Union des municipalités du Québec

What Union des municipalités du Québec does

Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) is a non-profit membership association founded in 1919 and headquartered in Montréal that represents municipalities of all sizes across all regions of Quebec. Its membership covers more than 85% of Quebec's population and territory and is organized into five affinity caucuses (municipalités locales, municipalités de centralité, cités régionales, grandes villes, and municipalités de la Métropole). The organization is governed by a board of elected municipal officials and currently presided by Guillaume Tremblay, Mayor of Mascouche, with Jasmin Savard serving as Director General.

UMQ delivers a portfolio of advisory and shared-service lines rather than a unified technology product. Service offerings include legal affairs (Affaires juridiques), insurance, group procurement (Approvisionnement), training (Formation continue), human capital (Carrefour du capital humain), cybersecurity, asset management, territory planning (SAT), climate change adaptation, AI advisory (Intelligence artificielle), and a joint financial aid portal with ADGMQ. The association also runs the Plan municipal d'emplois youth program, publishes Magazine URBA, organizes the Assises annuelles and Sommet électoral events, and administers the Mérite Ovation municipale, Prix Francine-Ruest-Jutras, and Prix Personnalité de la relève municipale awards.

Revenue is generated through recurring membership dues from municipal members plus program-specific government grants and private-sector partnerships, including a 2021 CAD $3 million agreement with Quebec's Ministry of Justice for French-language promotion and a CAD $10,000 annual research scholarship co-funded with Énergir. Go-to-market is community-led: advocacy at provincial and federal levels, member communications, publications, the umq.qc.ca platform, dedicated campaign sites (oselemunicipal.ca), and events. The entity is not a commercial enterprise, has no subsidiaries, and is governed by Quebec law as a non-profit association.

Name

Union des municipalités du Québec

Legal name

L'Union des municipalités du Québec

Website

https://umq.qc.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

UMQ is a 1919-founded non-profit municipal association headquartered in Montréal that represents more than 1,110 Quebec municipalities covering over 85% of the province's population, delivering legal, insurance, training, cybersecurity, AI advisory, and advocacy services.

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

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: UMQ generates revenue through membership fees from municipal members. The association provides services including legal affairs, insurance, training, cybersecurity, and professional development to member municipalities.
2. Government grants and partnerships: UMQ receives government funding for specific initiatives such as the $3 million agreement for French language promotion, and financial support from partners like Énergir for the research scholarship program.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

UMQ is a membership-based association that delivers advisory, training, legal, insurance, procurement, cybersecurity, human-capital, asset-management, territory-planning, climate-change, and AI services to its member municipalities across Quebec. It also represents municipal governments in intergovernmental relations, organizes annual events such as the Assises annuelles and the Sommet électoral, and publishes the URBA magazine together with studies, guides, and political position papers.

Product overview

Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) is a municipal association founded in 1919 that represents municipalities across all regions of Quebec. Rather than a single unified software product, UMQ offers a portfolio of services organized around municipal support: legal affairs, procurement/group purchasing, insurance, human capital development (Carrefour du capital humain), cybersecurity, AI advisory services, asset management, climate change adaptation, territory planning, and financial aid portals. The organization also operates youth employment programs, publishes the URBA magazine, and organizes annual events including the Assises annuelles. Recognition programs include Mérite Ovation municipale, Prix Francine-Ruest-Jutras, and Prix Personnalité de la relève municipale. UMQ's members represent over 85% of Quebec's population and territory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mérite Ovation municipale: Award program recognizing municipal innovation
• Prix Francine-Ruest-Jutras
• Prix Personnalité de la relève municipale
• Carrefour du capital humain
• Bourse de recherche UMQ
• Plan municipal d'emplois
• Assises annuelles
• Sommet électoral
• Commission des jeunes élues et élus
• Commission Femmes et gouvernance

