Press release
World Trade Centre Montréal, the Association de la construction du Québec and the Société d'habitation du Québec Join Forces to Promote Quebec Residential Construction in the U.S.
Montreal, October 31, 2003 The World Trade Centre Montréal (WTC Montréal), a service branch of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, the Association de la construction du Québec (ACQ) and the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) have signed an exclusive partnership agreement to organize trade missions aimed at promoting the products and services of the Quebec residential construction industry in the U.S. market over the next three years.
For the past three years, our WTC Montréal service branch has been organizing exclusive trade missions with the ACQ. These missions have already allowed over 60 participants to explore the markets of the most dynamic cities in the United States and Latin America, meet with buyers and architects of some of the 25 leading companies in these markets and visit large-scale, innovative construction sites. Our new partnership with the SHQ will only add to the success of future missions, stated Benoit Labonté, president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.
For example, during the last trade mission organized in May by WTC Montréal and ACQ to New York, 64 individual meetings with general contractors were organized for the representatives of the 11 companies participating in the mission. Thanks to the contacts made, five of these companies submitted a total of ten bids for a combined value of over US$22 million less than two months after the mission.
Under this new agreement, we will be able to add the residential aspect to the current program of trade missions to the institutional, commercial and industrial sectors. This is an opportunity for residential building contractors and for product manufacturers, and we invite them to take advantage of what we can offer them in terms of developing foreign markets, commented Me Pierre Hamel, director of legal and governmental affairs and head of trade missions at ACQ.
By aligning itself with World Trade Centre Montréal and ACQ, the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) wanted to provide Quebec companies in the housing sector with even better opportunities to establish profitable business relationships in the U.S. market, affirmed Pierre Cliche, president and CEO of the SHQ.
The first trade mission organized under this new agreement will be to Chicago, on November 13 and 14, under the chairmanship of François Lacombe, general manager of Ébénisterie Beaubois, in Saint-Georges de Beauce.
Chicago is a choice construction market evaluated at close to US$20 billion annually. With a population of 8.3 million residents, the greater Chicago metropolitan area is enjoying a surge in high-rise housing development, combining residential and commercial construction. This is a great opportunity to bring together companies from these two construction sectors.
A branch of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, World Trade Centre Montréal is supported by Canada Economic Development and offers export services to the greater business community.
The sole employers' bargaining agent, the Association de la construction du Québec is a major force with over 12,000 construction employers operating primarily in the institutional, commercial and industrial sectors. Together, these employers are responsible for some 80% of the construction work carried out in Quebec. Through its subsidiary La garantie Qualité-Habitation du Québec Inc., ACQ is also involved in the residential sector.
Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) is the public agency responsible for social housing and housing improvement programs. With its public and private partners, the SHQ also supports research activities and encourages the development and promotion of the Quebec housing industry's products and know-how in the domestic and foreign markets.
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Sources:
Sylvie Paquette
Coordinator, Media Relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca
Tel.: (514) 871-4000, extension 4015
Monique Thomas
Director, Communications and Public Affairs
Association de la construction du Québec
thomasm@prov.acq.org
Tel.: (514) 354-0609, extension 262
Pierre Dubé
Information Agent
Société d'habitation du Québec
pierre.dube@shq.gouv.qc.ca
Tel.: (418) 643-5033
