Government of Canada Lends Support to Concept Mat Inc. Expansion Project

MATANE, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct. 22, 2012) - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, announces that the firm Concept Mat Inc. has been granted financial assistance to expand and reconfigure its prefabricated building elements factory, acquire new equipment and build a warehouse.

"To our government, the way to economic prosperity is through investments like this one that Concept Mat is about to take to increase its productivity and strengthen its competitiveness," said Minister Lebel.

Concept Mat Inc. specializes in the manufacture of prefabricated building elements like walls and floor beams, which it sells across Quebec. With this project, the company is seeking to optimize its manufacturing processes and reduce production costs and turnaround time. Concept Mat occupies a prime position in the eco-building market, a promising sector for the development of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.

About the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE)

This financial assistance has been granted in the form of a $175,000 repayable contribution through Canada Economic Development's Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE).

The TISQFE was brought into force in June 2010 to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to ensure their growth and create and maintain employment. The initiative's goal is also to support secondary and tertiary wood processing projects in these communities.

This measure is one of several put in place by the Government of Canada to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1-billion budget over two years to mitigate the impact of the crisis, the $1 billion granted to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects, and the $238 million invested, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, for silvicultural work and the maintenance of multi-use forest roads. Workers have also received their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing numerous measures to help them through the global economic crisis.

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