QUEBEC — The government has invested a total of $2.2 billion in the dream of becoming an international electric battery player but has failed to properly evaluate the risks and potential losses, Quebec’s auditor general said Wednesday.
Tabling her annual report in the National Assembly, auditor-general Christine Roy says the Coalition Avenir Québec government went out on a limb when it launched its battery plant strategy in October 2022.
The super-minister for the economy at the time was Pierre Fitzgibbon, who resigned from politics in 2024. He was succeeded by Christine Fréchette, who is now premier.
The full extent of the financial losses has yet to be calculated, but the plan suffered from a lack of planning from the get-go, the auditor states.
“Among the files, certain risks were not adequately analyzed or documented,” the report says. “But they involve, in most cases, significant risks.
“Moreover, the conditions included in aid packages were not followed up with rigour.”
Of 11 companies audited that received government aid or loans, the report says, six today are either under bankruptcy protection or have been abandoned.
The four that have gone bankrupt are Northvolt, Lion Électric, Moteurs Taïga and Recyclage Lithion. Those four received 89 per cent of the grants accorded by the government before going under.
Three other projects have experienced significant cost overuns totalling $1 billion.
Battery dreams
As of March 2026, about $700 million has been earmarked in the government’s books as potential costs, including provisions for possible losses.
Officials told reporters there is no way today to calculate the total losses.
For the first time, however, the auditor breaks down the total amounts handed to various high-profile battery makers either in loans or grants from the government via Investissement Québec.
The Swedish-owned Northvolt, which went bankrupt in 2025, got a total of $507 million in government aid and loans.
Lion Électric got $127 million in government aid. Vale got $55 million.
The auditor is to hold a news conference later Wednesday.