Quebec is spending $188 million over the next five years to help small businesses go digital.
Right now up to 80% of businesses in Quebec do not have a website, and Premier Philippe Couillard said this state of affairs is unacceptable.
"It's really frustrating to me know much business we're losing in Quebec because we don't have enough of these business online," said Couillard.
Quebec's Retail Council made a similar observation earlier this month when it pointed out that fewer than 40% of Quebec-based retailers have websites.
On Friday Couillard said that is one huge missed opportunity.
"When I visit one of these businesses and they tell me that they are not online I tell them 'You realize you are the showroom for your competitors?'" said Couillard.
"What's happening is people will come to their store to see what can be bought. They will not buy it. They will go home and buy it from someone else, usually outside of Quebec."
Only eight percent of retail sales by Quebec businesses are made online.
To encourage businesses in Quebec to create websites, apps, and to make retail sales online, the provincial government is going to spend about $37 million per year over the next five years to help companies get online.
It is also going to provide tax credits for small businesses that set up online storefronts.
To encourage rural Quebecers to use the internet more, the province is also spending $100 million to improve high speed internet access.
Various business groups, including the Montreal Chamber of Commerce and the Quebec Chambers of Commerce, approve of the measures but would like to see the government spending more money
