The economic projects of Quebec International reached a record high of $ 736.7 million in 2020, despite the challenges associated with the epidemic, compared to $ 650 million in 2019.
Among the results of last year, nearly $ 324 million came in foreign direct investment, representing growth of 21.2% over three years. The Agency’s President and CEO, Carl Vail, spoke of “robust performance” to describe the results of 2020 activities.
Approximately 1,812 jobs are created or maintained through foreign direct investment. In all, 105 projects were launched or confirmed. Despite the context of the pandemic, more than 1,774 international workers and students have been recruited, for $ 135 million.
foreign investment
Among the foreign investments, Mr. Feel cites the Binox expansion in downtown Quebec. Activision-owned video game development studio plans to create 100 additional functions. Added to this are the expansion plans of the American IT services company, LogMeIn, which announced last December that it wants to increase its workforce by about 50% in Quebec over the next 12 months, by employing 80 permanent employees and subcontractors. The company chooses Quebec City to establish its head office in Canada. Another example is SBI International, which will invest more than $ 10 million in its Saint-Augustin facility to increase its productivity and improve its R&D capacity.
“This is a year in which innovation has been at the center of our business. The pandemic has forced our organization to look at its daily life from a new perspective,” said Mr. Weil.
The Le Camp accelerator incubator has supported 80 companies with benefits of more than $ 170 million.
“Given the difficult year that we have just experienced, both for the Quebec economy and for international trade, these results are very encouraging. This indicates that despite the epidemic, we have succeeded in achieving significant economic benefits for the Quebec City region and for all of Quebec,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon , Minister of Economy.
We have successfully maintained our competitive edge to continue attracting foreign direct investment. […] In 2019, Quebec attracted more than $ 5.6 billion in foreign direct investment, which represents about 15,000 jobs. For 2020, according to preliminary data, we are talking about more than $ 4 billion in foreign investment in Quebec. He added that this is less than desired, but it is still remarkable, given the epidemic and the general decline in private investment and the influx of foreign capital into the world.