QUEBEC: Risks and opportunities in the global low-carbon transition

Quebec has successfully decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions, leveraging cheap hydroelectricity and a mature mining sector to foster transition-opportunity companies in electric vehicles and batteries. However, the province faces significant challenges, including high public debt (45% debt-to-GDP in 2020–21), workforce shortages in technical trades, and the need to rebuild trust with Indigenous Peoples to develop critical mineral projects. While Quebec attracts significant venture capital, its companies often raise less capital per investment stage than those in the US and the rest of Canada, facing stiff international competition from China and the US.

• Quebec possesses several competitive advantages for the energy transition, including some of the cheapest low-carbon electricity in Canada, a long-standing cap-and-trade program, and a mature mining sector with a provincial plan for critical and strategic minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earth elements.
• The province has a growing ecosystem of transition-opportunity companies, with 133 headquartered in Quebec. These are most concentrated in industrial transition (25%), low-carbon electricity (19%), and bioproducts and bioenergy (17%), with 56% of these companies located in the Greater Montreal Area.
• Significant investments have been made in low-carbon transport and electricity, including US$490M raised by Lion Electric in its 2021 IPO and a US$1.3B investment by Hydro-Québec in Innergex Renewable Energy in 2020.
• Quebec faces economic and fiscal vulnerabilities, notably a high public debt level of 45% debt-to-GDP in 2020–21. Additionally, roughly half of the province's goods exports come from transition-vulnerable sectors, such as transportation equipment manufacturing (19%) and primary metal manufacturing (16%).
• Labor shortages pose a risk to capturing transition opportunities; Quebec has some of the highest job vacancy rates in Canada, with SMEs specifically struggling to recruit technical professional trades and senior executives with scientific and management skills.
• Scaling growth in electric and smart transportation is hindered by international competition and a gap in funding; Quebec companies in this sector raise less capital at each investment stage compared to those in the US and the rest of Canada.
• The development of large-scale projects, such as transmission lines and critical mineral mines, is slowed by a historical legacy of harm to Indigenous lands, necessitating a focus on the duty to consult and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (n.d.). QUEBEC: Risks and opportunities in the global low-carbon transition. https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/QC-profile.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. QUEBEC: Risks and opportunities in the global low-carbon transition. n.d. https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/QC-profile.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=QUEBEC: Risks and opportunities in the global low-carbon transition |url=https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/QC-profile.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitutendquebec, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{QUEBEC: Risks and opportunities in the global low-carbon transition}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, url = {https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/QC-profile.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }