In there is an increased willingness on the part of the federal and provincial governments to provide more support to local businesses. In fact, the ecosystem of subsidies and assistance programs in general is quite lively right now. According to Éric Thibault, Executive Director, Government Assistance Practice, it is unlikely that we will see such programs tightening in the near term, so there are many opportunities for companies that are willing to seize them.
At KPMG in Canada, we have developed an integrated approach to help our clients to get the most out of government assistance by looking at tax credits, tax holidays, grants, and low-interest loans, supplemented with traditional or specialized bank financing. This approach can allow companies to spend less time identifying, applying for, and receiving government assistance, while getting the best results and not leaving any opportunities on the table.
Our team consists of seasoned professionals trained in maximizing tax credits and identifying dormant amounts in depreciation categories, all as a way to help guide projects toward accessing generous assistance programs. We can also handle the financial engineering of projects, if needed. In addition, some of our team members have many years of experience in the public sector, where they served as senior civil servants, political cabinet managers, political attachés, etc.
In Quebec, we benefit from readily available governmental assistance. Governments, and mainly the Quebec government, have ambitious objectives for our economy. They therefore need to stimulate wealth creation, to help pave the way for the funding of future public services. This means that subsidies, tax measures and loans are available, and companies that do not take advantage of this valuable assistance may put themselves at risk of not competing in their industry on a level playing field.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, many government programs have emerged that are expressly designed to get projects moving faster. They could enable many companies to improve two important and wealth-creating aspects of operations: productivity and foreign market development.
The main factors considered by governments as they analyze applications from companies are:
- Productivity growth
- Expansion outside Quebec or Canada
- Innovation
- The greening of operations and energy transitions
- Strengthening food self-sufficiency
- The supply chain
Two main reasons why businesses should strongly consider using government assistance services:
- Our approach makes it possible to confirm whether companies that are already taking advantage of government assistance programs have identified all the programs for which they may be eligible. Sometimes this is the case, and KPMG’s intervention helps ensure that the available resources are indeed being used. In other cases, our knowledge of the various programs allows us to broaden the scope of possibilities and help maximize the potential returns.
- The second reason is that we can introduce companies to public assistance. In many cases, we have found that the task of finding assistance opportunities for projects or initiatives has fallen on staff in the Finance unit, adding to their already busy day-to-day schedules. At KPMG, we can help quickly identify sources of funding for short-term projects and enable companies to consider the various government assistance options available for future projects.
Our team will be happy to provide your company with the guidance required to help you benefit from government assistance.
