Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François

What Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François does

The Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François is a non-profit regional economic development organization headquartered in East Angus, Quebec, operating as part of the Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ) network — a partnership between the Government of Quebec and the MRC du Haut-Saint-François. The CLD delivers free advisory, financing facilitation, and local development services to entrepreneurs, business owners, agricultural and forestry producers, industrial and commercial promoters, tourism entrepreneurs, and the 14 municipalities comprising the Haut-Saint-François MRC territory. In 2025, the organization conducted 196 interventions across all 14 municipalities, authorizing $695,211 in financing and subsidies (via FLI, FLS, and Fonds Jeune Entreprise) that generated over $1.6 million in total investments and supported 14 loans, 7 grants, and the maintenance or creation of 203 jobs.

The CLD's core product lines are structured around three service categories: Service conseil aux entreprises (business advisory covering startup, growth, succession, workforce, and financial structuring), Financement (access to local investment funds), and Développement local (regional development initiatives including the Parc éco-industriel, the Sherbrooke Airport aero-industrial zone, the Massif du Mont-Mégantic tourism development, and the Plan de développement de la zone agricole). Supporting products include the Circuit des sheds panoramiques tourism circuit (audiovisual discovery experiences delivered via the Balado Découverte mobile app) and the Murmures immersive nighttime projection experience. The CLD also administers the PADF (Programme d'aménagement durable des forêts) on behalf of the MRC, having funded over $434,000 for 15 forest management projects across Estrie. No proprietary technology is developed; the website was relaunched in May 2024 and the organization maintains Facebook and LinkedIn presences for outreach.

The business model is fully subsidized: the CLD does not generate commercial revenue and provides all services free of charge to clients. Operating funds flow through the Quebec government (via AEQ) and the MRC du Haut-Saint-François, supplemented by delegated program administration fees (e.g., PADF). Distribution is direct and relationship-driven — a 17-person team delivers in-person advisory, conducts field interventions across the territory, and co-invests alongside financial partners such as SADC and Desjardins in transactions like the Scierie Labranche succession ($67,500 deployed to preserve 10 jobs). Leadership transitioned in 2025-2026, with Rémi Vachon succeeding long-serving Dominic Provost as Director General and Véronick Beaumont elevated to Deputy Director General.

Name

Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François

Legal name

Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François

Website

https://cldhsf.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François is a non-profit, government-funded regional economic development organization serving entrepreneurs, businesses, agricultural producers, and 14 municipalities in Quebec's Haut-Saint-François territory through free advisory services, financing programs (FLI, FLS, Fonds Jeune Entreprise), and local development initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Economic Development Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Non-Operating Establishments (9995)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Regional economic development
• Business advisory services
• Local business financing
• SME support programs
• Territorial development services

Headquarters

HQ city

East Angus

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government funding: The CLD operates as a publicly funded non-profit organization under the Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ) network, with funding provided through a partnership between the Government of Québec and the MRC du Haut-Saint-François. Services to entrepreneurs and municipalities are provided free of charge.
2. Local Investment Funds Administration: The CLD administers local investment funds including the Fonds local d'Investissement (FLI), the Fonds local de solidarité (FLS), and the Fonds Jeune Entreprise (JE), deploying financing to local businesses. In 2025, $695,211 was authorized across 14 loans and 7 grants, generating over $1.6M in total investments for the territory.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The CLD du Haut-Saint-François provides free business advisory services, financing facilitation (FLI, FLS, Fonds Jeune Entreprise, PADF), and local development support to entrepreneurs and the 14 municipalities of the Haut-Saint-François MRC in Quebec. As the designated local entity of the Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ) network, it acts as a single point of contact for business startups, expansions, successions, workforce issues, and collective projects across the territory.

Product overview

Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François operates as a regional economic development organization providing integrated services through a unified structure. The core offerings consist of business advisory services (Service conseil aux entreprises), financing programs (Financement), and local development initiatives (Développement local). Supporting products include the Circuit des sheds panoramiques tourism circuit with audio discovery experiences, the Murmures immersive nighttime projection experiences, agricultural zone development planning (PDZA), eco-industrial park development, and regional recreational infrastructure like the Marécage-des-Scots park. The organization functions as a single-point access to the Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ) network for local entrepreneurs and municipalities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Service conseil aux entreprises Advisory services provided to entrepreneurs for business startup, development and growth, succession (relève), workforce (main-d'œuvre), knowledge, tools, financial structuring (montage financier), and industrial/commercial space needs.
• Financement (FLI, FLS, Fonds Jeune Entreprise) Access to local investment funds including the Fonds local d'investissement (FLI), Fonds local de solidarité (FLS), and Fonds Jeune Entreprise for businesses in the territory. In 2025, $695,211 was authorized across 14 loans and 7 grants, generating over $1.6M in total investments.
• Développement local Local and regional development initiatives covering the eco-industrial park, Sherbrooke Airport, Mont-Mégantic, Chemin des Cantons, the agricultural zone development plan (PDZA), cycling infrastructure, ecoforest park, and rural road corridors (Carrefour 112-214-253).
• Plan de développement de la zone agricole (PDZA) Agricultural zone development plan aimed at supporting and developing the agricultural sector within the MRC territory, providing a strategic framework for agri-food producers.
• Parc éco-industriel du Haut-Saint-François Eco-industrial park development project to attract industrial and commercial enterprises to the territory, with Parc éco-industriel de Bury as a featured asset.
• Centre intégré de transformation agroalimentaire Integrated agri-food transformation center project (12,000 sq. ft.) with a certified C1 kitchen, cold rooms, and storage spaces; $300,000 MAPAQ subsidy approved contingent on the cooperative being officially constituted by December 2025.
• Programme d'aménagement durable des forêts (PADF) Sustainable forest management program delegated by the MRNF to the MRC du Haut-Saint-François, administered by the CLD across all Estrie MRCs. Funded over $434,000 for 15 forest management projects (10 in 2023, 5 in 2024).

