Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

The project’s economic spin-offs
Construction phase
Economic context of the project
According to the proponent, the project would represent an overall investment of
$840.2 million, which would include the cost of building the terminal ($775 million) and
the gas pipeline linking the terminal to the TQM pipeline station at Saint-Nicolas
($65.5 million). According to the planned schedule, construction would extend over a
period of three years (PR8.2, p. 1 and 7).
Total project economic spinoffs for Quebec are estimated to be $444 million.
According to the proponent, construction work represents the equivalent of 4,995
person-years, divided among 2,440 direct jobs 1 and 2,555 indirect jobs 2 . As regards
manpower required on site, the project would require 1,580 person-years, or the
equivalent of 474 people for 40 months, the majority (87 percent) coming from the
construction sector (PR8.2, p. 14). According to the proponent’s projections, nearly
73 percent of the manpower needed would come from Quebec City and the
Chaudière-Appalaches regions. The limiting factor for recruiting workers on the
regional level is the availability of qualified manpower in the trades in high skilled
sectors (ibid., p. 1).
During the hearing, many companies in the region expressed interest in obtaining
contracts from the proponent or his agents. Some also wished to acquire through such
contracts new expertise in areas such as construction techniques linked to cryogenics.
Others expressed concerns in regard to the commitment of the proponent to take into
account the fiscal inequity that prevails in Quebec. They expressed the hope that the
contracts will not all be directed towards the resource regions at the expense of
central regions like Chaudière-Appalaches or Québec City.
Certain provisions in the agreement reached between the proponent and the City of
Lévis are meant to maximize economic spinoffs in that city. Thus, according to the
agreement “Rabaska intends to favour manpower and companies established in
Lévis” (DM315, Appendix A, p. 6).
1. The direct effects correspond to the spinoffs stemming directly from project related expenses. There are two
types: wages paid to workers and income obtained by firms that executed construction contracts awarded by the
proponent and his agents.
2. The indirect effects measure the spinoffs generated by successive suppliers. These include all jobs and value
added by intermediate suppliers on the proponent’s entire supply chain and entering into the construction
process.
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