Québec Canada - The Accent is on Opportunity
There is a large and dynamic Canadian market waiting for Southern California businesses to discover. Québec, a province of over 8 million people with an annual GDP of over $300 billion, may be better known among the Northeastern U.S. states it borders than here in Southern California. And for that reason, MAPLE Business Council has developed a turnkey three-day fact-finding mission to share some of Québec’s leading centers of excellence and innovation. It will be a chance to explore new export, investment, and innovation collaboration opportunities.
Getting one’s arms around a market can be challenging. Sometimes the breadth of a regional economy is not clear beyond one’s own sector focus. And increasingly in this age where technology blurs the edges between sectors (just consider the automotive and tech sectors as an example), there can be exciting connections to explore between industries. The MAPLE delegation model is structured to sample a variety of markets to view the economic landscape laterally. As such, our upcoming mission will have a window on artificial intelligence, cleantech, aerospace, electric & intelligent vehicles, home building, nutraceuticals & functional foods, optics & photonics, innovation incubation and more. Québec is a world leader in many of these sectors. Montréal is one of three cities in the world where a complete plane can be designed and built. Elément AI is at the vanguard of artificial intelligence business solutions to name just a couple.
Visiting new markets can be valuable not only for understanding what a region’s centers of excellence and innovation are generating as goods and services, but also for their methods of innovation. For example, Québec has had considerable success accelerating its global competitiveness through an industry cluster model that engages an ecosystem of business, government, unions, research, and higher education to propel technology advancements forward. At work in sectors such as aerospace, electric and intelligent vehicles and cleantech, these clusters align and engage key industry stakeholders. MAPLE will be visiting with these clusters to learn more about their work.
Delegations can suggest new horizons for businesses but market navigators can show how to penetrate these markets. We are working with leading navigators of the Québec market to make it easier for companies interested in marketing, investing and collaborating with Québec, to engage this market. With our trip focused on Québec’s largest markets of Montréal and Québec City, we will be visiting with Montréal International and Québec International who are both well equipped to help a Southern California business find their way. In addition, MAPLE member organization, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Canada’s largest law firm, will be briefing our delegates on how to do business in Québec. Our trip would not be complete without a meeting with the U.S. Commercial Office in Montréal and Québec City to understand the services available to help U.S. businesses successfully export.
Delegations may connect visitor to host but the outlook need not be unidirectional. As ambassadors of Southern California to Canada, MAPLE missions also provide a window on the Southern California market. At our networking reception in Montréal, we will be taking the opportunity to share what is new and noteworthy for Québec businesses to know about in key markets such as Irvine in Orange County, and Long Beach in Los Angeles County. The bridge of opportunity is always one that can be crossed in both directions.
As the 10th largest trading partner of the United States, Québec represents an exciting new business horizon for Southern California to understand better and we look forward to sharing it with our delegates. We invite you to join us for ’72 Hours in Québec’ on June 13-15. For more information, please contact me at charles@maplesocal.com or visit the MAPLE website. The accent is on welcome. Bienvenue!
Charles Gauthier is a former 26-year diplomat with the Québec government where he held posts in New York City, Los Angeles and Mumbai, India. He now leads business development for Float 4 - a Québec-based multidisciplinary studio that integrates digital experiences in physical spaces to amplify their identity. Founded in 2008, Float4 produces immersive and interactive installations internationally for companies. Charles is also the Business Ambassador to Québec for MAPLE Business Council.