Government of Canada Lends Startup Support to Les Portes Sesame Inc.

BROWNSBURG-CHATHAM, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Feb. 3, 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 Les Portes Sésame Inc. has been granted financial assistance for the acquisition of equipment necessary for the manufacture of interior doors.

"The Government of Canada is committed to supporting enterprises that, like Les Portes Sésame, are focusing on entrepreneurship, innovation and commercialization and undertaking projects that will help foster the growth and economic vitality of their communities," says Minister Lebel.

Les Portes Sésame is a startup firm in the Laurentides region specializing in the manufacture of interior doors. The company produces innovative, customizable and modular doors using extruded aluminium frames fitted with panel inserts made primarily of wood or other materials of varying textures and finishes. Showcased for the first time at the 2011 Salon international du Design d'intérieur de Montréal, the firm's contemporary-design products garnered two awards of excellence in the "new product" category.

The commercialization of this Quebec innovation and the startup of an enterprise in the metal and wood products manufacturing sector will help promote diversification of the Brownsbrug-Chatham economy and generate sustainable spinoffs for the community.

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

This $66,500 in repayable financial assistance has been granted 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 small and medium-sized businesses in these communities in their efforts to secure their sustainable development.

Last July 14, the Government of Canada announced its intention to allocate a further $20 million in funding over two years to support the Quebec silvicultural sector for the years 2011 and 2012.

This measure is one of several put in place by the Government of Canada in the past months to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include, for example, the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1 billion budget over two years to mitigate the impacts 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 $230 million invested, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, for silvicultural work and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use forest roads. Workers have also received their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the economic crisis.

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