• An access to information request filed by the CTF confirms Investissement Québec doesn’t do any tracking regarding actual jobs created following its investments.

MONTRÉAL, QC : Following an access to information request, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has learned Investissement Québec doesn’t track actual job creation numbers with the companies it subsidizes.

“Despite billions of dollars invested in the last few years, the only jobs it can confirm it has created are those of the 500 bureaucrats working at Investissement Québec,” said Renaud Brossard, the CTF’s Quebec Director. “Quebeckers deserve better.”

On Aug. 2, the CTF sent the following access to information request to Investissement Québec:

Please provide all documents analyzing the estimated versus actual number of jobs saved or created through investments made with Investissement Québec’s equity for the last available year.

Investissement Québec responded to the request on Aug. 22 by sending its annual report. In its response, Investissement Québec states data regarding the number of jobs created come from companies’ own projections and statistical calculations by Institut de la statistique du Québec on potential job creation and economic development stemming from subsidized projects. Investissement Québec did not provide any document showing tracking of actual jobs created from its financing activities.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has communicated with Investissement Québec on Sept. 3 to confirm it properly understood the request and confirm it did not have any documents tracking actual, rather than projected, job creation. On Sept. 10, Investissement Québec confirmed they do not track actual job creation, nor is it in their strategic plan to start doing so.

“Not only do they not track actual job creation, but they’re not even planning on tracking it,” added Brossard. “Are they scared of what the results might show?”

Investissement Québec’s response to the CTF’s access to information request is available via the following link: https://www.taxpayer.com/media/AccesInfo-InvestQuebec-2019-08-22.pdf

Media contact/Contact média :
Renaud Brossard
Quebec Director/Directeur Québec
Canadian Taxpayers Federation/Fédération canadienne des contribuables

t : 514-743-2883
e : [email protected]
Twitter : @renaudbrossard