Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions’ 2025-26 Departmental plan: At a glance

Key priorities

In 2025-2026, in a context of modest growth that will not be generalized to the Quebec economy as a whole, persistent structural issues, and economic and geopolitical uncertainty, CED will continue to be a key federal player in Quebec’s economic development by providing programs and services tailored to changing needs, opportunities and challenges; prioritizing growth-generating strategic interventions; and ensuring that all regions of Quebec are able to seize economic opportunities to develop their potential.

Therefore, CED’s top priority for 2025-26 is as follows:

Pursue our strategic, tailored interventions for SMEs and communities in all regions of Quebec with a view to fostering long-term growth

Within a refocusing of spending context and economic uncertainty, CED will continue to emphasize its core mandate, both through its regular programs and targeted temporary initiatives. The Agency will work to enhance the productivity and innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them become more competitive and build their capacity to position themselves in supply chains and in foreign and domestic markets; and will strive to promote the economic growth and diversification of all Quebec communities.

CED will also be looking at emerging issues—particularly those likely to affect growth vectors in the regions—and the best ways of helping SMEs and communities respond to these issues, including through its non-financial services; and will continue to work in complementarity with its partners, notably the Quebec government. So, in addition to providing financial support for projects, CED acts as a facilitator, offering companies the guidance and market information they need to grow. CED also plays an integrating and networking role, helping to bring together the right partners around projects.

In 2025-26, CED will therefore pursue its efforts to support clients, build business networks, engage with its partners and gather and share strategic information to assist SMEs in the regions of Quebec with their projects, while ensuring the sound management of its portfolio of active projects, worth a total investment of almost $3B. CED will have to adapt to changing circumstances in what promises to be an uncertain year, by demonstrating agility, relying on its in-depth understanding of regional issues, and using its flexible means of action where necessary.

Highlights

In 2025-26, total planned spending (including internal services) for CED is $331,229,323 and total planned full-time equivalent staff (including internal services) is 370. For complete information on CED’s total planned spending and human resources, read the Planned spending and human resources section of the full plan.

The following provides a summary of the department’s planned achievements for 2025-26 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department’s core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.