Quebec’s 2025-2030 social economy action plan: $142M

The Quebec government’s action plan for the social economy has risen from $136 million in the previous plan to $142 million over five years for the period 2025-2030.

The Minister for the Economy, Christopher Skeete, made the announcement at a press conference in Montreal on Friday, at a company that repairs bicycles, including the famous Bixi bikes.

Québec hopes to give a much-needed boost to a number of social economy enterprises, from home care for the elderly to housing, training, food and more.

The sum should enable 4,000 “accompaniment and financing activities” to be carried out, which together should result in total investments of $565 million, explained the Minister.

“When we talk about the social economy, we’re not talking about subsidies. The government intervenes to provide financial leverage to help these collective enterprises help the population,” he explained.

Compared with the previous plan, certain changes have been made.

For example, the renewed plan “puts other ministries and organizations at the forefront”, he asserts, lamenting the fact that the ministries concerned know too little about the prospects offered by the social economy.

“Many of my colleagues in government ministries and organizations would benefit from a better understanding of the social economy, because it could help them solve many of society’s problems. I’m thinking, for example, of my colleague Sonia Bélanger (Minister responsible for Seniors), who is going to deploy ESSADs – social economy enterprises in homecare – to help the government fulfill its health mission,” says Minister Skeete.

He believes that the renewed plan for 2025-2030 could also enable “the social economy to be given greater prominence as an alternative to the traditional economy”.

Béatrice Alain, Executive Director of Chantier de l’économie sociale, welcomed the announcement of the government’s renewed action plan. “The renewal of support for the Chantier, as well as the priority given to strategic sectors, testifies to a recognition of the essential role of the social economy. It also demonstrates the capacity of our ecosystem to support existing and start-up businesses, and to innovate in order to rethink economic logic for the benefit of the common good.”

On Friday, the Institut de la statistique du Québec published a statistical portrait of the social economy for the year 2022. It shows that, in that year, 11,360 social economy enterprises, present in all regions, provided work for 248,000 employees.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews