Regions and Rurality Fund (RRF) - Component 2

• Completed and signed application form
• Supporting documents listed in the application form

Who is eligible?

• Local municipalities and municipal organizations.
• Indigenous communities.
• Non-profit organizations, cooperatives except financial cooperatives, and social economy enterprises.
• Health and educational institutions if the project is carried out in a municipality with fewer than 20,000 residents and the benefits are shared with the community.
• For-profit businesses with a valid NEQ number under Component 2 – Territorial Development only.

Who is not eligible

• Ministries, budgetary agencies, and Crown corporations referred to in Schedules 1 and 3 of the Act respecting the management of public finances, as well as corporations controlled directly or indirectly by a government or by a Crown corporation.
• For-profit businesses in the financial sector, including financial cooperatives and financial planners.
• Nonprofit organizations whose activities are not related to community action, including foundations, professional associations, labour and political organizations, religious organizations, and organizations established by a public authority to serve public administration interests.
• Individuals not engaged in commercial activities, except individuals covered by the agreement concluded with the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
• Applicants listed in the Register of Businesses Ineligible to Perform Public Contracts (RENA), applicants who failed to fulfill obligations tied to prior financial assistance from the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation during the previous two years, and applicants under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

Eligible expenses

• Project-related expenses such as rent, travel, data, materials, and equipment.
• Planning and study costs, including salaries, benefits, and professional or contractual fees.
• Costs for project construction, development, implementation, or deployment.
• Costs linked to consultation with regional stakeholders.
• Administrative costs up to 5% of eligible expenses.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Expenses incurred before the signing of a financial assistance agreement by both parties, expenses already funded, and expenses related to projects already completed.
• Funding for scholarships, awards, or contests, and any form of loan, loan guarantee, or equity investment.
• The operating deficit of an eligible organization, interest expenses, loan repayments, replenishment of working capital, and the organization’s operating expenses.
• Expenses not directly related to the project, lobbying expenses, expenses related to activities governed by the budget rules approved by the Government of Quebec, and expenses related to relocating a business or part of its production outside the local municipality where it is established.
• Projects in the restaurant sector; retail projects except a local project not eligible for Component 5 Local Shops of the FRR; projects related to places of worship unless they serve a purpose other than a religious one; projects aimed at ensuring the regular operation of a business or organization; controversial activities; real estate used as residential or commercial properties or rental property whose sole purpose is to generate income through rental or sale; and, under Component 3 – Revitalization only, expenses related to the decontamination, renovation, or conversion of housing.

Eligible geographic areas

• MRC du Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent

• Financial viability and quality of the financing plan.
• Innovativeness of the project.
• Development potential.
• Socioeconomic impacts, job creation, and the project’s impact on the community or territory, including market space.

• Complete the application form.
• Submit the application by email to projets.projects@mrcgsl.ca.

• Applications are analyzed only after the completed form and all required supporting documents are received.
• The MRC may request additional documents during the review process.
• The usual response time after analysis begins is 30 to 60 days.
• Accepted projects are subject to a financial assistance agreement.

• Promoters must make the effort to purchase local first within a 10% difference and a reasonable time frame; if that is not possible, preference should be given to Quebec products or suppliers located in Quebec, and purchases outside the province must be justified.
• Promoters who receive financial assistance must acknowledge and promote the MRC contribution by affixing a provided logo to the subsidized item or by announcing it on a social media platform.