The cannabis business of former Montreal police director Yvan Delorme in the sights of the tax authorities

The cannabis business of former Montreal police director Yvan Delorme is in the sights of the tax authorities, after having accumulated more than half a million dollars in unpaid taxes, our Bureau of Investigation discovered.

Revenu Québec and Revenue Canada even recently had to register legal hypothecs on three lands and facilities of this firm, QCGoldtech, established in Saint-André-Avelin in Outaouais.

The company chaired by Mr. Delorme owed more than $217,000 under the Quebec Sales Tax Act. She would not have returned to the state the amounts she collected in sales tax between March and August 2024.

QCGoldtech’s communications manager, Alain Legault, indicates that he was informed of the procedure initiated by Revenu Québec last week.

“We discussed with Revenu Québec and proposed an agreement to meet our financial obligations, to the satisfaction of both parties,” he said on Tuesday.

However, Mylène Gagnon, from the Public Relations Department of Revenu Québec, wrote to us that “as of November 20, 2024, this mortgage is still valid.”

The Federal, for its part, is claiming nearly $294,000 in unpaid taxes between 1^is last March and September 30.

Financial and organizational challenges

Mr. Legault did not explain why the company had accumulated a tax debt of more than $511,000.

“Like any cannabis business in Quebec, to which the Quebec government offers no financial assistance in any government program, and with federal imposition of the excise tax beyond common sense, finances remain a challenge. every moment,” he first underlined.

Asked to elaborate, he added that the company “has its financial and operational challenges, and this in a context where government support is non-existent”.

Mr. Delorme, who was director of the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) from 2005 to 2010, did not wish to answer our questions.

Created in 2017 by Yvan Delorme, QCGoldtech obtained its licenses for the sale of medical cannabis, cannabis cultivation and processing in 2020. Its products can be found on the shelves of the Société québécoise de cannabis (SQDC).

In 2022, during the conclusion of a partnership described as “crucial” with Velvet management for the distribution of its products elsewhere in Canada, Mr. Delorme was critical of the SQDC.

“Our only current client, the SQDC, has demonstrated many times that it is not there to promote the Quebec cannabis industry and its members will have no other choice but to do like us, and also offer their products in other Canadian markets, which are much more welcoming in commercial terms,” he declared in a press release.

Struggling industry

QcGoldtech is present in 6 provinces and internationally.

“We are a driving force in the local economy of the Petite-Nation [Outaouais] with our two factories and nearly 100 employees, but without any recognition from our provincial government. In my opinion, this is the real debate regarding cannabis,” underlines Mr. Legault.

The company hires nearly twenty foreign workers during the summer. The second shareholder of QCGoldtech is the Jafaco Group which belongs to the Fontaine family. They are the largest veal producers in Quebec.

Times are tough for the cannabis industry

After a period of euphoria following the legalization of cannabis, cannabis producers today face many challenges. Last February, The Journal revealed that there have been six business bankruptcies in the cannabis production and processing market since 2021, including four last year alone. To this was added around ten companies subject to a legal hypothec because they had still not paid their suppliers.

The Quebec Cannabis Industry Association (AQIC) then explained that cannabis producers do not have access to government aid programs. The money therefore comes from private capital and entrepreneurs often find themselves without a line of credit to adapt to market variations.