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Updated on April 15, 2025
New government assistance programs have been announced to help businesses in Québec and Canada get through this period of upheaval. Subsidies and other measures could be added later. Our team will update this page regularly as further measures are introduced by organisations and governments.
Here’s what’s been announced so far.
Québec government
All of the assistance programs put in place by the Québec government in response to tariffs are published here (French only).
This list includes two new programs:
- Investissement Québec’s Frontière program. This program offers fast access to financial assistance of up to $50M per business to help address liquidity needs and is designed to provide temporary support over a period of 12 months to allow companies to adjust their business models and supply chains.
- Investissement Québec’s Chantier productivité program. Chantier productivité, which is part of the ESSOR program, aims to support business productivity improvements by offering flexible financial assistance for investment projects. The Quebec government intends to enhance financial assistance in the form of refundable interest-free loans and may provide non-repayable contributions to businesses with projects estimated at more than $10M that stand out in terms of productivity.
Three additional programs were announced recently:
- Investissement Québec’s Panorama program. This program offers exporting businesses financing and support with their working capital requirements related to projects aimed at increasing or diversifying sales in Canada and internationally (outside the U.S.).
- Investissement Québec’s grand V initiative. The aim of this initiative is to stimulate business investment and accelerate the shift towards innovation and sustainable productivity to propel their growth.
- The CDPQ’s program for Québec businesses. The CDPQ put in place a program to encourage Quebec companies to launch new projects to increase productivity or strategically pivot to new markets.
- The Québec government recently announced an envelope of $20M for the FORCE (Formation pour la résilience et la compétitivité en emploi) program which is administered by the Commissiohttps://www.cdpq.com/en/program-quebec-businessesn des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT). Under this program, workers in the manufacturing, transportation and natural resources sectors will be entitled to training programs funded by the Québec government to offset the impacts of tariff threats. To encourage training, the government will reimburse up to 85% of the cost of training programs of 12 months or less. For more information, visit the Québec government’s website.
- An additional six months’ respite to repay financial assistance from the Fonds locaux d’investissement (FLI), which are managed by the regional county municipalities. This payment period is in addition to those already authorised by the regional county municipalities.
- The Québec government is offering tailor-made training courses for businesses looking to develop new markets quickly. Financial assistance will be granted to cover 75% of eligible expenses and will be awarded to SMEs with between 5 and 199 employees in the manufacturing, transport and primary sectors (natural resources and agriculture) if they are eligible.
- The Programme d’appui au redressement et à la rétention d’entreprises stratégiques et financement d’urgence (PARISEAU) aims to support strategic companies that are temporarily experiencing financial difficulties.
- The Québec government is granting $2 million to support the digital shift of Québec SMEs. Québec’s four Centres d’expertise industrielle (CEI) are each receiving $500,000 to implement the Virage PME: productivité et transformation numérique project. The aim of this project is to make Industry 5.0 more accessible to manufacturing companies in order to improve their productivity.
- The Québec government announces the reopening of the Développement économique pour l’aide à la redynamisation des territoires (DÉPART) program. This program is designed to make it easier for businesses in the MRCs concerned to obtain financing (particularly those in the bottom quintile of the economic vitality index and those in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region).
Canada government
The Government of Canada also recently announced new business support measures:
- The government has announced measures to help the automotive sector affected by tariffs. Auto manufacturers may be exempted from tariff countermeasures imposed by Canada, provided they continue to produce vehicles in Canada. See the announcement for more information.
- The government will provide temporary six-month relief to businesses for goods imported from the U.S. that are used in the manufacturing, processing and packaging of food and beverages in Canada, as well as for goods in support of public health, health care and national security objectives.
- The Export Development Canada (EDC) Trade Impact Program will support Canadian exporters with expanding into new markets and navigating the economic challenges resulting from tariffs.
- Farm Credit Canada is providing $1 billion in new lending to help alleviate financial challenges under the new Trade Disruption Customer Support program for agriculture and food industry.
- Up to $500 million in the form of preferred interest rate loans through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to support companies operating in sectors directly affected by tariffs or those in supply chains with exposure to the U.S.
- Additional initiatives such as special measures for the Work-Sharing Program, easing employment insurance eligibility requirements, and changes to the Investment Canada Act guidelines are part of the Government of Canada’s business support strategy plan.
Ville de Montréal
Moratorium for companies with loans from the PME Montréal network
A company currently in receipt of a loan from PME Montréal will have six months’ respite before beginning repayment. Visit the PME Mtl website for more information.
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