Publications

Marking the grand finale of the third edition of the CATAPULTE program, Carl Viel, CEO of Quebec International, Denis Laforest, general manager of Caisse Desjardins Quebec City and the various partners are pleased to announce that the independent video game studio Polymorph Games is this year's grand prizewinner.

As part of an international outlook event (Perspectives internationales 2017), Carl Viel, President and CEO of Québec International, and Caroline Roy, Vice-President of Léger's Quebec City office, released the results of the annual business confidence survey of CEOs in the Greater Quebec City region (Conjoncture 2017).

Québec International would like to take this opportunity to express its solidarity with all of Quebec City's Muslim community in the wake of last night's tragic events at the local Islamic cultural centre (Centre culturel islamique de Québec).

The CEO of Quebec International, Carl Viel, and the General Manager of Quebec City Caisse Desjardins, Denis Laforest, are proud to announce the launch of the third edition of Catapult, a unique accelerator program for independent video game studios in Quebec City. After two successful editions, Catapulte, initiated by the digital arts and interactive entertainment sub-sector (ANDI), is back in force for a third year with a new and improved format.

The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) and Quebec International are pleased to announce the names of the 23 companies that will be taking part in the fourth edition of the SME Passport program (Passeport PME). Over the next 18 months, these companies will benefit from a comprehensive training and guidance structure overseen by the CCMM's ACCLR international trade experts and by Québec International.

Ushering in 2017, Quebec City's Economic New Year (Rentrée Économique) will bring together a roster of renowned experts who will discuss the economic outlook and related issues for 2017. Organized by Québec International, the Quebec City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIQ), the Lévis Chamber of Commerce (CCL), the Quebec Association of Economists (ASDEQ/Quebec City chapter) and the Quebec Financial Circle (CFQ), the program of activities for the seventh edition of this event will run from January 17 to February 2.

Québec International announced a major partnership today with Industrial Alliance Financial Group (iA) following the signing of a three-year agreement that will also involve LE CAMP and LA ZONE. Under the agreement, an innovation hub will be established in Quebec City with a view to positioning the local technological ecosystem alongside the insurance and financial services industry.

The second edition of Quebec City Digital Week (QCDW) will be held from April 1-9, 2017. This year, a number of the 17 scheduled events are geared towards the general public. QCDW is designed to showcase various high-level actors in one of Quebec City's major economic hubs, including two essential players: Web in Quebec City (WAQ) and Pixel Challenge.

Quebec International, in collaboration with the Quebec Health Alliance (ASQ), BioQuebec, Genome Quebec, Norton Rose Fulbright, Innovative Medicines Canada and the Quebec City-Laval University Hospital Centre (CHUQUL), will be presenting the Quebec City Health Industry Forum (FISQ) on November 29-30. For the past 10 years, FISQ has been the most important annual event in Quebec's life sciences sector, attracting and mobilizing various key actors, including industry representatives, researchers, managers and decision makers.

The Foundation for Foreign Agricultural Worker Recruitment (Fondation des entreprises en recrutement de main-d’œuvre agricole étrangère/FERME) and Québec International (QI) are pleased to announce that they have joined forces to expand their range of recruitment services. Companies in the Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches regions will now be able to access local services provided by FERME, a key recruiter of foreign agricultural workers.

In April, the Québec City CMA recorded an unemployment rate of 4.2%, a small 0.1 percentage point raise compared to March. This allowed the CMA to preserve its 2nd place in Canada.

The Québec City CMA kicked off 2017 with investments of $192.5 million on the non-residential market in the first quarter, an increase of 2.4% compared to the same period in 2016. In the province of Quebec, the value of non-residential investment reached $2.2 billion for the first three months of 2017, an annual increase of 2%.

According to The Conference Board of Canada, the area’s real GDP was $34.6 billion in 2016, a gain of 1.6% compared to 2015. This performance places Québec City as the only major metropolitan area in Canada to have maintained continuous economic growth for 25 years.

The Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) created 2,100 positions in the first quarter of 2017, marking a total of 447,400 jobs. The region still has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada (4.1% at the end of March).

The Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) kicked off 2017 in fine style by adding 1,300 jobs in January, for a total of 446,600 jobs. For the third consecutive month, unemployment in the region held steady at 4.3%, one of the lowest rates in Canada.

Real GDP rose by 1.3% to $34.6 billion in the Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) in the third quarter of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015. During the first nine months of 2016, real GDP in the Quebec City region was up +1.4% compared with the same period in 2015.

According to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, the Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) posted the lowest unemployment rate in Canada in 2016 (4.6%). The regional unemployment rate remained under the 5% mark for the second year in a row (4.7% in 2015).

According to Statistics Canada, the Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) created 3,100 jobs in October compared with September, for a total of 445,100 jobs. The number of jobs climbed for the fifth month in a row in Quebec City, the longest such period among Canada's Top 8 metropolitan regions.

A total of 4,200 jobs were created in the Quebec City census metropolitan area (CMA) from July to August, the highest gain in the province of Quebec and the second highest in Canada. The region reported a total of 439,600 jobs in August, or the same number as in February.

The Québec City census metropolitan area (CMA) recorded real GDP of $34.4 billion in the first half of 2016, up 1.6% from the same period in 2015. The region had the strongest growth rate in the province of Québec and one of the highest in the country, particularly in Eastern Canada. Regional economic performance was driven by all sectors, including manufacturing (+4.0%), construction (+1.3%) and services (+0.9%).