Unprecedented mobilization to accelerate the digital shift of businesses
The intensification of digitization is essential to enable Quebec businesses to strengthen their competitiveness and productivity. In order to accelerate their digital shift and support them in this process, the Quebec government launched the Digital Transformation Offensive (OTN) last year.
Financial support for collaborative projects
This initiative supports collaborative projects of sectoral organizations or networks of expertise already serving businesses, particularly SMEs, in different sectors of economic activity and in all regions of Quebec.
“The Government of Quebec launched the OTN in March 2021, with an initial envelope of $130 million, to which was added the following year, an amount of $60 million until 2024” , explains Patrick Hamelin, Director of Competitiveness and Digital Business Transformation at the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy.
A total of 27 projects of national scope have been supported to date, in several fields of activity, including retail trade, tourism, construction, restoration, mining and exploration, forestry, fisheries, finance and insurance, culture and communications, logistics and various areas of the manufacturing sector. “These projects should make it possible to educate more than 138,000 businesses and support more than 15,000, whereas the initial targets were 37,500 and 3,750 respectively,” Mr. Hamelin points out.
A pooling of know-how
In order to promote the digital shift of businesses, the OTN mobilizes the various economic ministries as well as the strategic partners of the ecosystem: Investissement Québec, the Business Development Bank of Canada, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, the Mouvement Desjardins, and the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec. “The particularly interesting aspect of this initiative is that it integrates various key players. It thus pools the know-how of government departments, financial partners and organizations to support the implementation of projects aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of businesses of all sizes,” says Patrick Hamelin.
Furthermore, since the OTN is complementary to existing programs, a continuum of services bringing together the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity as well as the regional network of Investissement Québec (agent of the Ministry of the Economy, Innovation and Energy for certain programs) has been put in place. “This continuum makes it possible to provide appropriate support throughout the company’s digital transformation process, i.e. during the planning, development and implementation of technological solutions”, adds Mr. Hamelin.
Is your company ready to take action to improve its productivity and competitiveness? To learn more about the Government of Quebec’s Digital Transformation Offensive and the projects supported, visit the OTN webpage.
