qolab

What qolab does

Qolab is a full-service 360-degree advertising and creative agency headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, with a second office in Toronto. It operates as a subsidiary of Quebecor, North America's largest French-language content producer, and serves both internal Quebecor entities and external enterprise clients. Its service portfolio spans advertising, content, production, brand identity, and training, positioning it as a one-stop creative partner rather than a specialist shop. The agency leverages production and distribution assets across the Quebecor group, including MELS Studios, TVA Group, Gestev, and Elmire, to deliver integrated campaigns.

The agency's client roster disclosed publicly is concentrated in Canadian telecommunications, including Fizz and Vidéotron (both Quebecor affiliates) and Freedom Mobile, alongside consumer-goods work for P&G (Tide) and a Mecena engagement. This mix reflects a hybrid captive-third-party model: a stable base of intra-group demand underwritten by Quebecor's media and telecom properties, supplemented by external mandates that the agency pursues independently. Multi-province campaign work for Fizz across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia indicates geographic extension beyond its Quebec home market, and 2024 Idéa Award wins provide external validation of its creative output.

Qolab's business model is project- and retainer-based agency work, monetized through creative fees, production markups, and integrated service engagements. With 83 staff across two offices, it sits in the mid-market Canadian agency tier, relying on its Quebecor parent for capital, infrastructure, and client pipeline rather than external fundraising. There is no indication of standalone technology revenue, proprietary platforms, or recurring software-style contracts.

Name

qolab

Legal name

Qolab

Website

https://qolab.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Qolab is a Montreal-based, Quebecor-owned 360-degree creative agency with a Toronto office, offering advertising, content, production, brand identity, and training services to Quebecor affiliates and external clients across Canadian telecommunications and consumer goods.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Integrated Agency Services: Professional services revenue from providing integrated advertising, content creation, production, and brand identity services to clients. The agency operates on a project and retainer basis for comprehensive 360-degree campaigns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Qolab is a 360-degree advertising and creative agency offering integrated services across advertising, content creation, production, brand identity, and training. As part of the Quebecor network, it provides brands with privileged access to the largest French-language media and entertainment network in Quebec and in-house production capabilities including over 20 studios with Hollywood-tier facilities serving clients across Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Product overview

Qolab is a full-service Quebec-based advertising and creative agency operating as a 360-degree agency model. The agency offers five integrated service pillars: Advertising (digital, traditional, print), Content (social media, audio, video, print, web, influencers), Production (video, digital, print, TV, radio), Brand Identity (brand positioning, branding), and Training. As part of the Quebecor network, Qolab has privileged access to over 20 production studios including MELS as a key partner, enabling end-to-end creative and production capabilities from strategy through launch.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advertising Full-service advertising covering digital, traditional, and print channels. The agency creates creative work designed to get noticed and drive business results for clients.
• Content Content creation services spanning social media, audio content, video, print, web, and influencer partnerships. Content is positioned as central to all agency work, delivering the right message to the right audience across platforms.
• Production In-house production capabilities for video, digital, print, TV, and radio. Leverages access to over 20 studios including MELS studios as a key partner, with Hollywood-tier facilities and expertise spanning all media formats.
• Brand Identity Brand positioning and branding services that create memorable, consistent brand identities. The agency crafts visual identities and brand expressions that resonate with audiences and build long-term brand equity.
• Training Customized training solutions for client teams looking to improve productivity and skills. Services are tailored to specific client needs and requirements.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple Idéa Awards wins including Bronze in Art Direction (Sardines), Silver in Editing, Bronze in Advertising Film (Coma)

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• QuebecorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company and key strategic partner providing privileged access to the largest media and entertainment network in Quebec. Quebecor is North America's largest French-language content producer, enabling Qolab's unique positioning as a full-service agency with extensive media reach.
• MELS StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey production partner providing Hollywood-tier studio facilities and production services. MELS serves as the primary production house for Qolab's high-end video and advertising productions, featuring state-of-the-art studios for filming, post-production, color grading, and sound engineering.
• TVA GroupmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorQuebec media partner providing access to television networks and content distribution channels within Quebec's media ecosystem.
• GestevminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEvent and marketing production partner for experiential marketing activations and events.
• ElmireminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDigital agency partner for website development, as seen in the Mecena project where Elmire handled the website creation while Qolab managed brand identity.
• LelikenminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMarketing partner in the network, contributing to Qolab's comprehensive service offering.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Rethink: Independently-owned Canadian creative agency with offices in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver; comparable mid-sized agency competing for similar enterprise and Quebec-rooted brand work with integrated creative and production capabilities.
• Sid Lee: Montreal-headquartered full-service creative agency operating within Quebec's cultural landscape with a comparable 360 model and roster of enterprise brands; part of a global network, making it the most direct peer to Qolab in terms of geography, service offering, and client type.
• Bleublancrouge: Montreal-based creative agency with a strong Quebec cultural identity and integrated advertising/branding offering; competes head-to-head with Qolab for French-language enterprise clients in the same geography.
• Lg2: Quebec-founded independent agency with deep roots in Montreal and a similar mix of advertising, brand identity, and content services; serves comparable enterprise clients in Quebec and competes directly for the same cultural-fluency positioning Qolab leverages.
• Juniper Park\TBWA: Toronto-based TBWA-affiliated creative agency with strong Quebec connections; competes for similar enterprise creative briefs and shares the multi-city Canadian footprint strategy Qolab is building.
• TAXI (now T1): Toronto-based creative agency with strong Canadian national reach and integrated 360 capabilities; comparable in offering but primarily serves English-Canadian and national brands versus Qolab's Quebec-rooted focus.

Broad incumbents

• BBDO Canada: Global creative network's Canadian operation with enterprise client focus across telecom and CPG verticals that mirror Qolab's client mix (Vidéotron, P&G); offers broader geographic and capability reach than Qolab.
• Publicis Canada: Canadian arm of the global Publicis network; competes for enterprise mandates in Quebec and nationally across creative, media, and production services that overlap with Qolab's full-service model.
• Dentsu Canada: Global agency network with Canadian operations offering full-service creative, media buying, and production; competes for the same multinational brand budgets (e.g., telecom, CPG) that Qolab serves but with vastly broader resources.
• Cossette: One of Canada's largest homegrown agency networks with offices across the country; offers advertising, brand strategy, and digital services at significantly larger scale than Qolab, serving many of the same enterprise brand categories.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/communications-qolab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 qolab