Que. brewery gets $1M for expansion

It’s hoped local farmers will be among the beneficiaries of a Baie-St. Paul, Que. brewery’s expansion, for which the province and Ottawa will kick in $1 million in total loans and grants.

Gestion Bistro Brasserie, which has operated a craft microbrewery and restaurant in the community about 90 km northeast of Quebec City since 1998, and has produced European-style beers since 2003, now sells its products at 50 outlets in the province. It says it’s outgrown its present brewery facility.

The company plans to build a new, expanded brewery, Microbrasserie Charlevoix, with new equipment, at a total cost of about $2.36 million. The expansion is expected to boost its annual production capacity to one million litres.

To that end, provincial and federal officials on Tuesday announced:

• $200,000 in repayable funding from the federal economic diversification department’s Community Economic Diversification Initiative – Vitality;
• $315,000 in provincial economic development department funding;
• a $300,000 venture capital investment from the provincial ag department’s Capital Financiere agricole;
• a $150,000 contribution from the Charlevoix economic development centre;
• $35,000 from the Bureau de la Capitale-Nationale; and
• a $500,000 loan guarantee from Investissement Quebec.

“Not only will this project result in the creation of eight jobs over the next three years, it could also have a ripple effect on many farmers in the region by encouraging the cultivation of hops for beer production,” said Jean-Pierre Blackburn, minister for Canada Economic Development, in a release Tuesday.

Philippe Couillard, the provincial minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale (Quebec City) region, said the province was proud to support a business playing a role in the agri-food sector, which he noted was a priority sector for Capitale-Nationale development.