Support vouchers.

Support vouchers key parameters

Objectives you can fund

• Have a specialized consultant carry out a diagnostic or a study on an identified strategic issue.
• Optimize a production floor with the help of an external expert.
• Have a circular economy, recycling or waste reduction avenue assessed.
• Structure a growth stage — organization, markets, positioning — with an outside perspective.
• Prepare a technology investment decision with neutral estimates.
• Fund the professional fees that the company's cash flow cannot absorb on its own.

Program overview

The support vouchers are the “productivity and growth” stream of Ville de Québec's economic funding. The objective fits in one sentence: to help companies grow by funding specialized professional consulting services, brought in to address the company's strategic issues at different stages of its development.

The contribution is non-repayable. For a private company, it reaches $30,000 per company per year, up to a maximum of 30% of eligible expenses. Social economy enterprises fall under a separate regime: $15,000 per year, up to a maximum of 80% of eligible expenses if the enterprise is non-profit, otherwise 50%.

• Non-repayable
• Continuous intake
• Mandatory territory
• No minimum threshold
• Mandate approved before signing

Eligibility criteria

Two filters overlap: the applicant's legal form and the sector of activity. The second is a closed list, and it is the one that rules out the most otherwise solid applications.

Eligible territory

• Project territory: Québec City agglomeration — the cities of Québec, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and L'Ancienne-Lorette — and Wendake.
• Location of the head office: same territory.
• Repayment clauses apply if the company leaves the territory or ceases operations, depending on the date of the event.

Application steps

The one point that cannot be recovered: having the consultant's mandate approved by the City before signing the contract. Everything else can be adjusted.

1. 01. Checking the territory, the sector and any arrears

   Three checks that take an hour and avoid a refusal: are the head office and the project location in the Québec City agglomeration or in Wendake, does the sector appear in the closed list, and does the company have amounts outstanding to the City. Where applicable, amounts owed are deducted from the payments.

   ADMISSIBILITY

2. 02. Defining the mandate and prior approval

   The consultant is chosen by the company, but the mandate must be approved by the City before the contract is signed. This is the step that cannot be taken out of order.

   MANDATE APPROVAL

3. 03. Filing the form and the supporting documents

   Filing of the funding application form for the “support vouchers for growth” stream, together with the required documents. The date of the substantially complete and compliant application is the one that opens eligibility for expenses.

   FILING · CONTINUOUS INTAKE

4. 04. Review, agreement and payments

   Review against the published criteria, including the demonstration of the need for financial assistance. The amount offered depends on the availability of funds: a project's eligibility does not guarantee that assistance will be granted.

   REVIEW AND PAYMENT

Activities funded by the program

Only one type of expense is covered — external expertise — but its subject matter is broad.

• Specialized professional consulting services to address the company's strategic issues, at different stages of its development.
• Support from a consultant in optimizing a production floor.
• Carrying out a study — the example published by the City concerns the circular economy and recycling in plastics processing.

Documents to provide

• Funding application form for the “support vouchers for growth” stream, published by Ville de Québec.
• List of required documents and filing procedures: they appear in the form itself.
• The consultant's mandate, submitted to the City for approval before the contract is signed.
• Elements of the responsible business model, which the promoter must document for the review.
• Justification of the need for financial assistance, including the compensation levels of the main executives.

Expenses covered by the program

• Professional fees.
• Consulting services.
• Studies.

Excluded costs

• Funding of regular operations, whether for a private company or a social economy enterprise whose activities are mainly commercial.
• Funding of charitable activities and payment of volunteer resources.
• Payment of a debt or repayment of existing loans.
• Replacement of government support or of existing programs.
• Expenses incurred or committed before the filing date of a substantially complete and compliant application.
• Any expense aimed at relocating the company or part of its production outside the Québec City agglomeration, unless the City consents in writing.
• The portion of taxes (GST and QST) that the recipient recovers from governments.

Application review and agreement

• The consultant is chosen by the company, but the mandate must be approved by Ville de Québec before the contract is signed.
• A project's eligibility does not guarantee that financial assistance will be granted.
• The amount offered is set according to the availability of funds and the assessment of the need for financial assistance.
• Before submitting an application, the applicant must make sure it has no amounts outstanding to the City: where applicable, amounts owed are deducted from the payments. The set-off may cover taxes, contributions to a commercial development corporation (SDC) and fines.
• If the company leaves the territory or ceases operations, repayment clauses apply depending on the date of the event.

Points to check before filing

• Combined public assistance — Québec and Canadian departments, agencies and Crown corporations, including tax credits, and municipal entities — cannot exceed 70% of eligible expenses for a for-profit company's project, of which a maximum of 50% in non-repayable contributions.
• For other eligible applicants, this stacking ceiling is 80%, and may exceptionally reach 100% for unique projects with very high economic development impact and a major structuring effect.
• The maximum active funding per two-year period, across all Ville de Québec economic development programs combined, is $500,000 — any assistance being counted at 100% of its value in that calculation.
• There is no minimum project cost threshold: a modest mandate is eligible.
• The list of eligible sectors names artificial intelligence, but excludes “services and consulting” on the same line. The exclusion targets the applicant's sector of activity, not the nature of the mandate given to the consultant.
• The published review criteria are explicit: distinctive and innovative character, relevance of the offering in the market, viability and consistency of the financial structure, organizational and financial capacity, and demonstration of the need for financial assistance including the compensation levels of the main executives.
• Information: Service du développement économique et des grands projets, 295, boulevard Charest Est, Québec (Québec) G1K 3G8 — degp@ville.quebec.qc.ca.