The CAQ government has not finished loosening its purse strings for the battery sector: it is setting aside an additional $500 million to invest in lithium projects and other critical minerals.
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Quebec will increase the capitalization of the Capital natural resources and energy fund, created by the Couillard government in 2015, from $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
Little known, this fund has invested more than $600 million in around twenty companies to date, mainly in mining projects.
According to the government, the new envelope of $500 million will make it possible to “support structuring investment projects, in support of the Quebec Strategy for the Development of the Battery Sector and the Quebec Plan for the Valorization of Critical and Strategic Minerals.”
Worker training
In addition, Quebec plans to invest $26 million, by 2028-2029, to increase the number of graduates in the energy transition sector and in other areas deemed priorities.
These sums will be added to the billions of dollars that the government has committed to paying in financial assistance to foreign companies in the battery sector that come to set up in Quebec, including Northvolt, GM and Ford.