Investissement Québec - ESSOR Program
Compared with the 242 other application forms we have read
- Scored mainly on whether you can afford it and pay it back. 42 lead with that.
- 9 documents to attach, against a median of 5.
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Eligibility & Details
What this program funds and who can apply
Program Description
Investissement Québec's ESSOR program now runs as five volets: Volet 1 supports studies preceding an investment project (feasibility studies and a digital diagnostic); Volet 2 accelerates productivity projects and business expansion; Volet 3 supports reducing your environmental footprint through clean technologies, renewable energy or green hydrogen; Volet 4 increases your presence in global supply chains; and Volet 5 is for softwood lumber sawmills seeking to raise productivity. Volet 1 is the non-repayable money — a maximum aid rate of 50% of eligible expenses, capped at $50,000 per project (1A), $20,000 for the duration of the program (1B) and $50,000 for the duration of the program (1C). Volets 2 and 3 are structured as a loan or a loan guarantee (covering a maximum of 70% of the net loss), with a non-repayable contribution possible in certain specific cases.
Eligibility Requirements
- Must be a business operating in Quebec
- Must operate as a for-profit business
- Project must fit one of the five volets: studies preceding an investment project — feasibility studies and a digital diagnostic (Volet 1); productivity projects and business expansion (Volet 2); reducing your environmental footprint through clean technologies, renewable energy or green hydrogen (Volet 3); increasing your presence in global supply chains (Volet 4); or raising productivity at a softwood lumber sawmill (Volet 5)
- Volet 1: maximum aid rate is 50% of eligible expenses — 1A up to $50,000 per project, 1B up to $20,000 and 1C up to $50,000 for the duration of the program, all as non-repayable contributions
- Volets 2 and 3: assistance takes the form of a loan or a loan guarantee (covering a maximum of 70% of the net loss); a non-repayable contribution is offered only in certain specific cases
- Management fees of at least 0.5% of the financial assistance granted, and annual guarantee fees of at least 0.5% of the guaranteed amount, are payable by the business
Quick Assessment
Funding Details
- Amount
- Volet 1 (non-repayable contributions, maximum aid rate 50% of eligible expenses): 1A up to $50,000 per project; 1B up to $20,000 for the duration of the program; 1C up to $50,000 for the duration of the program. Volets 2 and 3 are a loan or a loan guarantee (guarantee covers a maximum of 70% of the net loss), with a non-repayable contribution possible in certain specific cases — no ceiling is published. Volet 4 (global supply chains) and Volet 5 (softwood lumber sawmills) publish no amounts on the program page. The program ends March 31, 2027.
- Type
- Program
- Level
- Provincial
- Co-Funding
- Up to 50% of eligible costs
- Deadline
- Ongoing — the program ends March 31, 2027, and IQ reserves the right to suspend intake without notice
Program Scorecard
Competition, effort, and approval at a glance
Moderate — standard application process
Below average competition
Moderate — standard requirements
How to Win
Insider tips, common pitfalls, and what successful applicants look like
Insider TipESSOR has genuine non-repayable money, but only in Volet 1 — the studies that precede an investment project (feasibility studies and the digital diagnostic), capped at $50,000 for 1A, $20,000 for 1B and $50,000 for 1C.
Rejection Pitfalls 10
- Business not registered in Quebec or lacking active Quebec operations
Success Profile
Evaluation Criteria
How Investissement Québec judges your application
What the reviewer scores, what gets applications rejected, and what to write.
Distilled from 5 source documents, condensed into one brief. Sources as of 2026-09-07.
5 sources
- ESSOR investquebec.com
- Programmes gouvernementaux investquebec.com
- ESSOR - Volet 5 investquebec.com
- Publications du ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de… quebec.ca
- Programme ESSOR — Cadre normatif 2025-2027 cdn-contenu.quebec.ca
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What Investissement Québec favours
Show the project strengthens long-term resilience to current pressures◦
“L’entreprise doit démontrer comment le projet d’investissement soumis contribue à renforcer sa résilience à plus long terme face aux enjeux actuels (selon des variables telles que le prix du bois d’œuvre résineux, les tarifs étrangers, des fluctuations de la demande, l’inflation).”
The form
Common dossier
- 1Souhaitez-vous nous en dire plus sur vos besoins ou vos objectifs? (Merci de ne pas partager des informations personnelles ou confidentielles)written answer
- 2Description du projet et montage financierwritten answer
No public application-form wording exists. Prepare the detailed project description and complete financing structure required for the selected volet.
- 3États financierslist
- 4Documents de conformité conditionnelslist
Volet 1 – Digital
- 5Diagnostic numérique, plan numérique et plan de mise en œuvrewritten answer
Volet 2 – Productivity
- 6Productivité, viabilité et capacité de remboursementwritten answer
Volet 3 – Environment
- 7Démonstration du gain environnementalwritten answer
Volet 4 – International
- 8Démarche d’internationalisation structurée et stratégiquewritten answer
Volet 5 – Business plan
- 9Plan d’affaireswritten answer
Investissement Québec states no length limits for these answers.
Judged against
- 1
Can this project pass admissibility and analysis?
