Hydro-Qubec donates $12 million to Laval University

Quebec City, QC – May 13, 2004 – Hydro-Qubec has donated $12 million to Laval University. The donation, to be used to found the Institut Hydro-Qubec en environnement, dveloppement et socit, will be paid out over the next ten years and will also serve to fund research chairs and scholarships. This is the largest donation that Laval University has ever received.

“This major contribution by Hydro-Qubec will have a significant impact on education, teaching and research at Laval University," says Andr Caill, CEO of Hydro-Qubec. "Hydro-Qubec has been a leader for more than 30 years in protection of the environment. With this major donation to Laval University, Hydro-Qubec hopes to encourage young people in the pursuit of excellence and to promote the emergence of new leaders in sustainable development.”

The Institut Hydro-Qubec en environnement, dveloppement et socit, the largest such institute in Qubec, will receive more than $5 million for interdisciplinary research, education of students, and dissemination of knowledge about environment management and sustainable development. The institute will be located in the Charles-De Koninck Pavilion of Laval University. It is currently codirected by Jean Srodes, dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and Claude Beauchamp, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The institute will bring together experts in diverse fields-engineering, sociology and economics, for example-to conduct studies, research and activities addressing sustainable development. Among other things, it will analyze the complexity of natural environments exposed to human intervention to help in predicting the impacts of environmental changes, evaluate the impact of certain public and private decisions on the quality of the environment, and examine the responsibility of organizations in environmental management and sustainable development.

Hydro-Qubec already supports research chairs in different fields at Laval University, among them the chair in electric energy economics, the chair in management of occupational health and safety and the industrial research chair in operation of infrastructure subjected to freezing. This new contribution announced will make it possible to increase Hydro-Qubec’s participation in the research chairs and provide tangible support in a leading-edge field where Laval University wants to make significant advances. In addition, close to $3.4 million is to be invested to establish new chairs in the next few years.

Among other things, more than 100 merit scholarships will be granted every year to students in administration, science, engineering and other fields. Invested in student exchange programs, business development training and recruitment of students who might otherwise be unable to pursue careers in these fields, this financial assistance totaling $3.6 million will ensure the upcoming generation is qualified to meet the challenges ahead.