Green Bond Program

In addition to seeking to diversify its sources of financing, the Ministère des Finances du Québec wishes to be at the forefront of financing trends and to promote new markets. To this end, Québec put in place a Green Bond program in February 2017, and updated its framework in July 2022, thereby demonstrating its commitment not only to protecting the environment, but also to developing the Green Bond market.

Green Bonds issued by the government raise capital for specific projects that generate tangible benefits with regard to protecting the environment, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or adapting to climate change in Québec. Funded projects comply with Québec’s environmental protection statutes and regulations, and demonstrate concrete benefits for the environment.

This program draws on the Green Bond Principles (GBP) , a set of core guidelines launched in 2014 by a group of financial institutions seeking to improve transparency in this market. Subsequently, various other players in the global bond market—investors, issuers and bond underwriters wanting to help harmonize practices in their field—adopted the GBP. The GBP are voluntary and regularly updated, and address mainly the issuing process, disclosure and reporting.

Québec has been a member of the GBP group since October 2018.

CICERO Shades of Green

In this spirit of transparency, the Québec government consulted a third party, in this case CICERO (Center for International Climate Research), which issued an independent opinion on Québec’s Green Bond framework.

Québec’s Green Bond framework was awarded the highest possible rating, that is, dark green.

It is possible to consult the Québec Green Bond Second Opinion (CICERO) updated on August 31, 2022.

Note: This report was produced by Shades of Green, a subsidiary of CICERO. On December 1, 2022, S&P Global acquired Shades of Green from CICERO.