Category: Press releases

THE RÉSEAU DES SADC ET CAE RECEIVES $9.5M IN FUNDING TO BOOST GREEN INITIATIVES

Posted on by Marie-Pier Catellier

Pascale St-Onge, the Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec (CED), announced today a non-repayable contribution of $9.5M to the Réseau des SADC et CAE to help SMEs go green and support sustainable development in Quebec regions.

This financial assistance comes at the perfect time for Sociétés d’aide au développement des collectivités (SADCs) and Centres d’aides aux entreprises (CAEs), which for 15 years have been integrating sustainable development principles into their local economic development projects and business advisory services. This support from Canada Economic Development will allow them to continue helping businesses improve their environmental and economic performance and assisting communities with local economic development projects that promote sustainable development.

Vallier Daigle, president of the Réseau des SADC et CAE, is understandably very pleased with today’s announcement.  “This is excellent news because, in addition to recognizing our members’ expertise helping
small businesses with sustainable development projects, the Government of Canada is taking a concrete step that will ultimately have a positive impact on the environmental and economic performance of our SMEs. The SADCs and CAEs of Quebec are ready to take up the challenge and give businesses the support they need to build a greener future in Quebec regions.”

SADCs and CAEs have completed many sustainable development projects over the past few years in areas ranging from circular economy to carbon credits to renewable energy recovery.

These projects have been carried out across the province and benefit both SMEs and their communities. It’s only natural for the Government of Canada to collaborate with key economic stakeholders, such as SADCs and CAEs, to deliver this program, which is bringing us all one step closer to a greener, more
sustainable economy.

 

THE ROAD TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP:  A NEW WEBSITE TO GUIDE ENTREPRENEURS IN QUEBEC’S REGIONS   

Posted on by Marie-Pier Catellier

Québec City, February 3, 2022 – Today, the Réseau des SADC (Sociétés d’aide au développement des collectivités) et CAE (Centres d’aide aux entreprises) du Québec is launching The Road to Entrepreneurship (La route de l’entrepreneur), a website designed to guide entrepreneurs through every step of starting and running a business. It will also make it easy for entrepreneurs to reach out to their SADC or CAE’s business advisors, who understand their region’s particular issues and challenges. 

“Entrepreneurs often get lost in the maze of consulting services available online,” explains Vallier Daigle, President of the Réseau des SADC et CAE. “With The Road to Entrepreneurship, they will finally have access to dependable, unbiased and, above all, local expertise. This new site will refer entrepreneurs to the directory of SADCs and CAEs and to business advisors in their area. These advisors are professionals who live and work in the communities they serve and can also tap into a vast national network of expertise—that has been growing for 40 years and counting—to connect entrepreneurs with the resources they need.” 

 

The Road to Entrepreneurship will offer entrepreneurs practical advice and tools at every step of their business endeavour, whether that’s buying an existing SME, taking over the family business, or growing, financing or selling their business. The new website is chockfull of unrivalled content inspired by a 360degree approach to entrepreneurship. More advice from other entrepreneurs will begin to be added soon. 

 

 

A one-stop shop for the entrepreneurial know-how of Quebec’s SADCs and CAEs  

 

The Road to Entrepreneurship is also a forum where our network of over 1,000 professionals and volunteers from across the province can share tips and expertise and easily export best practices from one region to another. In this same spirit, the platform makes various userfriendly tools available for entrepreneurs to download, including a business plan template, a selfassessment grid for sustainable development practices, and a grid to calculate working capital that was developed by our members specifically for small businesses. In addition, the website has a blog with posts on a range of topics related to entrepreneurship, based directly on the reallife experience of our professionals. 

 

SADC de Papineau executive director Mélissa Bergeron encourages all local entrepreneurs to visit The Road to Entrepreneurship. “This site is for you, and it really dovetails with our simple and effective approach with our clients, who do not always have the time to search around for the best solutions for their projects. We truly want you to succeed, and we’re here to guide you along the way.” 

 

Visit The Road to Entrepreneurship 

SADCs and CAEs BOOST SME PERFORMANCE

Posted on by Marie-Pier Catellier

Québec City, December 16, 2021 – A study on the performance of the Community Futures Program (CFP), which is delivered in Quebec by Sociétés d’aide au développement des collectivités (SADCs) and Centres d’aide aux entreprises (CAEs), confirms that Quebec businesses that work with the Réseau perform better.

The results of the Community Futures Program (CFP) performance study, conducted by Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions in collaboration with Statistics Canada, were published in November. The study compares the performance of businesses with up to 100 employees that received assistance through the CFP with other businesses with similar profiles that did not receive services from SADCs or CAEs over a five-year period.

Vallier Daigle, President of the Réseau des SADC et CAE, says he is very proud of these results: “We have been supporting the success of entrepreneurs and the economic vitality of our regions for 40 years. With the financial contribution of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, our professionals deliver our three complementary business lines: local economic development, technical assistance and business financing. How do we do it? With a strong, agile and effective provincial network of expertise that is firmly rooted in our communities and attentive to the needs of entrepreneurs.”

