(Quebec) The Government of Quebec wants to give a boost to entrepreneurship with a new plan, which focuses on promoting entrepreneurs and supporting favorable business environments.
Posted yesterday at 5:07 p.m.
The action plan, which aims to create more businesses in Quebec, was unveiled on Monday. An envelope of 121.7 million over three years is planned.
The government wants to increase productivity and raise the level of wealth in the province, while Quebec is the province with the fewest businesses per inhabitant. There are just over 220,000 of them, almost all of which are SMEs, which employ nearly 2 million people.
In its Plan québécois en entrepreneurship 2022-2025, the Legault government wishes in particular to improve the training of entrepreneurs, while a majority considers their feeling of low competence. Only 46% of them consider themselves competent, according to a study by the Institute for Research on SMEs published in 2021.
An amount of 36.9 million will therefore be devoted to the inclusive support program for entrepreneurs.
Also, to facilitate the transfer and takeover of businesses, $43.8 million will enhance support for takeovers within First Nations.
This measure was particularly welcomed by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
“It is essential that particular emphasis be placed on takeovers, because already in 2018, nearly three-quarters of SME owners were thinking of selling their business within 10 years,” says François Vincent, Vice-President for Quebec to CFIB.
In general, the plan aims to further encourage under-represented groups in entrepreneurship, such as women, youth, people from ethnocultural diversity, members of First Nations and Inuit, people living with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ2+ community.
“With the Quebec Entrepreneurship Plan, our government recognizes the multiple specificities of entrepreneurs and wishes to offer the same opportunity to all groups from diverse backgrounds to carry out their future projects. It is by betting on the human being behind every entrepreneur that we can build an inclusive, plural and prosperous economy,” commented the Minister for the Economy, Lucie Lecours.
The remaining 41 million of the plan are divided into seven other measures, such as the development of an innovative financing offer (14.1 million), the optimization of services for entrepreneurs (7 million) and support for innovation accelerators of regional ecosystems (6.5 million).
The action plan is the result of consultations carried out by the Ministry of the Economy last year. Nearly 80 business leaders were heard in discussion groups and the department received some sixty briefs.
“This plan is more than welcome, because the entrepreneurial environment in Quebec has been particularly turned upside down over the past two years, in particular due to the pandemic,” said Mr. Vincent, of the CFIB.
The CFIB nevertheless recalls, in a press release, that “taxation remains one of the variables that significantly influences the quality and vitality of entrepreneurship”.
“We remain the only province that taxes its smaller service and construction companies as multinationals. […]. Moreover, payroll taxes remain 27% higher than in Ontario,” explains Mr. Vincent.
The École des entrepreneurs du Québec, which participates in the improvement of the training offered by the plan, welcomes the announcement. The institution, which has eight campuses, has been working in the field for 36 years.