conduct their activities in Quebec, specifically for projects in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean tourism region.

• Alignment of the project with the objectives of the EPRTNT.
• Structural impact, including attractiveness, reach, regional benefits, partnerships, job creation and season extension.
• Innovation level and quality of concept, products and services.
• Sound financial structure, relevance to target tourist clientele and markets, and quality of marketing strategy.
• Feasibility of the project, including schedule, business plan quality, promoter expertise, integration of sustainable development, and fit with the destination’s strategic roadmap.

• Step 1: Initial Contact
  • Contact the product development advisor to validate project eligibility.
• Step 2: Complete Application Forms
  • Fill in the self-assessment and financial assistance application forms.
• Step 3: Submit Application Package
  • Send the completed forms and required sustainable development documents by email to the address indicated.

• The financial assistance is a non-repayable contribution.
• Projects with strong, documented sustainable development measures can access a higher maximum contribution.
• Only projects reaching at least 50% on sustainability criteria can receive the maximum sustainability-related contribution.
• Previous funding recipients must have respected past commitments to be eligible again.