Eleven months after Quebec electric watercraft maker Taiga Motors received $15 million in aid from Investissement Québec due to “serious financial difficulties,” it confirms it laid off 8% of its employees last month to to reduce its costs.
The news, reported by Radio-Canada on Monday, was confirmed in the Journal at midday on Monday.
A total of 31 employees were temporarily laid off in January. Taiga hopes to call her back as soon as possible.
Taiga has not yet informed the Ministry of Labor about these mass layoffs.
In March 2023, IQ invested $15 million in the electric watercraft and snowmobile maker to save it.
Through a public relations firm, the company said it had received a total of $34 million in “government investment” to date.
Public funds in Taiga provided by MEIE
Shawinigan is still pending
“Taiga continues to optimize its Montreal facility, which is expected to have an annual capacity of at least 8,000 vehicles per year upon completion,” the company noted.
“Once the Montreal plant has gone through the optimization process, Taiga will re-evaluate the expansion plan for its second plant in Shawinigan,” she continued.
In an interview with the Journal last August, Samuel Bruneau, co-founder and CEO of Taiga Motors, expressed his desire for “the mass electrification of pleasure boating.”
Taiga's electric watercraft cost around $25,000, much more than the good old gas-powered Sea-Doo models, which start at $8,000.
Taiga is worth $30 million on the stock market.
– In collaboration with Sylvain Larocque