Study of the electricity industry in Quebec : Synthesis report

This study was conducted to provide a better understanding and determine the economic importance of the production, transmission and distribution of electrical energy in Quebec. The study involved the following steps: to propose a definition of the electricity industry in Quebec which will identify its boundaries; based on this definition, to identify all the establishments and parties that form an integral part of this industry; and through a survey conducted with a sample of those establishments previously identified, to identify several economic indicators. The results of this study will allow the Association de l'Industrie Electrique du Quebec (Quebec Association of Electricity Industry) to gain an increased knowledge of the industry and increase its representation power. The first phase of the study consisted in the analysis of data and previous studies with the aim of proposing a definition of the industry. The following phase involved preparing an inventory of all the establishments comprised in the definition based on known inventories, the treatment and integration of name databases. Then, a survey of 2 901 establishments was conducted, via telephone, the names were filtered, and a sample of the 991 participating establishments was used to collect data on several economic indicators. The following parameters were considered in the determination of the importance of the economic indicators: the number of establishments by type of activity, the sales figures, jobs, services rendered, and products offered. The results were presented in several pie charts and graphs. 9 figs