Quantifiable outcome

• In 2025, $695,211 in authorized financing and subsidies generated over $1.6M in total investments, supporting 14 loans and 7 grants while maintaining or creating 203 jobs across 196 interventions in 14 municipalities
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and moderate.

• MRC du Haut-Saint-FrançoiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe CLD operates in close partnership with the MRC du Haut-Saint-François. The MRC and CLD share a single Director General (Rémi Vachon, appointed March 2025) and are co-located. The MRC funds and oversees the CLD's economic development activities, and the CLD acts on behalf of the MRC in key files including PADF forest management, agricultural zone development, and airport development.
• Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe CLD is part of the Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ) provincial network, which provides a framework for business support services across Quebec. AEQ is a partnership between the Government of Québec and local communities for delivering business development services.
• Corporation de développement de l'Aéroport de Sherbrooke (CDAS)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe CLD collaborates with CDAS on the development of the Sherbrooke Airport aero-industrial park located in Cookshire-Eaton. The CLD helped recruit Altitude Centre de l'aviation to the site and is involved in the broader economic development of the airport zone.
• Corporation de développement économique de Cookshire-EatonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe municipality of Cookshire-Eaton works with the CLD on various local development initiatives, including the airport project and the integrated agri-food transformation centre project.
• Économie EstriemoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerRémi Vachon, Director General, sits on the board of Économie Estrie, connecting the CLD's local development activities to the broader Estrie regional economic strategy.
• Nature Cantons-de-l'EstmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerRémi Vachon also serves on the board of Nature Cantons-de-l'Est, linking the CLD's environmental and tourism development projects (such as Parc régional du Marécage-des-Scots) to regional nature conservation efforts.
• Réseau Accès PMEmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe CLD is connected to the Réseau Accès PME (Point de service AEQ), which is referenced as a partner on the organization's website, linking local entrepreneurs to the broader provincial SME support network.
• UPA du Haut-Saint-François (Union des producteurs agricoles)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe UPA du Haut-Saint-François has provided letters of support for the integrated agri-food transformation centre project, confirming the regional need for food processing infrastructure among agricultural producers.
• Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF) du QuébecmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe MRNF delegated PADF (Programme d'aménagement durable des forêts) management for all Estrie MRCs to the MRC du Haut-Saint-François, with the CLD acting on behalf of the MRC. This resulted in over $434,000 in forest management funding across Estrie.
• Gilles Denis (Private developer — real estate for agri-food centre)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate developer Gilles Denis is providing land and a building for the proposed 12,000 sq. ft. integrated agri-food transformation centre in Cookshire-Eaton, enabling the cooperative project to proceed without requiring real estate investment from the cooperative members.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• MRC du Haut-Saint-François: The municipal regional county that shares a Director General and Secretary-Treasurer with the CLD, co-funds CLD operations, and delegates programs such as PADF management; not a competitive peer but the closest institutional counterparty and source of operating legitimacy.
• Économie Estrie: The Estrie regional economic development body on whose board CLD DG Rémi Vachon sits; an adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor, providing regional strategy and representation that complements and partly overlaps with CLD functions.

Regional players

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): US-based community development financial institution (CDFI) that combines local advisory, financing, and place-based economic development programming comparable in mission to a Quebec CLD, although operating with a different geographic and regulatory context.

Broad incumbents

• Community Futures Network of Canada: The federal-provincial counterpart to Quebec's CLD network, supporting 268 Community Futures Development Corporations that deliver business services and loans in rural Canada; highly comparable mandate and operating model at a national scale.
• Investissement Québec: Provincial investment agency operating at much larger scale but addressing overlapping objectives of SME financing, regional economic development, and strategic project support in Quebec, and frequently co-funding transactions alongside CLDs.
• Réseau Accès entreprise Québec (AEQ): Provincial network that mandates the CLD to deliver business support services across Haut-Saint-François; the umbrella body that defines service standards, funding frameworks, and reporting across all Quebec CLDs, making it the direct institutional parent and the strongest peer comparator.

Direct peers

• SADC du Haut-Saint-François: A co-investor partner explicitly named as financing Scierie Labranche alongside the CLD; SADC and CLDs operate as parallel federal and provincial local development vehicles in Quebec with overlapping advisory and loan functions, making them the closest functional peer within the same territory.
• CLD du Granit: Another Quebec MRC-level CLD in the Estrie region with a comparable mix of FLI/FLS fund administration, SME advisory, and rural tourism and forestry development functions, making it a structurally identical peer for benchmarking.
• CLD des Etchemins: A neighbouring Quebec local development centre operating the same AEQ mandate in a similar rural MRC setting, providing business advisory and financing administration comparable in scale, structure, and service mix to CLD du Haut-Saint-François.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CLDHSF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centre-local-de-d%C3%A9veloppement-cld-du-haut-saint-fran%C3%A7ois

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centre local de développement (CLD) du Haut-Saint-François