Thousands of companies will change hands in the coming years. For successors, this is the ideal moment to transform operations from day one.
When taking over a business, you inherit not only its assets but also long established ways of doing things. This is often where one of the greatest improvement opportunities lies.
Quebec is entering an unprecedented wave of business transfers. There are more than 16,000 intentions to sell within the next year and more than 50,000 businesses that will need a successor within five years. The manufacturing sector is the most affected. It shows the highest transfer intentions at 15.3 percent, well above the 4.7 percent average across all sectors.
For a successor, taking over a plant is not only about continuity. It is also a window of opportunity. At the beginning, everything can be questioned: processes, equipment, maintenance management, and available data. It is often the only moment where the fundamentals can be reviewed without hearing “we have always done it this way.” A few months later, habits return and changes become harder.
Modernizing from the start does not mean changing everything immediately. It means building strong foundations while they are still flexible. Structuring maintenance instead of managing it from memory. Centralizing equipment history instead of keeping it in people’s heads. And understanding, from the beginning, the real cost of a production shutdown. This is exactly the role of a CMMS, and it is much easier to implement during a transition than after years of established habits.
SMEs that go through ownership transfer show on average higher productivity than those that do not. A business takeover, when combined with a fresh look at operations, becomes an accelerator. Investissement Québec recognizes this: it increasingly presents succession as an opportunity to invest in automation and technology.
What financial aids are available?
And the cost? The good news is that the same programs that fund digital transformation can apply to modernization projects during a takeover. Support for structuring maintenance may be eligible under the Digital Success Program. This is a financial assistance program that supports companies in their digital transformation. A larger project involving equipment may fall under a loan or investment program. An informed successor budgets for this transition from the start instead of postponing it to “when there is time.”
Are you taking over a manufacturing business or considering it? The best time to modernize is not in three years. It is now.
Learn more about programs that could fund your transformation . And to build strong foundations from day one, speak with an Interal expert.
Sources: Le Courrier du Sud (Investissement Québec, succession as an investment opportunity, May 2026); data on business transfer intentions and productivity of transferred firms (Quebec Entrepreneurship Index and related press coverage, 2026). Amounts and programs updated as of June 3, 2026. Interal is not a financial advisor. Please verify eligibility directly with each program.
