The City of Quebec wholeheartedly supports INO's development plan

QUEBEC CITY, June 1, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Institut national d'optique (INO) is delighted with the City of Quebec's unconditional support for its development plan. The plan consists of two main strategic thrusts: renewal of core funding and deployment of a Canada-wide expansion strategy. The announcement was made by Mayor Régis Labeaume at a press conference this morning on the City's priority issues for the next federal election campaign.

INO's two development thrusts supported by the City and Mayor Labeaume are essentially as follows:

• Renewal of its core funding to enable INO to enhance its capacity for developing strategic, cutting-edge technological innovations such as printable and silicon photonics. This first thrust will require $50 million in funding over five years.  
• INO's Canada-wide expansion plan, which will enable it to increase its sales effort, and technological solutions integration resources in Ontario, mainly in the industrial and biomedical sectors. In Western Canada, pipeline safety and solutions related to environmental issues are targeted. This second thrust will require $27.2 million in funding over five years.

With this funding, INO plans to double its revenues over the next five years and create 80 new qualified jobs.

Recognizing that optics/photonics has become one of Quebec City's technological trademarks, just like aeronautics in Montreal, Mayor Labeaume said: "Optics/photonics is a very powerful economic driver. We are very lucky to have an international leader in this field, right here in Quebec City. INO must be able to grow and develop quickly. We are counting on the cooperation of the federal government to make this happen."

INO President and CEO Jean-Yves Roy added: "INO must enhance its ability to provide manufacturers in Quebec and Canada with innovative solutions that will enable them to become major players in their respective fields. Our businesses have to close the productivity gap compared to their international competitors. We want to be the catalyzer that enables them to do that."

According to a study on INO's economic impact released by Deloitte in December 2014, INO generated $344 million in economic growth and helped create 4,013 jobs across Canada in 2014. A total of 62% of these economic impacts were generated in Quebec.

About INO

A leading technology designer and developer, INO is Canada's largest center for industrial optics and photonics expertise. It is an international leader in its field, having developed over 5,000 custom solutions to date for Quebec and Canadian companies across a wide variety of fields. INO has performed 59 technology transfers and helped create 29 spinoff companies employing over 1,000 people. INO has almost 200 employees, more than 80% of whom are scientists involved in research. www.ino.ca

SOURCE INO (National Optics Institute)

Image with caption: "INO (National Optics Institute) (CNW Group/INO (National Optics Institute))". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150601_C7289_PHOTO_EN_17328.jpg

Source: INO, 418-657-7006, [email protected]