Entrepreneurship | The evolution of Quebec inc. | The Press

Quebec inc. has evolved significantly since the Quiet Revolution. Companies have multiplied, and the approach of Quebec entrepreneurs is no longer the same.

“When I was studying at Laval University at the turn of the 1970s, you had to go to McGill University on Saturdays to see the jobs on offer because the big employers didn't advertised in French-speaking universities. »

Michel Nadeau has no difficulty going back to his memories to remember how times have changed.

"The theme of catching up with Francophones in the economy has been the dominant element in my life and career," says the former director general of the Institute for the governance of private and public organizations and former - number two of the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec.

Editorialist and responsible for the economic pages of the newspaper Le Devoir in the 1970s and 1980s, he was well placed to grasp the magnitude of the challenge faced by Quebec entrepreneurs.

When I was at Le Devoir, the joke in Toronto was that Quebec was funding convenience stores. Perrette and the milk jug go public. There was the greatest contempt and disdain for Couche-Tard.

Michel Nadeau, Executive Director of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations

In terms of revenue, Alimentation Couche-Tard is now the largest company in Canada, ahead of the Royal Bank and other large organizations. Couche-Tard's revenue exceeded US$54 billion in fiscal year 2020.

“The mindset has changed a lot over the years and Québec inc. has changed,” says Chris Arsenault, founding partner at iNovia, a Montreal-based venture capital firm. “The expression Quebec inc. no longer reflects what it reflected.

“Previously, we needed a Quebec inc. to protect himself. It was a question of control so as not to lose control of our businesses. »

Today, Québec inc. is the ambition of entrepreneurs, adds Chris Arsenault. “They have the opportunity to build global businesses from here. »

Chris Arsenault is not thinking of Cascades, Cogeco, CGI, etc. when he thinks of Quebec inc. Instead, he thinks of Lightspeed, Hopper and AlayaCare. To companies that could have been sold to foreign investors, but who decided to continue their ascent here with global ambitions.

Learning to manage

“The challenge of Quebec inc. at the beginning was to be masters in our own house and to hold our own levers,” says the president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc.

“There were incredible efforts in the 1960s and 1970s to enable Francophones to learn to manage,” says Michel Nadeau. We managed Expo 67, the 76 Olympic Games, the Montreal metro, etc. he says.

“In the late 1950s, Quebec was one of the places with the highest illiteracy rate. The school system and hospitals were controlled by religious communities. The state was in its infancy. Duplessis did not want to spend. Quebecers weren't managing anything,” adds Michel Nadeau.

The 1960s led to the creation of organizations such as the Caisse de depot et placement, the Société Générale de Financement and others, because we wanted to learn how to manage large organizations and because Anglophones did not did not give enough room to do so, argues Michel Nadeau.

The implementation by Jacques Parizeau of the stock savings plan, at the end of the 1970s, strengthened several of our flagships and contributed to creating new ones, adds Michel Leblanc.

It was the meeting between the needs of Québec inc. and the political will to create Quebec champions. Gradually, Quebec inc. became strong on its own and needed less government support to access funding.

Michel Leblanc, President of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, on the implementation of the stock savings plan

The Caisse de depot then played a more important role. “Because our businesses grew, they became more interesting for the Caisse,” says Michel Leblanc.

“We learned to manage,” says Michel Nadeau. Public enterprises first. Then cooperatives. And finally, there were companies like Bombardier. Yes, Bombardier has changed. But at one time, it was the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world and the second largest manufacturer of trains and railway equipment with Alstom”, he underlines.

“Today we have consulting engineering firms struggling in hyper-competitive markets. Half of show business in Las Vegas is controlled by Quebec firms. We succeeded in extremely competitive environments. While our friends in Toronto were doing business in the Canadian market, we went south and fought in several sectors to make up for lost time,” says Michel Nadeau.

Credit to entrepreneurs

If, in Quebec, there are so many global players like CAE, WSP, SNC-Lavalin, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Bombardier and others, the credit goes to the Quebec entrepreneurs, according to Professor Karl Moore of McGill University.

Part of the explanation, in his opinion, comes from the fact that in order to hope to expand a business, working in English is necessary. “Francophone entrepreneurs must work in a second language, in another culture. While Anglophones do business in Canada and the United States without having to think about doing so in another culture, Quebecers must have a broader vision of the world. A Quebecer must immediately think of another culture while an Ontarian does not have to do it, ”he says.

The professor does not hesitate to make a connection with the Quiet Revolution. “Because of the situation that prevailed before the 1960s, Quebecers have a feeling of wanting to do something bigger, which gives them more courage to face the world. »

For Monique Leroux, former president of Mouvement Desjardins, Québec inc. isn't just great companies like CGI, for example.

