
Photo credit: Jean Joubert, L'Express de Montcalm
The three Lanaudière CFDCs are delighted with the August 30 announcement by Ramez Ayoub, Member of Parliament for Thérèse-De Blainville, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Singh Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, of a new three-year agreement between Canada Economic Development (CED) and Quebec's Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) and Business Development Centres (BDCs).
Over the next three years, 4,023,258 $ will be injected into the Lanaudière region via the Achigan-Montcalm, D'Autray-Joliette and Matawinie CFDCs. According to Pierre Marois, President of the SADC de D'Autray-Joliette and representative of the Laurentides-Lanaudière region on the Board of Directors of the Réseau des SADC et CAE: "This is excellent news, enabling us to continue our work in the field with entrepreneurs and municipalities. For more than 30 years, our role has been evolving and our expertise has been consolidating, enabling us to respond concretely and effectively to the socio-economic challenges we face.
This announcement also confirms CED's contributions to Special Initiatives, which enable SADCs to support local development projects and employment internships for young people. Among other things, the Lanaudière SADCs will be prioritizing interventions with entrepreneurs in the fields of innovation, business transfer, sustainable development and information technologies, areas in which they have developed solid expertise over the years.
At SADC, we're young until 39!
In addition, the age limit for participation in the Youth Strategy financing initiative has been raised from 35 to 39 inclusive. This initiative enables young entrepreneurs, or those wishing to become entrepreneurs, to benefit from financing and support tailored to their needs.
Finally, these agreements will provide an opportunity to maintain and consolidate this fruitful partnership with the Government of Canada, for the benefit of the citizens of Quebec's regions.
Some results from 2015-2016 in Lanaudière
- With loans totalling 2,345,766 $, committed to 48 projects, the investment funds of the three CFDCs have helped to create and maintain 278 jobs;
- The 307,000 $ disbursed as part of the Youth Strategy supported 18 projects initiated by entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35, for the acquisition, start-up, expansion or modernization of their businesses, and helped create and maintain 67 jobs;
- According to a recent Statistics Canada study, businesses supported by CFDCs and BDCs have a significantly higher survival rate of 76 % after five years of existence, compared with 50% for the control group.
About CFDCs
The Sociétés d'aide au développement des collectivités (SADC) de Lanaudière are non-profit organizations governed by a board of directors and supported by Canada Economic Development for over 30 years. Their mission is to initiate and support structuring projects in the community, and to assist entrepreneurs with their projects.
Community Futures Program (CFP)
This program, implemented by CED in Quebec, provides funding for the operations of Canada's 269 CFDCs and BDCs. The CFP is a program that recognizes the expertise of local decision-makers and the autonomy of decision-making, in order to stimulate the participation of communities in taking charge of their own future.