Marketing grants in Quebec — see which you qualify for
Answer a few quick questions and watch the map narrow to the ones your Quebec business can actually get — free, no account.
The money behind "marketing" in Quebec is market money
Every program below is tracked in the GrantCompass catalogue: amounts, status, intakes, and the gates that decide who gets funded.
There is no simple "advertising grant" in Quebec, but there is real money for the thing marketing is for: reaching buyers you cannot reach today. Check three doors first: PSCE Volet 2 (Diversification et consolidation hors Québec), the provincial export grant of $10,000 to $60,000 for markets outside Quebec, in short destination-specific windows; Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) funding, running from $50,000 to $5,000,000 with continuous intake (repayable for SMEs); and your own city's storefront fund, since Montreal, Québec City, Gatineau, and Laval all run active commercial-development grants, mostly $10,000 to $100,000.
If US tariffs have hit your manufacturing business, a fourth door jumps the queue: CED's Regional Tariff Response Initiative, a grant of up to $1,000,000 for tariff-affected Quebec manufacturers, accepting applications continuously.
Here's what you need to know before you scroll: 24 of the 27 programs in this group are active, 22 accept applications continuously or on a rolling basis, and the median maximum across programs that state a ceiling is $60,000. The big numbers belong to loans and repayable contributions, not grants. Every figure comes from the GrantCompass catalogue, September 2026; confirm current terms with the delivering agency before you build a plan around them.
What do you want the money to do?
Pick the goal closest to your project and the matcher shows which programs fund it, with amounts and live status, from the 27-program roster on this page.
Why "marketing grants" are really market-access money
The most useful thing to accept up front is that Quebec rarely funds marketing as marketing. Governments don't hand out ad budgets; they fund outcomes, and the outcome that pays for marketing is market access: getting a Quebec product or storefront in front of buyers it cannot reach today. Nearly every "marketing grant" a business finds is an export or market-development program in disguise, plus a handful of municipal commercial-revitalization funds.
Once you see it that way, the map clears up. The provincial PSCE (Programme de soutien à la commercialisation et à l'exportation) reimburses the promotion, representation, and market-research costs of selling outside Quebec, and CED funds market development continuously, from typical $50,000 QEDP projects to $5,000,000 scale-up contributions. The federal CanExport SMEs program plays the same role for international market entry; it sits outside the 27-program roster tracked here, so confirm its current terms at the Trade Commissioner Service before planning around it. Closer to home, PME MTL, the Ville de Québec, ID Gatineau, and Laval Économique fund storefront development on their own territories.
Who actually delivers the money
GrantCompass catalogue, September 2026: program count by delivering level across the 27-record Quebec marketing and export-promotion roster.Don't come looking for a grant to fund Google Ads or a rebrand in isolation; that program essentially doesn't exist in Quebec. Come with a market-access goal (we want to start selling in Ontario, the US, or Europe; we want a stronger storefront), and the marketing you need to get there becomes eligible spending under PSCE, CED, or a municipal fund. Reframing the ask is the single biggest unlock.
Deep-dive: how the catalogue separates core marketing from export streams
The 27-record roster combines two purpose families. The core marketing family (22 programs tagged marketing-branding or marketing-growth) covers storefront grants, expert-consultation bons, design funding, and retail revitalization. The export family covers PSCE Volets 2 and 3, the CED suite, Panorama, and the tariff-response instruments. A few records carry an export tag without being marketing programs in themselves: Panorama and Frontière are loans, the defence supply-chain record matched on export-trade, and the Laval collective fund serves non-profits. This page presents each under its true instrument rather than lumping them into "grants", because picking a program by its marketing tag alone can leave you applying for a repayable loan expecting a grant, or waiting for a municipal intake in a territory you don't operate in.
Which programs fund marketing and branding?
The core marketing family has 22 programs, clustering into storefront and commercial-street funds, expert-consultation bons, and sector envelopes (cultural, social economy, inclusive entrepreneurship). They share relatively small ceilings, rolling intakes, and hard territory gates. Below is the active roster, grouped by city and sector.
