Montreal, a city in the Canadian province of Québec, generates 94% of its electricity from hydropower — an impressive feat it is using to try to woo investors.

Stéphane Paquet, president and CEO of Montreal International, tells fDi why Montreal has become selective over where it invests its energy, and why its talent and ecosystem have become its most important attributes.

Q: How is Montreal positioning itself as a destination for cleantech investments?

A: We decided to build big dams in northern Québec in the 1960s and 1970s, which means that much of our energy comes from hydropower. Now, our ambition is to take advantage of this hydropower to attract investors who want to decarbonise their activities. 

In addition, Hydro Quebec, the state-owned utility, launched Circuit lectrique — a network of public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations — in 2012, when there were only 600 EVs on the road. Now, Québec has the highest number of EV charging stations per capita in North America. 

Q: So, which sectors are you targeting?

A: It has been a conscious decision on the part of provincial and federal governments to make Montreal excel in certain sectors, like in life sciences, aerospace, creative technologies, and artificial intelligence. These are the sectors we want to be putting our energy into. Last year, US pharmaceuticals company Moderna established a biomanufacturing production facility here in Biotech City, Greater Montreal’s life sciences hub.

We used to chase data centre investments five or so years ago, because we thought we would have a greater surplus of hydroelectricity. We’ve stopped being aggressive on attracting data centres because we prefer to allocate our energy to other sectors looking to decarbonise. Our energy is very precious — it’s green and lots of people want it.

Q: Do you agree with the Canadian government’s decision to offer up to C$14.4bn ($10.6bn) in incentives to German carmaker Volkswagen to establish a Canadian EV battery plant?

A: I’m not aware of all the details. That being said, I think it does send a strong signal to all the investors around the world that there is an alternative to what the US is offering through the Inflation Reduction Act. If you are active in a sector that Canada really wants, we’ll be there. We can have a discussion about the need for subsidies in a world where many governments are offering subsidies; the question really is who will be the first to disarm.

Canada’s answer is that we won’t be the first ones to disarm.

Q: EV investments are being announced all over the world. Does Canada need to make EVs?

A: Why not? They are good investments; they have lots of spillover effects.

When I said we would not excel in all sectors but only certain sectors, this is certainly one of those sectors. We already have some wins. I mentioned hybrid engines and electric aircrafts in the aerospace sector but there is also Quebec-headquartered Lion Electric that makes electric school buses.

Anyone who comes to the greater Montreal area can see that there is already an ecosystem. We’re not in the middle of the desert: we have people; we have talent; we have an ecosystem.

And if you want subsidies, we can talk about that, but the fact we already have the talent is very important.

Stéphane Paquet is the president and CEO of Monreal International