Economic Recovery:PME MTL now more than ever at the service of Montréal SMEs

Financing and support for a sustainable recovery 

As part of the Ville de Montréal recovery plan unveiled today, PME MTL will play an even more vital and essential role for Montréal entrepreneurs. True to its mission, the Ville de Montréal support network for businesses will continue to act as an important ally for SMEs in their start-up, growth and transfer stages.   

The directors of the six PME MTL service hubs, Annie Bourgoin, Marie-Claude Dauray, Jean François Lalonde, Christian Perron, Marc-André Perron and Nicolas Roy, strongly believe that SMBs have the potential to transform our economy. The PME MTL network offer them financing, training, networking and coaching by multidisciplinary specialists. Our experts have been working hard over the past several weeks to restore the pace of start-up and growth activity that existed before the Covid-19 crisis, while improving business survival rates.  

“The PME MTL network was at the heart of efforts to support Montréal businesses and retail stores, which were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their outstanding work, commitment and agility made it possible to set up emergency assistance measures, financial assistance programs and initiatives to support store owners and entrepreneurs. The Montréal Economic Recovery Plan presented by the City includes $22 million in investments and 20 new measures to be deployed over the next six months. PME MTL will be a key player in implementing this plan and will definitely contribute to Montréal's economic recovery,” said Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante. 

Expertise available to SMEs  

In addition to management and financing know-how, PME MTL provides entrepreneurs with consulting services in a multitude of key business areas:  

• Retail (business plan optimization, market research analysis, implementation, online shift, etc.)  
• Commercialization of innovations (advice on development, positioning and implementation, assistance for validating commercial strategy, help finding financing, etc.)  
• Export market development (evaluation of export potential, optimization of business and marketing plans, development advice, referral to partners, etc.)   
• Industrial and sustainable development (diagnosis and analysis, support for setting up and relocating, relations with specialized groups, etc.)   
• Social economy (validation of the project and business model, assistance with financial arrangements and governance, advice on human resources management, etc.)   
•  E-commerce logistics (pre-diagnosis of operations, assistance in choosing a service provider, support in outsourcing activities, etc.) 
• Recruitment assistance (source talents directly from a database of potential candidates, optimize and share job offers, get recommendations on financial programs and recruitment tools).

At the same time, the six PME MTL hubs (representing the six sectors on the Island) frequently collaborate with local stakeholders on projects that have a structuring impact and that are aimed at resolving various issues.

Major financial contribution to entrepreneurs  

Since it was founded five years ago, PME MTL has more than quintupled its investments in Montréal entrepreneurs. Where investments were at $5 million in 2015, they rose to $27.9 million in 2019. Distributed among 363 companies, this assistance has helped create or maintain more than 6,000 jobs. In addition to that financing, the network's experts have accompanied nearly 4,000 businesses in their business projects as well.  

PME MTL offers entrepreneurs a wide variety of Funds adapted to their reality and needs, related to anything from start-up to growth or job maintenance. The following are some examples:  

• Fonds PME MTL (Small business fund) Loans of up to $400,000 tailored to the needs of Montréal businesses.  
• Fonds Commercialisation des innovations (Innovation commercialization fund) To support the implementation and optimization of innovation commercialization strategies.  
• Fonds Développement industriel et durable (Industrial and sustainable development fund) To stimulate or accelerate innovation and the implementation of sustainable practices in the manufacturing sector.  
• Fonds Entrepreneuriat commercial (Commercial entrepreneurship fund) Support for the establishment and growth of commercial enterprises, and assistance for e-commerce projects.  
• Fonds de développement de l’économie sociale (Social economy development fund) Subsidies of up to $50,000 to support social economy initiatives.  
• Fonds Jeunes Entreprises (Young business fund) Subsidies of up to $15,000 to support young entrepreneurs.  

In addition, with the arrival of the pandemic, PME MTL enhanced its financial assistance by adding emergency assistance funds. For example, they administer the federal government's $30-million Regional Relief and Recovery Fund, the Québec government's $60-million Emergency Assistance to Small and Medium-Sized Businesses program and the $2-million Temporary Retail Business Consolidation Fund.  

This temporary assistance is in addition to several measures implemented since last March in connection with the pandemic including reduced eligibility conditions for the Social Economy Development Fund as well as the six-month moratorium on capital and interest. 

With these measures, even more entrepreneurs will benefit from our services and financing in 2020.