INNOVATING FROM THE RIVER

The Port of Québec has always been a welcoming place.

Welcoming the ships and their cargo that keep our region thriving. Welcoming citizens, who make our spaces their own.

And for some time now, we’ve been welcoming entrepreneurs, too, along with innovative ideas and partnerships. We want the Port to be not just a place of transit, but also a nexus for ideas – a place where wealth is measured in partnerships, innovation, and value creation.

We’ve chosen to reimagine the way we use our infrastructure, recognizing it not just as a logistical tool, but for what it really is: a genuine vector for collective wealth. The Port of Québec is the perfect place to develop new technologies. To experiment. To test. To learn. To build in new ways. It’s a playground that is now more accessible than ever to those who are imagining the world of tomorrow.

Québec is already a place of innovation in so many areas: artifical intelligence, clean technologies, healthcare, sustainable mobility, and much more. The Port of Québec supports and contributes to that innovation by making the port spaces and its opportunities more accessible to players in the ecosystem.

By partnering with startup accelerators and incubators like 2 Degrés, Centech, and MTLab, we’ve opened the door to new innovation networks in the maritime, industrial, and tourism sectors. These collaborations allow us to form solid relationships with the innovation ecosystems in Montréal and Québec City and forge even more connections between the port, technology, and tourism spheres.

And the result speak for themselves: in the space of a year, we’ve met nearly a hundred players in the innovation world. These meetings have given rise to promising projects, including 25 startups with concrete solutions. What’s more, around a dozen technologies have been installed on our sites thanks to the Lighthouse, our innovation laboratory. So many ideas have been tested, improved, or demonstrated thanks to the Port’s support.

The Lighthouse is more than a place for experimentation: it’s a philosophy of openness.

We offer up-and-coming businesses invaluable access to our spaces, our in-house expertise, and our incredible business network. For startups, the Port is a unique launchpad: a place where they can test their ideas in real-life conditions, connect with partners, and come up with solutions that will advance an entire industry, all over the planet.

This model of open innovation creates a ripple effect. By pooling our strengths, we create value not only for startups, but for Québec City’s entire economic community.

But for us, it’s not just about innovating for innovation’s sake.

It’s about doing better.

It’s about finding more sustainable solutions, improving our practices, strengthening our commitment to the environment and the community.

Whether it’s to reduce our carbon footprint, optimize the management of our operations, or make the Port a better neighbour, every innovation tested at the Port is designed to have a tangible, measurable, positive impact.

Innovation at the Port of Québec is driven by a simple conviction: the river carries us toward the future. By opening up our wharves, our ideas, and our networks to the innovation community, we’re helping build a more agile, sustainable, and inclusive economy.

It’s by working together – startups, researchers, partners, and citizens all – that we can continue to see far ahead.

And above all, to innovate so that the river remains a source of wealth and collective pride for a long time to come.

– Olga Farman