ESSOR – Component 3

• A detailed project description and financing plan.
• Financial statements for the last two years, and forecast financial statements if needed.
• Service offers and partnership agreements, if applicable.
• A detailed description of the work to reduce the company’s environmental footprint, including quantified environmental gains and measured parameters using result indicators, plus a detailed demonstration that the environmental reduction is the technology’s primary purpose and not an indirect effect.
• Proof of compliance with francization requirements, the declaration of compliance with the Programme d’accès à l’égalité en emploi when applicable, and any other document required for project analysis.

Who is eligible?

• Legally constituted for-profit enterprises.
• Social economy enterprises within the meaning of the Loi sur l’économie sociale.
• Enterprises registered in Quebec and carrying on activities there.
• Foreign enterprises registered in Quebec that commit to carry on activities there no later than 12 months after project authorization.
• Seasonal businesses legally constituted under Quebec or Canadian law, including cooperatives and social economy enterprises, operating in Côte-Nord, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Bas-Saint-Laurent, or Capitale-Nationale (MRC de Charlevoix, Charlevoix-Est and Portneuf).

Who is not eligible

• Businesses operating in excluded sectors, including most primary sector activities, mining, oil and gas, real estate and leasing, public utilities, finance and insurance, public administration, education, health and social assistance, arts, telecommunications, broadcasting, accommodation and food services, and other excluded services.
• Applicants listed in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA), including planned subcontractors listed in the RENA for project work.
• Applicants that are not compliant with the francization process, that failed to meet obligations tied to prior Quebec government assistance in the previous two years, that are state-owned or government-controlled, or that are under creditor protection or bankruptcy laws.
• Businesses involved in controversial weapons, fossil fuel exploration, extraction, drilling, production, or refining other than activities supporting a low-carbon transition, gambling, violent games or combat sports involving living species, sexual exploitation, or tobacco or drug-related activities other than the stated pharmaceutical cannabis and industrial hemp exceptions.

Eligible expenses

• Acquisition, construction, fitting out, or expansion of buildings.
• Acquisition and implementation of equipment or software.
• Significant technological transition expenses aimed at significantly reducing the environmental footprint.
• Equipment upgrade costs, including equipment required to measure energy consumption, as well as engineering work and professional fees that meet Quebec government standards.
• Working capital needed to carry out the investment project, up to 20% of total eligible expenses, when the assistance takes the form of a loan guarantee or refundable financial contribution, including eligible non-capitalizable technological transition costs not covered by Volet 1.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Projects intended only to meet environmental compliance standards.
• Expenses incurred before the application is filed, including expenses tied to contractual commitments.
• Expenses incurred more than 24 months before project approval, including expenses tied to contractual commitments.
• Amortization, internal company expenses, debt service, repayment of future borrowings, capital losses, replacement capital, and capital payments.
• Sales taxes and working capital needed for normal operations.

Eligible geographic areas

• Côte-Nord
• Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• Bas-Saint-Laurent
• Capitale-Nationale (MRC de Charlevoix, Charlevoix-Est and Portneuf)

• Contact your account manager to submit an application.
• If you do not have an account manager, contact the Service d’accueil et d’information at 1 844 474-6367 or complete the form at the bottom of the page so an account manager can be assigned in your region.

• Applications are processed by Investissement Québec in collaboration with the Ministère, and the administration of the assistance and disbursements is handled by Investissement Québec.
• Any approved assistance must be governed by a financial assistance agreement setting out each party’s obligations and the conditions for payment.
• The date from which expenses are accepted is the date indicated in the financial assistance agreement.
• Capital repayments are fixed, but may be variable when the company’s cash flows are seasonal or subject to fluctuations, and the start of capital repayment may be deferred for up to five years after the first disbursement.
• The company may benefit from interest capitalization for five years following the first loan disbursement.

• Investissement Québec administers this stream as mandatary of the Government of Quebec.
• The program is managed under the Fonds du développement économique.
• Application processing, including eligibility review, analysis, and decision-making, is handled by Investissement Québec teams.
• The ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie and Investissement Québec may suspend the filing and analysis of applications without notice to preserve the program’s budget envelope.