Montreal: storefronts, design, and commercial streets
| Program | Amount | What it funds | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PME MTL Fonds Entrepreneuriat Commercial (Retail Fund) | Up to $25K (max 80%) | Launch, adaptation, or strengthening of a street-facing Montreal retail business; rolling intake per territorial pole. | active |
| PME MTL — Commerce X Design | $10K (max 20% of $50K+ project) | Professional design fees (graphic, display, commercial) for small proximity retailers in Centre-Est and Centre-Ville; at least 75% of the grant must go to design fees. | active |
| Fonds vitalité : LaSalle investit dans ses commerces | $5K–$30K | Three LaSalle streams: setting up at Complexe Seagram ($10K–$30K from a $70K envelope), commercial terraces ($5K each, up to $20K), and dynamizing local commerce including digital shift and signage. | active |
| PME MTL — Innovation Investment Fund | Up to $150K loan (80%) | LOAN for commercializing innovations, aimed at Montreal businesses with a Quebec head office; reviewed by each service centre's Joint Investment Committee. | active |
Québec City, Gatineau, and Laval
| Program | Amount | What it funds | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capitale-Commerce — Ville de Québec | Up to $35K (30%) | Commercial-development projects in eleven named territories (Saint-Roch, Saint-Sauveur, Vieux-Québec, others); expenses committed before filing are ineligible. | active |
| Bons d'accompagnement vers la croissance | Up to $30K/yr (30%) | Specialized professional consulting on strategic issues; the mandate must be approved by the City BEFORE the contract is signed. Cap is per company per year. | active |
| Capitale-Innovation — Ville de Québec | Up to $500K (40–50%) | Innovation projects with IP owned by the company and a first significant sale planned within about 24 months; two-stage review (eligibility form, then analysis form). | active |
| Défi-Québec, ville entrepreneuriale | Up to $50K | Innovative start-up, growth, or succession projects in the Québec City agglomeration or Wendake; calls for projects announced at least 60 days ahead. | between intakes |
| ID Gatineau — Fonds de soutien aux entreprises | Up to $25K | Expert use, productivity improvements, and new-market development for Gatineau businesses in an accompaniment relationship with ID Gatineau; applicant funds the other 50%. | active |
| ID Gatineau — Fonds de diversification économique | Up to $100K | Larger implantation, expansion, and ecosystem projects with significant Gatineau economic impact; rolling intake. | active |
| Collective Entrepreneurship Fund (Fonds d'entrepreneuriat collectif) | Up to $50K | Laval non-profits and co-ops, including capital expenditures, market development, and promotion; fund covers up to 60% of eligible expenses for start-ups and operating companies. | active |
Sector envelopes: culture, social economy, and inclusive entrepreneurship
| Program | Amount | Who it fits | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SODEC — Aide aux entreprises culturelles | $25K–$500K | For-profit and non-profit cultural enterprises registered in Québec with Quebec majority control; applications in French; first-time applicants must pre-consult one month before the deadline. | active |
| PartÉS — Programme d'appui aux ressources techniques en économie sociale | Up to $15K | Quebec cooperatives and non-profits with a commercial activity mandate, at any stage; funds an external consultant on strategy, market research, or feasibility. Rolling, 4–8 week decisions. | active |
| Fonds C — Desjardins Business Growth Fund | Up to $20K | Desjardins business members with a project in one of nine categories, including market and supplier development; route in is your account manager. No published intake window. | active |
| Evol — Conventional Loan for Inclusive Entrepreneurs | $20K–$450K loan | Quebec businesses with at least one owner from an underrepresented group (women, racialized people, immigrants, LGBTQ2S+, people with disabilities, First Nations or Inuit members) holding at least 25% of shares in a strategic leadership role. | active |
If your business sits on a commercial street in Montreal, Québec City, Gatineau, or Laval, start with your city's fund, because the ceiling may be modest but the cost share is generous (30% to 80%) and the intake is rolling. If you are a cultural enterprise, SODEC is the standout at $25,000 to $500,000. Everyone else in the "core marketing" bucket is usually better served by reframing the project around a market-access goal and moving to the export family below.
