Quebec is planning a similar loan program for businesses as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic in the event that United States President Donald Trump moves ahead with tariffs on Canadian goods in March.
“It would be like COVID,” said Premier François Legault while visiting manufacturers in the Beauce region Thursday.
Legault explained that loans would be provided by Investissement Québec “for a short period – one month, two months, three months – so that [companies are] able to get through this period without having too many layoffs.”
Quebec companies have already announced layoffs, though. Wednesday, Montreal-based tights manufacturer Sheertex announced it would be laying off 40 per cent of its 350-employee workforce while South Shore Furniture said it would be laying off 115 employees.
“We have to be realistic: if it lasts a year, two years, four years, we would not be able to finance exports at a loss for a long period,” Legault told reporters.
The premier didn’t specify how much Investissement Québec would be able to dole out, but said the government was preparing for several scenarios, depending on how high the U.S. tariffs are.
Legault said he’s “not sure that even Mr. Trump knows” what he will do at the beginning of next month.
Ottawa has also pledged to help businesses in the event of tariffs, but did not specify any amounts either.
Both the provincial and federal governments have vowed to postpone retaliatory measures against the U.S. after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that U.S. President Donald Trump would be delaying his planned tariffs for a month.
Monday at the National Assembly, Legault called on Quebecers to brace themselves for the “brutal economic attack” that tariffs would wage on the province’s economy.
Thursday, he told businesses to “bring on the projects” saying he wanted to replace U.S. imports with products made here.
Quebec’s pension fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), announced a program of its own Thursday, offering “personalized” and “flexible” loans to companies looking to increase their productivity.
The program will also include support for technological transformation in partnership with Vooban, a Quebec company specializing in applied artificial intelligence and for which CDPQ is a shareholder.
Every hour of labour in Quebec contributes an average of $79.40 to the GDP, compared to $104.30 in the U.S.
“We absolutely must find ourselves stronger after this crisis, regardless of the tariffs, because the United States, the world order, is being shaken up,” said Charles Émond, CDPQ’s CEO.
“The more efficient and productive we are, the more indispensable we will be to Americans.”
The CDPQ is also offering to connect local businesses with its network of 5,000 companies in 70 countries aside from the U.S. Businesses can make requests to be part of the program on the CDPQ’s website.
Émond said the CDPQ would not be pulling its U.S. investments.
“That would hurt us more than it would hurt them,” the CEO said.