HIGHLIGHTS

The study looked at 4,451 CFP files. Between 2013 and 2018, our network has made a difference for businesses by contributing to the following: 

• Improved business survival rate: 77% after five years of existence, compared to 53% for those in the control group

 

• Creation of over 10 times as many jobs: an average increase of 3.2% per year, compared to 0.3% in the control group

 

• Creation of nearly 5 times as many jobs for women-owned businesses:

an average increase of 5.0% per year, compared to 1.3% in the control group

 

•Stronger increase in sales: 5.2% average annual sales increase, compared to 3.14% for the control group

 

•Faster payroll growth: 7.2% per year on average, compared to 2.9% for businesses in the control group

  

About the Community Futures Program (CFP)

 

The CFP is a federal government program that ensures financing for the operations of the 269 CFDCs, SADCs, CBDCs and CAEs in Canada, including 67 in Quebec. The CFP recognizes the expertise of local decision makers and decision-making autonomy, in order to encourage communities to take charge of their futures.

LOCAL SMEs REAP FINANCIAL REWARDS FOR REDUCING THEIR GHG EMISSIONS

Posted on by Marie-Pier Catellier

SADC + CAE CARBON CREDITS

LOCAL SMEs REAP FINANCIAL REWARDS FOR REDUCING THEIR GHG EMISSIONS

We are pleased to announce that the first round of earnings have been distributed to participants of the SADC and CAE Carbon Credit program. A total of $300,000 was paid out to the 74 participating SMEs and organizations, who earned over 2 million carbon credits by cutting their GHG emissions. The credits were put up for sale on the voluntary carbon market.

The voluntary carbon market was formerly out of reach to smaller businesses, but by building a federation of 74 SMEs and organizations and coaching them through the complex process, SADCs and CAEs succeeded in opening access to the market to the little guy. The carbon credits from this project are the only certified carbon credits generated by small businesses in Quebec to date.

According to Vallier Daigle, President of the Réseau des SADC et CAE, these financial rewards are a tangible way to encourage businesses to reduce their GHG emissions. “While environmentally responsible business practices are already making a significant social, economic and environmental impact, these incentives are just one more tool in the box,” he said. “I would like to congratulate all the participants on their innovative and impressive projects.”

LOCAL IMPACT

These financial rewards are made possible thanks to corporate, institutional, community and individual buyers. “Thank you to all the buyers who have chosen local carbon credits,” said Daigle. “These purchases benefit our local communities and have a direct impact on small businesses, such as MSL fibre in Louiseville and Lauzon Bois énergétique Recyclé in Papineauville, which each received close to $10,000 from the sale. Currently, over 1.5 million carbon credits from the SADC and CAE Carbon Credit project are still available on the market, and since there is growing demand for certified carbon credits, we hope to make additional disbursements soon.” 
Buy carbon credits here.
 
 

TESTIMONIALS

MSL fibre

After the SADC + CAE Carbon Credit project was launched at SADC de la MRC de Maskinongé, building soundproofing company MSL fibre responded to the call. 

Patricia Batil, Vice-President of Finance and Operations, promptly submitted her proposal. “One of our projects was diverting urban biomass from landfills to use in our fibreboard panels,” said Batil. “That means that 100% of our raw materials come from recycled wood chips. We are so proud of what we’ve done and the fact that we earned money from the sale of our carbon credits.”

Lauzon Bois Énergétique Recyclé

Lauzon Bois Énergétique Recyclé submitted two major GHG reduction projects to SADC de Papineau. The first involved reducing the amount of methane produced from decomposing wood by recycling and transforming waste wood into storable wood fuel pellets. The second aimed to reduce the carbon footprint of commercial and residential oil, propane and natural gas heating systems by converting them to run on the company’s wood fuel pellets.

“Beyond the financial benefits, we are incredibly proud that we have contributed to government GHG emission targets with an 830,000 tonnes CO2 eq reduction over 20 years,” said François Mireault, Director of Operations and Procurement. “That’s like taking 180,400 gas-powered cars off the road.”

 

SADCS AND CAES: LEADERS IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

As front-line players in local economic development, SADCs and CAEs aim to create healthy living environments and help build a more responsible economy. For nearly 15 years, SADCs and CAEs have been helping companies leverage sustainable development approaches to become more competitive.

We have a solid network, and to date nearly 1,000 businesses have benefitted from sustainable development coaching or participated in sustainable community projects through an SADC or CAE.

The numbers speak for themselves: the businesses improve their environmental and social impact and, at the same time, their bottom line.
Learn more about our sustainable development services (French only).

 

 
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY 

The 74 small businesses and organizations, guided by SADCs and CAEs, reduced their emissions using the Sustainable Community pooling approach, developed by Will Solutions, a Certified B Corporation that specializes in managing, creating and selling carbon assets. Will Solutions helps with the technical aspects of the process, such as quantification, and ensures that carbon credits are verified by a third party certified by VCS (Verified Carbon Standard), the world’s largest voluntary program.

 
 
ABOUT THE RÉSEAU DES SADC ET CAE
The Réseau des SADC et CAE is a network of 57 Sociétés d’aide au développement des collectivités (SADC) and 10 Centres d’aide aux entreprises (CAE), not-for-profit organizations that have been working in economic development in the regions of Quebec for 40 years. It has over 1,000 professionals and volunteers who support projects and innovative businesses for prosperous communities. They help and finance over 10,000 Quebec businesses and local projects every year. 

 

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INQUIRIES
Christine Pilote, Director, Communications | Phone: : 581 999-6363 | cpilote@ciril.qc.ca