Excellence sectors/
Land transport
Growing the battery sector
The Québec government will be investing in the battery sector over the coming years. The electric industry has a bright future in the province.
Québec’s strengths
Québec has what it takes to produce the cleanest batteries in North America. Our strengths put us head and shoulders above the rest at every point in the battery development ecosystem.
Land rich in strategic minerals like lithium, nickel, graphite, and cobalt
Active mines and large-scale development projects
Numerous primary processing projects
Clean, affordable electricity and a very favorable business environment for manufacturing battery components
At the forefront of battery research with over 850 patents
Competitive access to the North American market through international trade agreements and rail or road access to more than 65% of the continent’s battery cell factories
Expertise in producing electric vehicles locally
Located near collection facilities, so raw materials can be recovered at a competitive rate
Technology to recycle 95% of battery materials at the end of their life for reuse
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Québec’s intelligent transportation system industry
Experts in mobility
For entrepreneurs and investors looking to make headway in the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) industry, Québec is the perfect location thanks to:
- A strong information and communications technology (ICT) industry and leadership in multimedia, artificial intelligence, and optics and photonics
- A cutting-edge land, water, and air transportation industry, including world leaders and trailblazers in the creation and integration of navigation systems for the aeronautics sector
- Contractors and major Québec clients who integrate ITS solutions into their products
- The expertise of universities and the scientific community
Québec’s ITS industry includes approximately 70 companies that employ more than 2,400 people.
The sector is made up of suppliers that offer various products and services and operate at every stage of the ITS supply chain.
Québec is home to suppliers that are recognized worldwide for their expertise in:
- Intelligent information systems
- Driver assistance systems
- Vehicle fleet management systems
Québec also has experts and leaders in the fields of microelectronics, telecommunications, software, big data, video simulation, and deep learning.
There are more than 30 active research centers and groups at Québec universities and colleges and in the private sector operating in key fields, including:
- Optics and photonics solutions, including those for autonomous vehicles
- Artificial intelligence and deep learning
- Transportation equipment and logistics
- Navigation systems, onboard systems, and avionics
The measures in the Digital economy action plan encourage the development of Québec’s ITS sector.
The Québec research and innovation strategy fosters corporate innovation in the automotive industry.
The 2015–2020 Transportation electrification action plan includes measures promoting growth in the electric vehicle industrial sector.
The following organizations bring Québec industry players together around common objectives and optimize the sector’s growth and reach:
- The electric and intelligent vehicle industrial cluster
- Specialized associations, such as Pôle d’excellence québécois en transport terrestre
- CargoM, the logistic and transportation metropolitan cluster
- Aero Montréal, Québec’s aerospace cluster
- TechnoMontréal, the ICT industrial cluster
The Québec–Windsor corridor boasts:
- A vast network of universities and research centers playing a key role in the transportation and ITS fields
- Thousands of companies specializing in the ICT and land transportation sectors such as the electric vehicle industry, including a number of world-renowned automakers (Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Bombardier Transport, Bombardier Recreational Products, and Volvo Group)
- A track and test areas
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Québec’s intelligent transportation system industry - Experts in mobility
The electric and intelligent transport sector in Québec
A world of advanced technologies
Québec is the ideal place for entrepreneurs and investors who wish to advance the electric vehicle industry, in particular through:
- the recognized know-how of its businesses and research centres;
- its abundant natural resources and hydroelectricity;
- its numerous assets, such as competitive energy rates and operating costs.
- The Québec transportation equipment industry encompasses some 650 companies that employ more than 32 600 workers.
- Of this number, more than 137 firms employ 7 200 workers in the automobile and airborne electronics industries.
- Large manufacturers operate in Québec: buses (Volvo Group), commercial vehicles (Paccar), recreational vehicles (Bombardier Recreational Products) and railway vehicles (Bombardier Transportation).
- Suppliers are found at all levels of the supply chain that offer diversified products and services.
- Québec suppliers are recognized the world over for the excellence of their:
- aluminum processing processes;
- high-power-efficiency electric powertrains;
- high-purity battery materials and lithium metal polymer batteries;
- smart, self-driving and connected vehicle systems.
- Montréal is an outstanding centre of expertise in microelectronics, telecommunications, software, big data, video simulation, and deep structured learning.
Québec has 75 university, college and private groups and research centres in key sectors, including:
- manufacturing processes;
- battery materials and energy storage systems;
- optical and photonic solutions, especially for self-driving vehicles;
- deep structured learning.
- The 2015–2020 Transportation Electrification Action Plan includes support measures for the development of the electric vehicle industry.
- Québec’s Aluminum Development Strategy 2015-2025 seeks, in particular, to bolster the competitiveness of Québec suppliers of the automotive industry.
- The Québec Research and Innovation Strategy includes measures aimed at companies in the auto industry.
- A new digital strategy will cover the question of intelligent transport.
- The electric vehicle and smart vehicle industrial cluster.
- Other clusters are directly or indirectly linked to transportation and automobiles: Ecotech (green technologies), TecnoMontréal (ICT) and AluQuébec (aluminum).
- Other associations include the Québec Ground Transportation Cluster.
- 70 universities
- 3 000 transportation, ICT and electric transport companies, including five world-renowned automakers (Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Fiat/Chrysler) in the Québec City–Windsor Corridor.