The federal government will work with Quebec to provide a package of incentives aimed at luring a Taiwanese computer chip maker to locate a $3-billion plant in Montreal, Industry Minister John Manley said yesterday.
Mosel Vitelic Inc. has selected Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, a western suburb of Montreal, as a potential site for a new plant, which would manufacture silicon chips, the basic building block for computer electronics. The plant would employ 1,500 people.
Mr. Manley yesterday denied a report that Quebec had demanded Ottawa contribute $200-million in tax and other concessions to Mosel, which is also looking at locations in Germany, Ireland and the United States for the plant.
The company is expected to make a final decision later this month.
The Industry Minister said the federal and provincial governments will meet and look at how to respond to subsidy offers from competitors such as Germany.
"Until we understand exactly what the package is that has been offered by Quebec, we are not in a position to evaluate what may be necessary in order to close any gaps with the German offer," the minister said.
Mr. Manley said the federal government has been working for two years to bring the chip plant to Canada. Originally, Mosel considered sites in Ottawa, Burlington, Ont., and Vancouver.
Société Générale de Financement du Québec (SGF), a Quebec government investment agency, has said it is prepared to take an equity stake in the plant and own from 20 to 50 per cent.
A report in La Presse newspaper yesterday said the province wants Ottawa to kick in an additional $200-million to help offset incentives offered by the German government.
Mr. Manley said there has been no specific request from Quebec, and officials from the two levels of government have only begun to discuss details of the province's package.