Your door is PME MTL, not the export programs
The Fonds Entrepreneuriat Commercial covers up to 80% of a project to launch, adapt, or strengthen your retail offer (ceiling $25,000), and the Fonds vitalité streams add $5,000 to $30,000 if you are in LaSalle, including a digital-shift stream. You need a Quebec registration (NEQ), a business plan or project summary with two-year projections, and a 20% contribution of your own.
Which programs fund export market expansion?
Export is where the serious envelopes live, and where the instruments get mixed: grants, repayable contributions, and loans sit side by side in every tariff-response announcement. This section keeps them separated so you always know what you are applying for.
PSCE: the provincial export grant
The PSCE (Programme de soutien à la commercialisation et à l'exportation), administered by Investissement Québec for the Ministère de l'Économie, is Quebec's flagship commercialization-and-export support. Two volets matter for marketing funding:
- Volet 2, Diversification et consolidation hors Québec (program page): $10,000 to $60,000 for for-profit businesses, co-ops, and social-economy enterprises with $1M to $50M in annual revenue and more than 40% autonomous revenue. Intakes open in short windows of roughly 10 to 15 days, organized by destination (the spring 2026 Europe window ran June 15 to 29; a Canadian-territory window ran January 15 to 29), and the government may suspend intake without notice if the budget is exhausted.
- Volet 3, High-Growth Export Support (program page): $25,000 to $60,000 for companies with $10M or more in revenue, but access is gated: you must be selected by Investissement Québec International before you can file. The window runs to March 31, 2028, and only one PSCE grant per company per fiscal year is allowed across all volets.
CED: the federal workhorse with continuous intake
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) runs permanent programs with continuous year-round intake, which makes it the least timing-sensitive door in the export family:
- CED Funding (the umbrella record): up to $5,000,000, varying by project. SMEs receive repayable assistance; non-profits, municipalities, and RCMs can receive non-repayable assistance under specific streams. Retail, food service, and transportation businesses are excluded from most streams.
- QEDP: typical envelopes of $50,000 to $500,000 for SMEs, tourism organizations, non-profits, and municipalities; continuous intake, with the best budget access early in the April 1 to March 31 fiscal year.
- REGI Business Scale-up and Productivity: repayable assistance of up to 50% of authorized costs for SMEs (up to 90% for non-profits), so you co-fund at least half from non-government sources.
- Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI): the standout grant of the family. Up to $1,000,000 for Quebec manufacturers with fewer than 500 employees, at least 3 years in business, and $2M or more in revenue that US tariffs have hurt since March 2025. CED lists it as ongoing with continuous processing until the budget is fully utilized; the minimum assistance is $100,000, and priority goes to projects deliverable in the short term.
- RDII (Regional Defence Investment Initiative): repayable assistance of up to 75% of costs for Quebec SMEs entering the defence supply chain, aligned with Canadian Armed Forces, NATO, or allied needs. The program window runs to March 31, 2028, and CED typically processes applications in 4 to 6 months.
Export loans and special instruments (presented as what they are)
| Program | Instrument | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investissement Québec — Panorama (Export Diversification Financing) | Term LOAN | From $250K, no published max | active |
| Investissement Québec — Frontière Program (Tariff Liquidity Loan) | Term LOAN | $500K–$50M | closed Mar 31, 2026 |
| Quebec Defence Supply-Chain SME Integration | Program (services + funding to $4.5M) | Up to $4.5M | active |
| MAPAQ — Programme Innovation bioalimentaire | Cost-shared GRANT | $10K–$210K | active |
Panorama is the one most often mislabeled a grant. Launched in 2025 as part of Quebec's tariff-response package, it lends to established exporters diversifying away from the US; you need a proven export track record, solid financials, and no Quebec job losses from the project, and it excludes agriculture, fishing, cannabis, private medical clinics, owner-occupied residential real estate, tourism, and B2C retail. With no published maximum or sunset date, Investissement Québec says to engage them directly. Frontière, its larger sibling for US-tariff-exposed exporters (minimum $3M in annual sales), closed March 31, 2026; if you see it in older coverage, call Investissement Québec at 1-844-474-6367 to learn what stands in its place.
