PSCE Volet 3 — High-Growth Export Support

Insider Tip

The first thing to understand is that you do not apply to this program — you are selected into it. Investissement Québec International picks companies according to sector and market priorities and then sends filing instructions, so the real first move is a conversation with IQI about whether your sector (aerospace and defence, construction and infrastructure, life sciences, transport) and target market (one of Québec's twenty leading diversification markets) are on their current priority list. Second, size the project before anything else: a first application must present at least $50,000 in eligible expenses or it is refused after analysis, rising to $62,500 for a second and $100,000 for a third. Third, sequence your projects deliberately. The aid rate is degressive across the life of the program — 50%, then 40%, then 25% — so the project with the largest eligible expense base should be your first, not your third. The $45,000 hiring sub-limit and the one-hire-per-company rule both run for the whole 2025–2028 program, not per project, so if hiring a commercial representative abroad is part of your plan, put it in the project you file first. Fourth, watch the one-grant-per-fiscal-year rule across ALL PSCE volets: signing an offer under Volet 2 or Volet 3 on or after April 1, 2026 locks you out until after April 1, 2027, and the clock runs on signature date, not payment date. Two practical traps: travel, accommodation and meals are never eligible, which surprises companies budgeting a trade-show project, and an invoice from IQ International itself cannot be claimed as professional fees or booth rental because IQ already subsidises part of that cost. Finally, get the administrative plumbing done early — a ClicSÉQUR Entreprises account tied to a valid NEQ, MEIE and IQ service registration (allow 24 to 48 hours for form access), francisation documentation if you employ 25 or more people in Québec, and every document in French.

Rejection Pitfalls 12

• The company was not selected by Investissement Québec International — selection into the volet is a precondition, and eligibility in itself grants no guarantee of financing
• Annual revenue below $10 million on the most recent annual financial statements of the applicant entity
• The project shows less than $1 million in potential sales returns on the target market

Success Profile

An established Québec exporter with $10 million or more in revenue, operating in aerospace and defence, construction and infrastructure, life sciences or transport, that Investissement Québec International has already identified as a high-growth prospect in one of Québec's priority diversification markets. The strongest fit is a company with a genuinely structured international project — a market-entry push carrying at least $1 million in potential sales, built around a new commercial representative abroad, a foreign-market certification, an export marketing strategy or exhibiting at an international trade event — rather than a continuation of what it already does. Because a first application must carry at least $50,000 in eligible expenses and the grant floor is $25,000, this is not a program for small, incremental market tests; it is designed for a single significant, well-documented push, and it rewards companies that put their largest project through first while the 50% rate still applies.

Evaluation Criteria

Two gates in sequence. First, selection: for this volet Investissement Québec International selects companies according to sector and market priorities, and selected companies then receive filing instructions. Second, analysis of the filed application against six criteria — the relevance of the company's product or service offer to the opportunities in the targeted markets (the guide phrases this as relevance of the project to the business model); the company's capacity to deliver the project given its financial and human resources; the company's situation, allowing IQ to consider whether the financial assistance is a determining factor in the decision to proceed; the potential Québec spin-offs in jobs and investment; conformity with established government export priorities where applicable; and the project's eco-responsibility where applicable. A threshold test runs alongside: a first application must present at least $50,000 in eligible expenses, a second $62,500 and a third $100,000, and an application found short after analysis is refused. IQ states that eligibility in itself grants no guarantee of financing nor obligation for IQ, and that subject to ministerial approval it reserves the right to limit the number of applications selected or to suspend the volet to respect the budget envelope.

Application Steps

Required Documents 11

Eligible Expenses 10

• Professional fees, excluding the external expert's travel and accommodation, capped at $25,000 of eligible expenses per application across all expense categories (conforming service offers per Annexe A are mandatory)
• Salary for a maximum of 52 weeks, excluding bonuses and benefits, for the full-time hire of a new resource in a new position outside Québec acting as commercial representative abroad
• Short-term rental of exhibition space, an office or premises outside Québec for exhibition or prospecting activities directly tied to the project's commercialisation effort
• Purchase of market studies or access to databases
• Testing and analysis fees to obtain a homologation, conformity or certification facilitating export, including development trials and evaluations
• Purchase of normative documents
• Registration or pass fees for a commercial event outside Québec, in person or virtual
• Freight, sample shipping and promotional material transport needed for a commercial event outside Québec
• Access fees for a business matchmaking platform
• Advertising, social-media publication, newsletter distribution and search-referencing costs (for example Google Ads), capped at $10,000 of eligible expenses per application

