SAINT-TITE, Que. – Four Quebec businesses are receiving repayable contributions of $2,856,500 through the Government of Canada’s Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) program. The investments were announced Jan. 19.
Xylo-Carbone, a charcoal and bio-char start-up, is receiving a $1,200,000 contribution for the acquisition of production equipment, while three other local businesses have been granted contributions totalling $1,656,500 to acquire leading-edge equipment and expand their production plants.
Xylo-Carbone is predicting a total investment of $7.6 million to launch its business of producing high value-added biocarbon-based products made from low-grade roundwood residues. CED’s contribution is going towards production equipment, which was designed and developed by strategic partners, including the Centre d’études des procédés chimiques du Québec at Collège Maisonneuve, Innofibre and the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Incorporated in 2016, the Saint-Tite business plans to serve the United States and Canadian markets.
The pyrolysis project received $1.5 million in funding from the Quebec government last fall. Read our coverage here.