MONTREAL

Marois government offers $1-billion financing to Bombardier CSeries buyers

CTV Montreal Published Wednesday, April 3, 2013 4:53PM EDT

Bombardier unveils its CSeries flight test vehicle Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Mirabel, Que. Bombardier expect its first flight test by the end of June of this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

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MONTREAL - Want some cash to buy a jet?

Pauline Marois’ PQ government has announced that it's offering one billion dollars to help finance purchases of the Bombardier CSeries, a narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range jet airliner.

The decision, decreed on March 7 but only published Wednesday in the Quebec Official Gazette, comes in response to a request from the multinational to help its clients pay for the plane.

The government noted that the planes will be assembled in Quebec and that its success is of “significant economic interest,” to the province.

Investissement Quebec spokesperson Chantal Corbeil said that the financing will take the form of interest-bearing loans.

The loans represent about 10 percent of the value of the units, while the federal government will offer 75 percent through Export Development Canada (EDC).

Quebec has loaned $2.3 billion to purchasers of Bombardier CRJ regional jets since 1996, according to Corbeil and Quebec has not lost money on those loans, she noted.

In 2009 Quebec provided Bombardier $117 million in financing to develop the CSeries.

-With a file from The Canadian Press