More projects to develop the agriculture and agri-food sector in Quebec’s Gaspesie and Iles-de-la-Madeleine regions are to see provincial funding from new top-ups announced this week.
The province on Wednesday announced it would put up $650,000, while the area’s Regional Conference of elected representatives has pledged another $270,000.
The funding follows a 2006 commitment of $2.54 million, of which $2.13 million came from the province’s Regional Agrifood Development Program (PRDA).
That pledged funding was entirely used up to help fund 85 development projects, leveraging total investments of $12.3 million, the province said Wednesday.
The supplementary funds pledged Wednesday are expected to support another 60 projects and leverage $8 million in total investments, the province said.
Nathalie Normandeau, the province’s natural resources minister, said in a release that the province recognizes the importance of support adapted to the realities of the region’s 278 producers.
The relatively sparsely-populated eastern region, facing the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has about five residents per square kilometre.
Fishing and logging have been considered the region’s staple industries, the province has said previously, but mining and farming activities contribute “modestly” to the regional resource economy.
