The Quebec City region has a strong economy. Even though the tertiary sector plays an important role, the role of the leading industrial sectors is by no means insignificant. It is partly thanks to the Université Laval, and also public and private research centres, that the region ranks first among Canadian provinces and territories for the greatest number of researchers and experts per-capita. Several hundred millions of dollars are invested every year in R&D. The city stands out with its funds for university research (ranks second in Canada) and the number of scientific publications (ranks third in the country). Several industrial sectors are concentrated in the Quebec City region, including:

• Life Sciences;
• Green and Smart Building;
• Information and Communication Technologies (ITC);
• Food Processing.

Thanks to their R&D activities, companies in the Quebec City region may be eligible to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program. This federal tax incentive program encourages Canadian businesses of all sizes, and in all sectors to conduct R&D in Canada that will lead to new, improved, or technologically advanced products or processes.

When Census Metropolitan Areas are compared to each other based on their rates of innovation, the Quebec City region comes out with a rate of 72 %. Though a high rate is not necessarily equivalent to a high reception rate of SR&ED tax credits, the Quebec City region bucks the overall trend by holding a second place, with 61.7 %.

Many of the Quebec City Region’s industrial sectors have a reception rate of SR&ED tax credits higher than 50 %*:

• Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (65 %);
• Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing (82.8 %);
• Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing (54.1%).

Specialized in the high-tech industry and innovative environments, d’Astous Groupe Conseil helps several Quebec City-based companies to get R&D tax credits. Its team of experts covers all key sectors from this region.

*These statistics come from a publication entitled Les mesures d’aide fiscale à la R-D et l’innovation des entreprises au Québec from Institut de la statistique du Québec.