Portrait of the Quebec City region competitive business environment: high-performance economy, access to markets, research centers, specialized workforce, infrastructures, tax breaks and low costs. A brochure produced by Québec International.

We have been reporting on the format of teh "Seeks Solution" conferences before. The idea is both simple and surprisingly effective: turn a scientific conference upside down: Skip the presentation of successful research and undertakings and focus, together, on what is really interesting for everybody: challenges yet unsolved.

The Quebec City metropolitan region generated $32.5 billion in real GDP in 2012, a new record. However, the annual increase was only 0.9%, down from 2% in 2011, with the downturn in the labour market in the second half of 2012 and the persistent decline in manufacturing accounting for this more modest showing. Still, the Quebec City CMA recorded average annual growth of 1.9% between 2007 and 2012, one of the highest rates in Canada. Of the country’s eight principal CMAs, only Edmonton (3.4%) and Calgary (2.0%) outpaced Quebec City.

The Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) recorded Canada’s highest job creation rate in the first quarter of 2013. Outperforming all other Canadian regions, Quebec City posted a quarterly gain of 9,400 jobs, for a total of 428,100. Unemployment fell to 4.4%, one of the lowest rates in the country (the regional unemployment rate has not been this low since early 2010).

According to the 2013-2014 American Cities of the Future rankings compiled by UK-based fDi Magazine, which is published by the Financial Times Group, Quebec City placed in the Top 10 in three categories (Mid-Sized American Cities of the Future, Business Friendliness and Best fDi Strategy). A total of 422 cities in the Americas were evaluated by fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times, and divided into five groups based on population size. Quebec City is in the mid-sized cities group, which includes urban areas with populations of more than 200,000 inhabitants and metropolitan regions with more than 750,000 inhabitants.

Started as an informal association of large Canadian cities in 2007 and formally incorporated in 2012, the Consider Canada City Alliance Inc. is embarking on a six-day investment mission to three Chinese cities starting the week of April 14th. Representatives from 10 members of the Alliance are uniting their economic development strength to promote Canada as the world’s most desirable destination for Chinese investment and trade.

Over the past few decades, Quebec City has made the transition from an economy primarily based on the traditional sectors to one based on new technology-related research and innovation, known as the knowledge economy. n 2012, the Quebec City region was named one of the Top 7 Intelligent Communities in the prestigious international contest organized by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). It was also ranked among the Smart 21 Communities in 2010 and 2011. Nearly 400 applications from cities and regions around the world are evaluated each year.

Quebec City and Lévis are the only urban areas in Quebec e ranked in the Top 10 in their respective categories (large city and mid-sized city).

The index, part of the Milken Institute's Access to Global Capital Initiative in partnership with Liquidnet, provides a systematic, data-rich framework to shed light on nations' attractiveness to foreign investors, the kind that commit "patient" capital to strategic projects that benefit all parties well into the future. It not only considers economic variables but also examines key business, legal, and regulatory policies that can drive those decisions.

Two initiatives aiming to support technology entrepreneurship were recently announced in Quebec City.

Atrium Innovations announces that it has entered into a joint venture contract with Fosun Industrial, incorporated in Hong Kong, wholly owned of Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma for the purposes of distributing Atrium brands in China. According to IMS Health Incorporated, Fosun Pharma is one of the top five domestic pharmaceutical companies in the People’s Republic of China by revenue, in the pharmaceutical manufacturing segment. The new joint venture will operate under the FOSIUM Innovations name.

Based on the findings of this Best Practices research, Frost & Sullivan is proud to present the 2013 North American Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award in the Molecular Diagnostics Market to GenePOC Inc, Quebec City, Canada. Frost & Sullivan is in its 50th year in business with a global research organization of 1,800 analysts and consultants who monitor more than 300 industries and 250,000 companies.

In partnership with Videotron Business Solutions, the Québec City Convention Centre is sharpening its competitive edge by launching a compelling technological service for convention clients: free high-speed wireless Internet access in all the Centre’s meeting rooms, exhibit halls, and public areas. The Québec City Convention Centre, which has always been on the cutting edge, is stepping into the lead as it becomes the first convention centre in Canada—and one of the only in North America—to provide free, high-quality WiFi access to its clients.

It’s time for the annual Carnaval de Québec, one of the most classic Canadian winter celebrations. Here’s why you absolutely must check out this Québécois tradition.

Whether you travel to eat or shop, surf or ski, new adventures await.

A team of researchers from Université Laval, CHU de Québec, and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered a way to stimulate the brain’s natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. This major breakthrough, details of which are presented today in an early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), opens the door to the development of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and a vaccine to prevent the illness.

Tim Richards gets a taste for a resurgent St Roch, an up-and-coming area of Quebec City.

Auberge Saint-Antoine is proud to announce their recognition as the highest ranked hotel in Canada in Travel + Leisure's 2013 T+L 500 Awards. With the property’s history dating back as early as 1687, the celebrated hotel is famous for its unique Canadian heritage and legendary cuisine. “We are absolutely thrilled to be awarded with this honour,” says Jean-Louis Souman, General Manager of Auberge Saint-Antoine. “Especially considering these awards are voted on by the readers of Travel +Leisure, this is even more meaningful to us as our guests are our number one priority.”

Thales Canada announced that its R&D facility in the Parc Technologique is now an official Thales Research and Technology (TRT) centre – the fifth in the world and first in North America. The inauguration of the new facility will strengthen Thales Canada’s role beyond development to research, maintaining a leading position with the creation and transfer of technologies.

The city’s name “kebec” means in the First Nation Algonquin language “where the river narrows,” referring to where the icy serpentine that is the Saint Lawrence River narrows at a cliff. This striking, colonial city along the mighty St. Lawrence Rivers knows how to party in the winter, and if you decide to stay past the holidays or wish to return, Winter Carnival, is held every February and is one of the most widely-attended events.

Quebec City is pleased to recieve a grant in IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge. This philanthropic initiative is designed to provide IBM’s most valuable resources and employees problem solving skills to address some of the most pressing urban challenges. This world-scale contest will allow the 31 selected cities to benefit from 5 to 6 IBM employees for a period of 3 weeks to address a strategic challenge. For example, in 2012, IBM worked with the historic city of Málaga, Spain, to enhance its global competitiveness by developing a sustainable, integrated economic plan. Six IBM experts developed a roadmap to tackle widespread unemployment by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship among citizens.