Structures Premiere Receives Financial Assistance From Government of Canada

VAL-D'OR, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Aug. 24, 2011) - Acting on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, Jacques Gourde, Member of Parliament for Lotbinière–Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, today announced the awarding of $220,000 in repayable funding to the firm Structures Première.

"The Government of Canada believes it is important to support Abitibi-Témiscamingue enterprises that, like Structures Première, are active in the wood processing sector, a priority for the region's economy," said Jacques Gourde.

The company, which specializes in engineered wood and residential, commercial and institutional building systems, manufactures such products as roof trusses, joists and floor beams for sale on the Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Ontario and Nord-du-Québec markets.

Granted through the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE), this financial assistance will allow Structures Première to acquire new equipment and reconfigure its manufacturing chain, thereby boosting the company's productivity. This project will also help diversify and reinforce the economy of the Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipality (RCM).

About the TISQFE

The Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies 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 viability and sustainable development.

This past July 14, the Government of Canada announced its intention to allocate an additional $20 million over two years to support the Quebec silvicultural sector in 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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