Alma, Saguenay

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean communities

Our Regional Economic Development (RED) team helps local partners in 4 areas: aluminium innovation, decarbonisation, circular economy and digital shift.

From 2004, through RED, we have invested close to C$70 million in Quebec's Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. The RED team continues to support the economy of many businesses in the region, including the economic activities of the Innu Indigenous community of Mashteuiatsh.

We invest in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean in other ways

For example, the Rio Tinto Aluminium Canada Fund contributes to the region's non-profit organisations in 5 areas: First Nations, education, environment, health and well-being, and community. We partner with AlloProf to improve education in communities across Québec, an initiative that offers interactive study sessions to 400,000 students in the province. And CRÉPAS (Conseil régional de prévention de l'abandon scolaire du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean), which the Fund also supports, works with teachers and educators to help young people throughout their journey to graduation.

Our business also plays an important role in the region’s economy. For example, we are investing C$250 million to extend the life of our Vaudreuil refinery, using industry-leading filter press technology and dry stacking to ensure it can continue to supply our aluminium smelting operations, support more than 1,000 jobs and generate significant economic benefits for the region. At our Arvida smelter, we are extending operations beyond 2020 with an investment of C$200 million. And at Alma, we are investing C$209 million to better position it to meet the demands of the future.

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Helping small businesses grow

Quebec

In Quebec, we have invested $650,000 to help Letenda grow, an organisation focusing on sustainable public transport solutions.

Since 2017, Rio Tinto’s RED team has been a proud partner of Letenda. With our investment, we have actively helped Letenda develop Electrip: a new generation of zero-emission electric city buses designed entirely in Quebec. It’s a project that aligns well with our focus on sustainability – combining public transport, low carbon footprint materials and renewable energy. We are proud to support small businesses like Letenda develop new innovative solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec.

  • Protecting the communities around Lac-Saint-Jean
  • Cultural heritage

The lake Saint-Jean and its tributaries are part of an extensive watershed system totalling 73,848 km2, about the size of Ireland. The lake is an important part of the lifestyle for the communities in the region, particularly for the 5,000 people living along the shoreline. The lake is a popular tourist attraction and it’s also one of our 3 reservoirs that we use to produce hydropower to operate our smelters.

Unfortunately, the shoreline has experienced erosion problems for some time, caused by increasing water levels combined with wind and waves. In response to these problems, the Shoreline Stabilization Program was created in 1986 with sustainable development at the heart of its mission. For more than 30 years, we have been working to mitigate erosion, taking into account environmental, social, technical and economic aspects. As of 2018, the program includes a Sustainable Management Council where the different users of lake Saint-Jean come together to collaborate on solving the problems facing the lake. As part of this Council, we are committed to working closely with the First Nations Mashteuiatsh, local government, and community representatives such as environment organisations to protect and restore the shoreline.

The wind is turning between the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation and Rio Tinto: A positive relationship has existed between Pekuakamiulnuatsh and Rio Tinto for over 30 years. We've had many successes and we both want to bring our partnership to another level. Our shared values of respect, recognition and openness enable us to move forward together in the same direction.

The Kuessilueu agreement lays the foundation for a sustainable alliance between the First Nation and Rio Tinto on human, cultural and economic levels.

A long-term partnership agreement will result from the Kuessilueu agreement process.

In keeping with our Statement of Commitment for Indigenous Peoples and our obligations under the Rio Tinto Aluminium Canada Fund, we invested C$2.5 million in the First Nations Culture Pavilion in 2016. Located at the Université de Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) campus in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, this pavilion is dedicated to the protection and promotion of First Nations culture.

Every year, we also partner with the Mashteuiatsh on various initiatives such as taking part in the annual Pow Wow, also known as the Great Gathering of First Nations, where people gather to honour and perpetuate their culture and traditions. We also support education initiatives for First Nations through the provincial congress on First Nations’ academic perseverance and success, and Pathways to Education, a program that helps students graduate from high school. 

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Communities

We are committed to Canada and ensuring that the work we do creates value and opportunity that reaches far beyond our operations.