Quebec Business Grants & Subsidies: 2026 Guide

Federal support in Quebec is led by Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED; in French, Développement économique Canada pour les régions du Québec, DEC), plus national programs such as the Canada Small Business Financing Program. CED is not a Quebec government department.

Provincial support is the Government of Quebec. Investissement Québec provides financing and delivers some programs for the government. The Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie) is responsible for other aid now listed on Quebec.ca. Revenu Québec tax credits are claimed on a corporate return. That is not a grant application.

Municipal and regional aid runs through cities and regional county municipalities. Quebec’s partial list of financial aid includes local investment funds (Fonds locaux d’investissement) accessed with the regional county municipality. That is neither a CED contribution nor a tax credit.

SubsidyFinder’s directory is a live index, not a fixed “open” list. See open government grants in Quebec, or filter Quebec and Business & Industry in Quebec. The region filter also includes Canada-wide programs.

The directory does not take applications. See grants for small business, grants for nonprofits and provinces and territories. The Ontario companion is Ontario small business grants and loans, with the live Ontario grants directory.

Federal programs are offered in Quebec. CED is the regional development agency. The Canada Small Business Financing Program and the Business Development Bank of Canada are national and are not CED programs.

CED supports projects for business growth, innovation, diversification and local economic development. The financing and services page (Financement et services) lists current measures and, for many of them, whether applications are being accepted. That label changes. Read it on the day you apply.

CED’s service standards name three main programs: Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI; Croissance économique régionale par l’innovation, CERI), the Quebec Economic Development Program (Programme de développement économique du Québec, PDEQ) and the Community Futures Program (Programme de développement des collectivités, PDC). See the service-standards page. Other measures on the financing page include artificial intelligence, a tariff response for manufacturing businesses, and festivals in Greater Montréal. A name on that page is not proof the measure is open.

CED’s application guide says to contact the business office for your region before you file. If the project can be considered, a form is sent in the client portal. Costs incurred before the signed form is officially submitted are generally not authorized. A representative’s fees cannot be reimbursed from CED funding, and a representative must be registered in the lobbyist registry. French guide: présenter une demande d’aide financière.

The Canada Small Business Financing Program helps small businesses get a loan or line of credit from a financial institution, including a caisse populaire in Quebec. ISED shares the risk with the lender. The FAQ says you apply at the institution, not at ISED, and that most start-ups can be eligible if the other rules are met. Farming businesses are excluded. Maximums and fees stay on the FAQ. French home page: Programme de financement des petites entreprises du Canada.

The Business Development Bank of Canada is a federal Crown corporation that finances and advises businesses. It is not a CED grant and not a Revenu Québec credit. Terms are only on bdc.ca (français).

Quebec publishes a partial list of financial aid for businesses and organizations. It is not exhaustive. Two doors come up often: Investissement Québec, and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy.

Investissement Québec offers loans, guarantees, equity investment and government programs it often delivers for the province. Its financing pages describe help from pre-start-up through succession. That does not mean every product accepts a start-up. French financing hub: financement.

Quebec.ca names Programme ESSOR for investment projects that expand a business through productivity or access to new markets. What the aid can be — a loan, a guarantee, and in some cases a non-repayable contribution — and which sectors are excluded is on Investissement Québec’s government-program pages. Minimums and fees are not copied here.

The Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie is responsible for several programs now listed on Quebec.ca. The Programme d’appui aux projets de développement économique supports organizations that help businesses: entrepreneurship, strategic sectors and regions, foreign trade and investment attraction. The page, updated on 15 September 2026, also states when the program ends. Read that date on the page rather than in a secondary summary.

The aid list includes other measures in the same family, such as operating support for economic-development organizations, social-economy support, commercialization and export, and aid for food processing and distribution. An organization is not a stand-in for a private company, and a food project does not automatically fit an innovation program.

A tax credit is not a grant you file with CED or Investissement Québec. Revenu Québec lists tax credits a corporation may be entitled to (liste française). The corporation claims them on its income-tax return, with the forms and certificates that credit requires.

Official names on that list include the tax credit for investment and innovation (crédit d’impôt pour investissement et innovation), the R&D and pre-commercialization tax credit (crédit d’impôt pour la R-D et la précommercialisation, CRIC), the tax credit for the development of e-business (crédit d’impôt pour le développement des affaires électroniques), and the tax credit for manpower training in small and medium-sized businesses (crédit d’impôt pour formation d’un travailleur à l’emploi d’une PME). Rates and exclusions are on each credit’s page. They are not quoted here.

The Programme de formation de la main-d’œuvre helps Quebec employers develop workers’ skills. Technical or financial help can cover defining training needs, delivering the training and evaluating it. The page says private businesses, groups of businesses, cooperatives, non-profits, self-employed workers and band councils may apply. Public bodies and political organizations may not. A Services Québec business advisor sets the amount during the file review. That amount is not repeated here.

The manpower-training tax credit on the Revenu Québec list is a separate tax tool. Both can exist at once. That does not mean the same expense can be funded twice. Check each page.

Call the right office first. For CED, that is the regional business office, before the form. For Investissement Québec, it is an account manager or the form for the product you want. For a tax credit, it is the corporate return and Revenu Québec’s forms, not a grant application.

Keep a short description of the business (activities, markets, recent financial position) and of the project (goals, cost, schedule, expected results). CED asks for this in its application guide. Do not spend heavily before you know the costs can be covered: for CED, costs before the signed form are generally not authorized.

Apply on the official site. How SubsidyFinder works and the FAQ explain that this site is an independent directory. If a listing and the official page disagree, use the official page.