Thank you, Mr. Garneau. Yes, you are correct. A coalition was created in that area a few years ago. It included people from the forestry sector, information technologies, the pharmaceutical industry and the aerospace industry. This coalition was easy to put together. People heard about it and they called us to be part of it.
In short, let us suppose that, now, $100 million in research and development work is being done. We get a $20-million tax credit. That is fine if we need to pay $20 million in taxes. The two amounts are equal and the company doesn't have to pay out any funds. The problem that a number of companies, perhaps even almost all companies, have experienced in the past, is that there are years when, despite a good financial situation, the tax credit amount and the tax amount are not equal. So, at present, the federal government has in its coffers—we don't have any official figures—$2 or $3 billion that should have been remitted, or that it didn't get, in taxes. I hope that you are following me. This amount varies for these companies from $2 million to, in one specific case, more than $1 billion.
We know that we will ultimately get the money in the short or the intermediate term. The government's response was to increase from 10 to 20 years the refund period and to move back the date when the credits were applicable. However, we are experiencing a unique financial situation. You need only open the newspaper or listen to any TV broadcast to learn that. There is money available, and it will be returned to us in three, five or seven years—at least so we hope—but we cannot access it. I think that if the federal government remitted those amounts, it would be a good way of investing in the economy.
For your information, the Quebec government has already done this. The investment tax credit amounts are fully refundable in Quebec. I think that it would be extremely advantageous to do this at the federal level and it would really help the Canadian economy. I will leave it to economists to give us the figures concerning the number of jobs that this could help maintain or save.
Thank you, Mr. Garneau.