Quebec is very well positioned to project itself into the post-crisis period because we have a more structured financial ecosystem than what we can find elsewhere in the country.

Monique Leroux, former president of Desjardins Group

“You don’t find this same level of collaboration elsewhere in Canada. We have been able to develop an ecosystem including venture capital, pension funds, etc. “, she specifies.

"When you look at a city like Montreal, which has three financial institutions with $400 billion in assets, you realize that you can't find that in many places in North America," says Michel Nadeau, CEO of Institute on governance of private and public organizations.

A new category

At the beginning, Québec inc. was a new category of French-speaking bosses, employers and owners, says Michel Leblanc, president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal . “These names are sometimes today the fathers of certain people we know well: Rémi Marcoux, Pierre Péladeau, Hervé Pomerleau, Marcel Dutil, and even Paul Desmarais sr, who was a Franco-Ontarian. »

In his eyes, it also represented a new category of Francophone decision-makers who create businesses and become major employers with spin-offs for the advancement of an entire class of Francophone workers, who will become managers and senior executives of businesses.

“At the end of the 20^th century, this allowed us to pull up a host of Francophone skills that did not have this possibility before,” says Michel Leblanc.

At the turn of the 2000s, Québec inc. will change to become much more international. "It's Jean Coutu who wants to expand in the United States, CGI who is expanding internationally and the National Bank who wants to get out of Quebec," says Michel Leblanc.

“We then have a whole new category of Quebec entrepreneurs who are helping to shape an international vision of our economy. Today, we have a Quebec inc. renewed with young entrepreneurs who are at the head of companies in sectors where we were not present before. »

Aiming internationally

In many cases, he says, these are people who feel less need to be visible here, but who would like to break into the international market. “We have young people who are leaving companies and who want to go international quickly. That does not mean that they are not influential in Quebec, but they are people who are more focused on conquering markets and who want to ensure that free trade agreements are concluded, but at the same time as our intellectual property is protected”, continues Michel Leblanc.

“So people today who help to define public policies, who help to position societal issues, who are in companies that are often smaller, but on the cutting edge. »

For Michel Leblanc, an entrepreneur like Éric Fournier, of Moment Factory, is someone who leads the way when the time comes to think about innovation in Quebec. “Same thing with Louis Têtu, at Coveo, in Quebec, in the field of artificial intelligence. »

The next challenge for Québec inc., according to him, is to position itself well in new growth niches in new technologies.

Fantastic advantages

One of Quebec's fantastic advantages, according to Monique Leroux, is its expertise in clean technologies.

“We have the immense advantage of having Hydro-Québec to build the most robust ecosystem in the country, even in North America. We also have substantial natural resources and a distinctive digital technology dimension with artificial intelligence, in particular. We have several centers of expertise and leadership and institutions that take the ESG [environment, social and governance] aspect not as a constraint, but as a lever for development. This is the next step of the next Quebec inc. », says Monique Leroux, ex-president of the Mouvement Desjardins.

“We can take the lead and take an even more structuring step forward for Quebec. We have this possibility before us. I am very optimistic for the future”, says Monique Leroux.

“In 1960, 70% of bosses were English-speaking in Quebec. Today, 70% of bosses are French-speaking. We managed to change the situation and make an extraordinary catch-up,” says Michel Nadeau, director general of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations. “We have done quite well 60 years later. We made up for the delay we had with other Canadian provinces,” he said.

The importance of the Quiet Revolution

Another important aspect is that of the Quiet Revolution and education. “You cannot pose as a leader without having with you a human dimension of employees, collaborators and entrepreneurs who rely on a robust education system,” says Monique Leroux.

If it hadn’t been for the Quiet Revolution and the decisions that allowed Quebecers to benefit from an accessible and “very good quality” education system, Québec inc. would not be what it is today, she believes. “This is a fundamental condition for supporting the growth of Québec inc. », says Monique Leroux. “Without that, I know that I would never have been able to do the course that I did. »

Quebec inc. is now more inclusive with immigrants and Anglophones, says Professor Karl Moore. “The DNA has changed,” he says, noting that there is better cohesion in the business community in Quebec than in the rest of the country.

You feel more united here.

Karl Moore, Associate Professor at McGill University

A direct link to distinct society, he says.

“By Québec inc., we meant that all of Québec is coming together. Everyone together to build great companies and organizations in the public, cooperative, community and private sectors. It is an exceptional success that deserves to be told,” says Michel Nadeau.

“Young people should know that Quebec companies that shine abroad today is not something that happened by itself. The baby boomer generation and others that followed have rolled up their sleeves to build great organizations. Quebecers do not have to be ashamed of their place,” says Mr. Nadeau.