Ineligible Expenses 17

• Travel costs and accommodation costs
• Meal expenses
• Expenses incurred before the filing date, including expenses the company is already contractually committed to — except exhibition space rental for an event falling within the project period
• The company's recurring activities and normal operating expenses
• Steps toward establishing an office, subsidiary or joint venture abroad, or acquiring a business outside Québec
• International trademark registration
• Consultant-led prospecting of client companies or partners
• Recruiting a company to act as agent or distributor
• Hiring an intern, and hiring a marketing or e-commerce specialist
• Debt service, loan repayment, capital loss or capital replacement, and any payment made as capital
• Capital and amortisation expenses, including software acquisition and development costs and licence fees on software acquisition
• Expenses to obtain or maintain intellectual property
• Land acquisition or development, and building acquisition, construction or expansion
• Expenses linked to transactions between related businesses or partners
• Sales taxes applicable in Québec
• An invoice from IQ International claimed as professional fees or booth rental, since part of that cost is already supported by Investissement Québec
• Cost overruns on approved applications, which cannot attract additional assistance

Intake Periods

Continuous intake, but only for companies already qualified by Investissement Québec International — applications from IQ-qualified companies are received on an ongoing basis and analysed once the required information and documents are transmitted, subject to budget availability. The published project submission window runs from January 15, 2026 to March 31, 2028, with a maximum project realisation date of March 31, 2029; IQ notes this calendar is subject to change based on government priorities and available budget envelopes. The program itself expires March 31, 2028. Only one PSCE grant may be awarded per company per fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) across all volets, determined by the signature date of the offer or agreement. IQ and the Ministère reserve the right to suspend the filing and analysis of applications without notice to protect the budget envelope.

Deadline Notes

There is no calendar application deadline in the usual sense, but there are several hard dates and one hard sequencing rule that matter more. First, you cannot simply apply: for this volet, companies must be SELECTED by Investissement Québec International according to sector and market priorities, and IQ states that if your company is selected you will then receive instructions for filing. Applications from IQ-qualified companies are received continuously, analysed as documents arrive, and subject to budget availability. Second, the published project submission window runs from January 15, 2026 to March 31, 2028, with a maximum project realisation date of March 31, 2029; IQ notes this calendar is subject to change based on government priorities and available budget envelopes. The program itself expires March 31, 2028. Third — the rule most likely to catch a returning applicant — only one PSCE grant may be awarded per company per fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) across ALL volets of the program, and the fiscal year is determined by the date all parties sign the offer or agreement, not the payment dates. IQ states plainly that if you signed an offer or agreement under Volet 2 or Volet 3 on or after April 1, 2026, you must wait until after April 1, 2027 to file a new application. Finally, IQ and the Ministère reserve the right to suspend the filing and analysis of applications without notice to protect the budget envelope.

Ineligible Organizations

• Businesses whose principal SCIAN sector is excluded — agriculture/forestry/fishing/hunting, mining and oil and gas, utilities, construction, most retail trade, broadcasting, telecommunications, finance and insurance, real estate and leasing, management of companies, administrative and support services, education, health care and social assistance, arts/entertainment/recreation, accommodation and food services, other services, and public administration
• State-owned corporations and businesses controlled directly or indirectly by a municipal, provincial, federal or foreign government, or majority-owned by a state corporation
• Businesses listed in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA)
• Businesses not compliant with the francisation process under the Charter of the French Language where 25 or more employees are employed in Québec over six months
• Businesses under Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act or Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act protection
• Businesses in default on obligations from a prior Québec government financial intervention within the previous two years
• Businesses whose principal line of business is controversial weapons, fossil-fuel exploration/extraction/refining outside a low-carbon transition, gambling, violent games or combat sports, sexual exploitation or pornography, or tobacco and drugs
• Businesses with annual revenue under $10 million
• Financial cooperatives, and non-profits that are not social-economy NPOs meeting the 40% autonomous-revenue test
• Companies not selected by Investissement Québec International for accompaniment in a priority sector and market

Stacking partner data not yet available.

Clawback Risk

Medium Risk

The structure front-loads only 20% of the grant and holds at least 15% back until a final report and a results form are delivered, so the most likely loss is a withheld final instalment rather than a demand for repayment. Payments throughout are conditional on progress reports with statements of expenses committed or paid and supporting documentation, meaning an expense you cannot document is simply not paid. IQ also reserves the right, subject to ministerial approval, to refuse or cease paying assistance where the applicant or recipient does not meet the high integrity standards the public is entitled to expect of a recipient of public funds. Cost overruns are never covered, and expenses incurred between filing and confirmation are counted within the total awarded rather than added to it.