Call it Plan Nord: Take Two.
The Quebec government wants to nurture $2 billion worth of investments with 17 mining projects in the province's north over the next five years.
It hopes that will grow to $50 billion in development by 2035, with $22 billion coming from public funds and the rest from private investment.
$2 billion will be dedicated to infrastructure.
Premier Philippe Couillard announced those targets Wednesday as his government relaunched the "Plan Nord" development plan for Quebec's natural-resource-rich areas.
The development will take place in 3/4 of the province's total land mass, although half of the land will be protected in some fashion.
He hopes 10,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the plan, with a further 9,700 jobs in mines and related fields.
Overall this is slightly less ambitious than the resource development plan first proposed by then-premier Jean Charest in 2011, which called for $80 billion of investment over a quarter-century.
Couillard said the difference between the two plans is mostly with the focus on sustainable development.
"I would say that the emphasis put on the notion of sustainable development, although it was put on the first plan as well, is more visible," said Couillard.
"We're putting a lot of attention on the people who live there, and have been living there for centuries before us."
