Quebec plastics processors given government funding (November 27, 2006)

The Canadian government has pledged $754,000 (US$667,000) over a two-year period to assist Quebec’s small and medium-sized plastics processors to improve productivity, innovation and commercialization in the face of globalization.
The grant from the Canadian Economic Development Agency is the second phase of a project that began in 2003, and which has been lead by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA).
The first phase, which involved a grant of $866,150 (US$764,150), consisted of efforts to improve the productivity of a limited number of plastics processors in the province, and met with great success, according to Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for economic development agency in the Quebec regions. “The small and mid-sized companiesthat participated [in the first phase] saw their performance increase by 50 per cent over that of non-participating firms,” he said. “Furthermore, 80 per cent of them improved their productivity and 70 per cent increased their overall sales.”
The second phase, introduced in October at the Quebec Plastics Summit in Montreal, will see the $754,000 dispersed over a two-year period. The money will be spent according to a platform developed to allow selected companies to benefit from the experience of other participating firms, and from tools and opportunities that otherwise would have be inaccessible to them, according to the CPIA.
“The plastics and composites industry comprises about 800 companies in Quebec alone,” Pierre Fillion, director general of the CPIA for Quebec, said. “The formula, which has now proven its worth, will allow them to effectively maintain their development.”