The Quebec government granted the Quebec-based city bus manufacturer ’’NOVA BUS‘‘ financial support exceeding 19 million dollars to ’’improve its productivity‘‘ and to ’’ensure the sustainability of its operations‘‘ at a time when the company is preparing to cut 125 jobs within a year.

According to what was reported today in the official journal of Quebec, the government of François Legault grants ’’NOVA BUS‘‘ a forgivable loan worth 19.1 million dollars through the state-run Investissement Québec under a decree issued on January 31, 2024.

The loan aims to ’’improve the productivity‘‘ of the company’s factories in the cities of Saint-Eustache and Saint-François-du-Lac in the province of Quebec and ’’ensure the sustainability of its operations‘‘, according to the decree.

A few days after the decree was adopted, ’’NOVA BUS‘‘ announced to its employees on Monday that it intends to cut 125 jobs at its Saint-Eustache factory by January 2025.

In explaining its decision, ’’NOVA BUS‘‘ said these cuts are related to its decision to close its factory in Plattsburgh, United States and focus on the Canadian market, adding that the strategic change requires an adjustment in employment levels.

’’NOVA BUS‘‘ confirmed that the reduction in the number of workers will not affect the company's contracts in Quebec and that the affected jobs are linked to the activities in Plattsburgh.

It is worth mentioning that ’’NOVA BUS‘‘ received last May a contract worth 2.1 billion dollars to build 1,229 electric buses for ten public transit agencies in the province of Quebec.

’’NOVA BUS‘‘ is part of the global Swedish ’’Volvo‘‘ group, and currently employs 1,350 employees in Saint-Eustache and Saint-François-du-Lac.

Radio Canada was unable to obtain an immediate response from ’’NOVA BUS‘‘ nor from the office of the Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy in the Quebec government, Pierre Fitzgibbon, both of whom were contacted before noon today.