Products and services

• Affaires juridiques (Legal affairs) Legal affairs service providing guidance on municipal law and governance matters to member municipalities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 jobs offered to youth under youth protection since 2013
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gouvernement du Québec (Ministry of Justice)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 October 2021$3 million agreement for promotion and valorization of the French language in Quebec municipalities. Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette provided funding for projects including promoting French in commerce, integrating immigrants, and youth engagement.
• ADGMQ (Association des directeurs généraux des municipalités du Québec)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADGMQ partners with UMQ on the financial aid portal for municipalities, providing joint services to member municipalities for subsidy management and access.
• SIRCOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThree-year partnership (starting October 2020) where SIRCO provides $5,000 annually to reimburse expenses for youth in Plan municipal d'emplois (transport, equipment, training), plus $1,000 annual study bursary for youth in security studies.
• Télé-QuébecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for 'Fous du français' project to collect regional French expressions across Quebec. Joint initiative for French language promotion in municipalities.
• Secrétariat à la jeunesse du QuébecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment body providing partial funding for youth engagement initiatives including the 'Préparer demain' event and 'Ose le municipal' campaign.
• Fondation du Centre jeunesse de la MontérégieminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation receiving UMQ's annual $10,000 scholarship to support autonomy projects for youth under youth protection. UMQ also partnered with Énergir to provide $2,000 to four Montérégie rehabilitation centers.
• 40 centres de réadaptation pour jeunes (youth rehabilitation centers)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner40 youth rehabilitation centers across all Quebec regions received joint UMQ-Énergir donation of $40,000 total ($2,000 each) for recreational equipment to encourage physical activity.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM): UBCM is British Columbia's provincial municipal association, providing advocacy and services to BC local governments in a structure parallel to UMQ's Quebec role. Closely comparable in mandate, membership model, and service offering.
• Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO): AMO is Ontario's provincial municipal association, structurally identical to UMQ in mandate (representing municipal governments, providing advocacy, training, insurance, and procurement services to members). It is the closest cross-provincial functional peer to UMQ.
• Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM): FQM is the other major Quebec municipal association, directly competing with UMQ for member municipalities and provincial advocacy influence. Both organizations represent Quebec municipalities and offer parallel service portfolios (training, advocacy, insurance, procurement), making FQM the most direct comparable to UMQ.
• Association des directeurs généraux des municipalités du Québec (ADGMQ): ADGMQ represents Quebec municipal directors general and is a formal partner of UMQ on the financial aid portal and joint member services. It serves a complementary subset of the municipal ecosystem that UMQ also targets, making it a tight functional peer.

Broad incumbents

• National League of Cities (NLC): NLC is the major U.S. municipal advocacy and service organization, representing cities and towns across the United States. While serving a different national jurisdiction, its mandate, member-service model, and advocacy function are closely parallel to UMQ's Quebec role.
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM): FCM is the national umbrella federation of Canadian municipalities, of which UMQ is effectively a constituent provincial member. FCM operates as the federal-level advocacy and service body analogous to UMQ's provincial role, with comparable service categories (advocacy, training, programs).

Regional players

• Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA): SUMA is Saskatchewan's urban municipal association offering advocacy and services to member municipalities, structurally parallel to UMQ but serving a different provincial membership base. Useful as a same-model peer in another province.
• Association of Municipalities of New Brunswick (UMNB): UMNB represents New Brunswick municipalities with advocacy and member services parallel to UMQ's mandate. A smaller-scale Canadian provincial municipal association in a different region, useful for benchmarking.

Emerging players

• International City/County Management Association (ICMA): ICMA is a global professional association for municipal/county managers and administrators, providing training, research, and professional development. While more focused on the professional-manager track than UMQ's elected-official focus, its training and certification offerings overlap with UMQ's continuing education services.

Others

• Municipality of the District of Guysborough (or Ville de Québec / municipal government bodies): Ville de Québec is a major Quebec municipality and a UMQ member — representative of the buyer-side customer base UMQ serves rather than a competitor. Included as a representative customer-type comparable to anchor UMQ's membership base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UMQuebec
• Facebookfacebook.com/uniondesmunicipalitesduqc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/umquebec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Union des municipalités du Québec