For a Quebec SME with $1M to $50M in revenue and a market outside Quebec in its sights, PSCE Volet 2 is the best first application in this guide: non-repayable, sized for real marketing and representation projects, and provincially funded. Layer CED behind it (QEDP or umbrella funding, RTRI if tariffs hit you) and, for established exporters, Panorama as loan financing. Treat the loans as loans: they belong in your financing plan, not your grant budget.
Deep-dive: stacking PSCE and CED without double-claiming
PSCE Volet 2 and the CED programs can be stacked in the same growth plan because they are delivered by different governments with different eligible-expense rules. The discipline that keeps a stack clean is to assign every activity to exactly one funder: a trade-show push into Europe rides on PSCE Volet 2's destination window, while a plant or productivity investment that supports export scale rides on CED REGI or QEDP. Keep separate expense ledgers, because most of these instruments reimburse after you spend and document.
Two traps to avoid: claiming the same expense under two programs (audit-level risk), and assuming the PSCE one-grant-per-year rule counts only payments; it counts the offer's signature date, so a Volet 2 agreement signed in late March blocks a Volet 3 filing until the next fiscal year.
How much marketing funding can you actually get?
Here is what you need to know about reading these numbers: a ceiling is not an award. Most programs reimburse a share (20% to 80%) of eligible costs up to the cap and pay after the fact. The histogram shows where the stated ceilings cluster.
When the money is available
Timing matters as much as size. 22 of the 27 accept applications continuously or on a rolling basis, so the real constraint is budget availability, not a calendar date. Only three records carry a fixed date: the MAPAQ Innovation bioalimentaire Volet 2 call (June 25 to October 5, 2026), CED RDII (runs to March 31, 2028), and the now-closed Frontière loan (March 31, 2026). Two more publish no fixed date and are not marked rolling: Fonds C Desjardins (intake is a conversation with your account manager) and Défi-Québec (periodic calls announced at least 60 days ahead).
GrantCompass catalogue, September 2026: intake style across the 27-record roster.Who qualifies for Quebec marketing funding?
Work down this ladder top to bottom and stop at the first rung that fits; that is your starting door.
If you run a street-facing retail or commercial business in Montreal, Québec City, Gatineau, or LavalStart with your city's fund
PME MTL (up to $25,000, up to 80% of costs), Capitale-Commerce (up to $35,000), the ID Gatineau funds ($25,000 to $100,000), and the Laval Collective Entrepreneurship Fund (up to $50,000, non-profits and co-ops). Gates: NEQ registration, Quebec headquarters, and a location inside the funder's territory; the Ville de Québec programs restrict most businesses to eleven named commercial territories.
If you need marketing expertise rather than ad spendStart with a consultation bon
Bons d'accompagnement vers la croissance (up to $30,000 per year at 30%) for strategic consulting in the Québec City agglomeration, ID Gatineau's Fonds de soutien (expert use, up to $25,000), PartÉS (up to $15,000 for co-ops and non-profits), or Fonds C Desjardins (up to $20,000 through your account manager). None of these funds internal labour; they pay for external specialists.
If you have $1M to $50M in revenue and want markets outside QuebecStart with PSCE Volet 2
Non-repayable support of $10,000 to $60,000 for diversification or consolidation in markets outside Quebec, including the rest of Canada. Gates: registered and operating in Quebec with headquarters here, more than 40% autonomous revenue, and retail excluded unless revenues reach $5M with pre- or post-production activities. Watch the destination-specific intake windows of 10 to 15 days.
