Through the introduction of such measures, the Quebec government is encouraging businesses to prepare for the economic recovery that will follow the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, businesses should begin planning and refining their capital expenditures to have ‘shovel-ready’ projects as program specific details are being developed now, and will be implemented in the coming months. Businesses will need to be ready to apply to these programs in order to maximize these government incentives. More details are listed below, and Fairtax will continue to provide updates as these programs are developed and introduced to businesses.
Investments in digital technology and automation will be critical to enable businesses to meet the labour shortage challenge. In order to boost business productivity and competitiveness, the Quebec government is providing, in Budget 2020-2021, more than $1 billion over six years to:
The government is therefore providing, in Budget 2020-2021, close to $556 million over five years to:
To accelerate business and export growth, the government is providing, in Budget 2020-2021, $157.5 million by 2024-2025 to:
The government has set two ambitious objectives for the next five years:
To achieve these objectives, the government is providing $110.0 million in Budget 2020-2021 to implement the action plan for foreign investment and export growth.
The government is providing, in Budget 2020-2021, $25.0 million to allow them to implement best business practices and intensify their collaboration efforts with accelerators and incubators in the regions.
The C3i will benefit businesses in all sectors of activity, particularly the manufacturing and services sectors, for their acquisitions made before January 1, 2025 relating to:
The tax credit rate will be 10%, 15% or 20%. It will be determined according to the location and the economic vitality index of the area where the investments are made.
The C3i will be fully refundable for SMBs and nonrefundable for large businesses.
Eligible expenses for property will be those exceeding $12,500 for the acquisition of manufacturing and processing equipment. The threshold will be set at $5,000 for computer hardware and management software packages.
The C3i's implementation will support the investments of approximately 10,000 businesses annually. This measure will spur business investment by close to $1.3 billion by the time it expires, on December 31, 2024, and will encourage businesses to accelerate their modernization.
Tax holiday applicable to corporate income tax and employer contributions to the Health Services Fund (HSF) related to the investment project. The tax holiday is equivalent to a maximum of 15% of their investment, spread over a maximum period of 15 years.
To foster the development of Québec innovative SMBs, the government is planning, in Budget 2020-2021, to create the synergy capital tax credit. This tax credit aims to encourage established businesses to invest in the share capital of Québec SMBs.
Businesses that invest in an eligible SMB will be able to claim a nonrefundable tax credit equivalent to 30% of the value of their investment in eligible shares.
Wishing to foster innovation and its commercialization, the government is providing, in Budget 2020-2021, close to $334 million, particularly to encourage the marketing of Québec innovations and speed up the development of innovative products.
To be eligible for the IDCI, a business must have an establishment in Québec, commercialize intellectual property (IP) there and have incurred R&D expenses in Québec.
Eligible income will be subject to a combined tax rate of 17%, a lower rate than in the rest of Canada and the United States, thus making it the most competitive tax rate in North America.
The commercialization of innovations developed in Québec has significant economic potential, since close to 15,000 businesses will be eligible for the IDCI over the next few years.
Québec provides corporations with three R&D tax credits that foster collaboration with various innovation players:
The government is planning to invest $22.5 million by 2024-2025.
Investments of $35.0 million are also provided for in the 2020-2030 Québec Infrastructure Plan to reinforce the presence of international organizations in Montréal, and to support those organizations and increase their visibility. These amounts are added to those provided for in the 2020-2030 Québec Infrastructure Plan to support Québec's new international offices, particularly the Délégation générale du Québec à Paris.
-The GrantMatch Team