Investissement Quebec | Almost zero yield, almost 12 million bonuses

The almost zero -null return on the Quebec (IQ) last year will not prevent its employees and its senior management from being entitled to bonuses. They will reach 11.6 million – one of the highest amounts since the overhaul of the Mission of the Financial Arm of the Quebec State.

This is an average amount of $ 9608 per person, underlines the Crown corporation, in a response to a request for The press under the Act on access to documents of public bodies and on the protection of personal information.

This overall amount of premiums (11.6 million) is lower than the 14 million paid in 2023-2024, where the workforce had inflated to 1296 people, when the yield had been 2.6 %. It is nevertheless the third in importance since 2019, the year when the Legault government has expanded the mission of IQ, which manages government assistance programs in addition to carrying out business support.

“The primary role of IQ is to support our businesses in their growth,” says the office of the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Christine Fréchette, in a declaration. This sometimes results in additional risk taking. »»

Difficult year

Tumbling back stock securities, private re -evaluated decreased, increase in the provision for loss on bad claims … The months of January, February and March, which coincided with the end of the year of the State’s financial arm, were hectic due to the turbulence caused by the Trump administration’s trade war.

The financial year, which ended on March 31, ended with a return of 0.3 %, or approximately 13 million, far from the 194 million forecast which was in the budget of the Minister of Finance Eric Girard filed last March.

The mandate is to deliver a higher return on the borrowing costs of the Quebec government. It is quite the opposite that occurred last year with a performance of 0.3 % while the borrowing rate oscillated between 3 and 4.3 %.

Year after year, the organization repeats that it is rather necessary to analyze the portrait over five years, a period during which IQ recorded a performance of 6.2 %, beyond the government loan rate (2.2 %). This result is however largely attributable to the yield of 25 % carried out in 2021 in the wake of the postpandemic stock market.

“What I find a shame is that at IQ, we will always look for something positive even when the results are not good,” underlines Luc Bernier, professor at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. It’s very soft as a performance. »»

Declining

Sectorally, the president and general manager of the Crown Company, BICHA NGO, will be entitled to a payment of around $ 121,000. Sign that the drop in the yield of IQ seems to have had an impact on the premium, it bent 43 % compared to the sum paid in 2023-2024.

The 19 members of the senior management will share 1.3 million, while 4 million will be distributed among managers (155 people). 6.2 million will be distributed through unionized and non -unionized staff (1035 people).

Despite a tumultuous year, the government financial arm has nevertheless managed to end the increase in its expenses, which have been in constant progression since 2019.

Administrative costs have contracted by 3 million to be 260 million. To get there, M^me NGO had put a slimming diet in place, which had resulted in the elimination of the equivalent of 170 posts – the majority by attrition. According to M^me NGO, we should not attend the same scenario this year.

“I think we have a role to continue to look at how we can do better, but there will be no initiative with the importance that there was last year,” said the CEO of IQ on June 5, commenting on the annual results.