Show them Show that the project fits one volet and that the dossier answers every parameter that volet sets.◦
In the funder’s words · 1
- Pour tous les projets, l’analyse est effectuée sur une base continue, mais seuls les projets qui franchissent avec succès les étapes d’admissibilité et d’analyse en fonction des paramètres du programme peuvent se voir attribuer une aide.
- 2
Is the financing structure complete and viable?
What to show, and the funder’s 1 criterion behind it in Premium
- 3
How does this investment build long-term resilience?
What to show, and the funder’s 1 criterion behind it in Premium
Where applicants fail
“L’admissibilité en soi n’accorde aucune garantie de financement ni obligation de la part d’Investissement Québec et du Ministère.”
“Aucun dépassement de coût des demandes approuvées ne sera accepté aux fins d’une aide financière supplémentaire.”
Premium · the rest of this brief
See all 4 rules that can reject you and every criterion you are judged on. Then we draft your application for you.
2 more rules that can reject you · 1 more criteria · 6 more prompts
Do you pass?
Each one can rule you out. Tick the ones you meet.
Your business
Registered and active in Quebec
Les entreprises doivent être immatriculées au Québec et y exercer une activité pour bénéficier d’un soutien financier dans le cadre du programme.
For-profit or social-economy enterprise
Sont admissibles les entreprises à but lucratif légalement constituées ainsi que les entreprises d’économie sociale au sens de la Loi sur l’économie sociale (RLRQ, chapitre E-1.1.1).
Documents to attach
Ticks are kept on this device.
The money
Maximum aid rateVaries by volet: 50/25/10/30%
Varies by volet: Volet 1 maximum aid rate 50% (with a scoped 30% franchise/chain exception); Volets 2 and 3 maximum budgetary-impact rate 25%; Volet 4 10%; Volet 5 maximum coverage 30% and budgetary-impact rate 25%.
Volet 5 loanInterest-free loan, 36-month moratorium
Volet 5 is an interest-free loan up to eight years with up to 36 months' capital moratorium.
Volet 1 instalmentsMax two instalments, 15% held back
Volet 1 may be paid in no more than two instalments against supporting documents, with at least 15% held for the final report and results data.
StackingCumulative public-aid ceilings vary by volet
Varies by volet. Public-aid cumulative ceilings are 50% for Volet 1A/1C, 80% for 1B, 50% for Volet 2, 50% for Volet 3 or 75% for renewable energy/green hydrogen, 20% for Volet 4, and 50% for Volet 5. ESSOR cannot cover the same eligible expenses with another MEIE/FDE programme under the stated rules.
Costs before approvalExpenses before dossier filing are ineligible
Expenses before dossier filing are ineligible.
What it pays for · 4
- Volet 1: external professional fees, specialized information, and compliant travel/stay costs.
- Volets 2 and 5: directly related capitalizable buildings, equipment/software and major technology-transition costs; project working capital up to 20% under stated conditions.
- Volet 3: directly related capitalizable environmental-investment costs, equipment upgrades, engineering and professional fees; project working capital up to 20% under stated conditions.
- Volet 4: capitalizable costs for listed foreign-market facilities, joint ventures, distribution networks, acquisitions, offices or subsidiaries.
What it does not pay for · 6
- Pre-filing expenditures or contractual commitments
- Expenditures more than 24 months before approval
- Depreciation and internal company expenses
- Debt service and sales taxes
- Cost overruns beyond the approved request
- Volet-specific exclusions stated in S5
From application to money
- Contact the teamContact Investissement Québec's investment team
- File the dossierFile the volet-specific dossier
- Continuous analysisAnalysis is continuous
- Start within the windowStart within three or six months
- Funds releasedFunds released against supporting documents
- Report resultsSend results-evaluation sheet at end
In the funder’s words · 6
- Contact the team
- Contact Investissement Québec's investment team to confirm the right volet and what it requires.
- File the dossier
- Provide the volet-specific project description, financing structure, financial statements and attachments.
- Continuous analysis
- Analysis is continuous, subject to successful admissibility and analysis and to available programme funds.
- Start within the window
- Your project must begin within three months (Volet 1) or, generally, six months (other volets) of authorization.
- Funds released
- Funds are released against supporting documents under the financial-assistance agreement.
- Report results
- Send Investissement Québec the results-evaluation sheet at the end of the project.
Quoted lines are word for word from the source documents; lines marked ◦ are our reading of them.
Everything you need to win Investissement Québec - ESSOR Program
Not a marketing summary. The actual checklist, intel, and stack strategy reviewers look for.
- 10 rejection pitfalls reviewers flag — so you catch them first
- 10-document checklist with what each reviewer is actually checking
- Your Application Game Plan — the print-ready PDF the preview below describes
- 10-step application timeline with prep hours per step
- Insider tip from program officers on what separates winners
- 6-program stacking strategy to combine with compatible funding
- Success profile + evaluation criteria — exactly what reviewers score on
Application Playbook
Step-by-step process, required documents, and expenses
Application Steps
Required Documents 10
Eligible Expenses 7
Ineligible Expenses 7
Intake Periods
Deadline Notes
Ineligible Organizations
Funding Stack Strategy
Compatible programs, clawback risk, and combined funding potential
Compatible Programs
Clawback Risk
Medium RiskHow Investissement Québec - ESSOR Program Compares
Side-by-side with similar programs
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Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions founders most often ask about Investissement Québec - ESSOR Program