The Quebec government has committed to invest $125 million in industrial laboratories designed to foster innovation..

The province allocated the investment in its 2024-25 budget released this week. The investment will occur over a five-year span.

The money is designed to establish the labs in unspecified innovation zones. Aéro Montréal, a think tank that encompasses and promotes Quebec’s aerospace industry, welcomed the investment.

Aéro Montréal hopes it will prompt the province to create an innovation zone dedicated to the sector’s growth.

“A designation dedicated to this sector would be the next step in repositioning Montreal as a leader in the global ecosystem, and the investment in industrial laboratories is another signal that the aerospace industry’s proposed project is in line with the government’s vision,” said Mélanie Lussier, Aéro Montréal’s president and CEO, in a news release.

Lussier also welcomed province’s $74.5-million investment over five years to develop new aerospace technologies, improve competitiveness within the industry and attract talent.

In other moves that will affect real estate, Premier François Legault’s CAQ government allocated $203.6 million over five years to support emerging technologies and modernize property taxes to allow for robotization.

The province has budgeted for an $11.5-billion deficit with plans to balance the budget in 2025-26.

Pictured: H55 electric-plane battery manufacturing plant being developed in Montreal

Rendering: H55