If you have $10M or more in revenue and export ambitionGet selected for PSCE Volet 3
$25,000 to $60,000 for high-growth export projects, but only after selection by Investissement Québec International. Gates: for-profit, social-economy non-profit with 40%+ autonomous revenue, or non-financial co-op, registered in Quebec.
If you are a Quebec manufacturer hurt by US tariffs (3+ years, $2M+ revenue)Start with CED RTRI
The Regional Tariff Response Initiative grants $100,000 to $1,000,000 to manufacturers with fewer than 500 employees that were viable before March 21, 2025 and can show concrete tariff damage. Continuous intake, short-term projects prioritized. Add Panorama (loan, from $250,000) if diversification needs financing rather than grant support.
If you are a cultural enterprise, co-op, non-profit, or business with underrepresented ownershipStart with your sector door
SODEC ($25,000 to $500,000; Quebec registration, Quebec majority control, applications in French), PartÉS and the Laval collective fund (social economy), or Evol ($20,000 to $450,000 loan; at least 25% ownership by a woman, racialized person, immigrant, LGBTQ2S+ person, person with a disability, or First Nations or Inuit member in a strategic leadership role).
If you are pre-revenue or outside Quebec entirelyThis page is not your door yet
Every program in this roster expects an established, registered business, most with two or more years of operations and current financial statements. Pre-launch founders should look at startup-focused supports, and businesses outside Quebec should check their own province's equivalents: the NEQ and territory gates here are hard walls, not soft preferences.
Documents almost everyone will need
| Document | Who asks for it |
|---|---|
| Financial statements for the last two fiscal years (audited, reviewed, or compiled) | CED programs, PME MTL funds, Evol, Investissement Québec loans |
| Business plan or project summary with objectives and timeline | QEDP, PME MTL funds, Capitale programs, PSCE |
| Proof of Quebec registration (NEQ) | All provincial, municipal, and private (Desjardins) programs |
| Quotes per service category (typically two or more) | Commerce X Design, most reimbursement-based grants |
| French-language application | SODEC (mandatory); most provincial portals accept English |
How do you apply, step by step?
There is no single marketing-grant portal in Quebec; each program files through its delivering agency. This sequence works for almost every door on this page, and the HowTo markup behind it matches this section.
- Pick your goal: promotion, market entry, or capacity. Decide which of the four lanes your project fits (hire expertise, promote a storefront, enter a new market, build export capacity). The goal determines the funder, so this choice is the application.
- Check the two hard gates. Confirm registration and location: provincial and municipal programs require a business registered in Quebec with an NEQ, and most require the head office or establishment in Quebec. Federal CED programs require you to be headquartered or operating in Quebec.
- Match the program to your revenue band. PSCE Volet 2 requires $1M to $50M in annual revenue, PSCE Volet 3 requires $10M or more, and the CED Regional Tariff Response Initiative requires $2M or more in manufacturing. Below $1M, municipal storefront funds and expert-consultation bons are the realistic doors.
- File before you spend. Quebec City programs reject expenses committed before the application is filed, and the Bons d'accompagnement require the consulting mandate to be approved before the contract is signed. File first, spend second.
- Assemble quotes, financial statements, and your share. Most programs reimburse 20% to 80% of eligible costs and pay after the fact, so you need quotes, two years of financial statements, and working capital for your share plus the cash-flow gap.
- Apply through the delivering agency. PSCE and Panorama go through Investissement Québec, CED programs through the CED Client Space or a regional office, storefront funds through your local economic-development office, and SODEC through its French-language SOD@ccès portal.
What the timeline looks like in practice
- Confirm gates, pick the program, and request the application form or prequalification link (PSCE prequalification runs through Investissement Québec's portal with ClicSÉQUR Entreprise authentication).
- Gather documents: two years of financial statements, business plan or project summary, quotes, and proof of NEQ registration. For SODEC, book the mandatory pre-consultation at least one month before the intake deadline.
- Submit inside the window if there is one (PSCE destination windows run 10 to 15 days), or file early in the federal fiscal year (April to June) for CED programs to catch fresh budgets.
- Rolling programs decide as files complete: PartÉS quotes 4 to 8 weeks; CED's RDII takes 4 to 6 months; RTRI and PME MTL funds review on a rolling basis.
- Execute the approved project, keep every receipt, and claim reimbursement. Never commit expenses before approval where the program forbids it.
Application routes by funder
Investissement Québec (PSCE, Panorama)
PSCE Volet 2 starts with a prequalification form on Investissement Québec's portal, authenticated through ClicSÉQUR Entreprise. Volet 3 requires prior selection by Investissement Québec International. Panorama has no portal: you engage an IQ advisor directly. Watch the destination-specific Volet 2 windows and the suspension clause if budgets exhaust.
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
Permanent programs (REGI, QEDP) intake continuously through the CED Client Space. RTRI is different: there is no self-serve portal; your regional CED business office sends the application form once your project is deemed eligible. Budgets follow the April 1 to March 31 fiscal year.
Municipal funds and PME MTL
Every municipal fund on this page starts with your local economic-development office: a PME MTL service centre, the Ville de Québec Service du développement économique (forms go by email), ID Gatineau, or Laval Économique. Several require an accompaniment relationship before you can apply.
SODEC, Desjardins, RISQ, Evol
SODEC files through the French-language SOD@ccès portal, with agrément certification for publishers and a one-month pre-consultation for first-time applicants. PartÉS files directly with RISQ ($75 fee). Fonds C and Evol both start with a conversation: your Desjardins account manager, or Evol's financing committee with a 5% minimum down payment.
What changed in 2026?
Export diversification is the headline. Quebec's funding system has reoriented around reducing dependence on the US market, and the marketing/export roster shows it. The Regional Tariff Response Initiative, which opened with a single October 2025 window, now accepts applications continuously and processes them until its budget is fully utilized, with retroactive eligibility reaching back 12 months. Panorama, the tariff-response export-diversification loan, remains open with no published sunset, precisely because trade uncertainty persists. And Frontière, the large tariff-liquidity loan, closed March 31, 2026.
PSCE keeps tightening into windows. PSCE Volet 2 continues its shift to short, destination-organized intake windows (the Europe window ran June 15 to 29, 2026), with fall 2026 and spring 2027 windows to be announced on investquebec.com. Volet 3 now runs to March 31, 2028 with a realization deadline of March 31, 2029, and the one-grant-per-fiscal-year rule is enforced via signature dates.
Biofood has a live call right now. MAPAQ's Programme Innovation bioalimentaire opened its Volet 2 call (categories A, B, C) on June 25, 2026 with a filing deadline of October 5, 2026; Volets 1 and 3 intake continuously to March 1, 2028. If you are a food business reading this in September 2026, that is the most time-sensitive window on this page.
Municipal money expanded. The Ville de Québec funding streams (Capitale-Commerce, Bons d'accompagnement, Capitale-Innovation) opened August 27, 2025 and were still open with pages updated July 8, 2026, though awards depend on available funds; LaSalle's Fonds vitalité shows all three streams open as of its July 2, 2026 update. Meanwhile Défi-Québec sits between intakes, and MAPAQ's Proximité initiative remains closed with no successor announced.
If you last looked at Quebec marketing funding in 2025, recheck two things: whether your program still matches its old intake pattern (RTRI went from a single window to continuous; PSCE went the other direction), and whether the instrument you remember is still alive (Frontière closed, Proximité closed, Défi-Québec between intakes). Status words on this page are the catalogue's exact programStatus values as of September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Quebec grant just for advertising or social media?
What is the best export grant for a Quebec small business?
How much marketing funding can a Quebec business actually get?
Do I need to be registered in Quebec to apply?
Do I need to speak French to apply for Quebec marketing funding?
Are these programs open right now?
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