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The Canadian government will loan Bombardier Inc. $372.5 million over the next four years to help fund research and development of its new Global 7000 business jet and its CSeries line of aircraft.

The announcement was applauded by the Quebec government, which has already invested heavily in the CSeries, but also spurred criticism as an unfair government subsidy to a private corporation.

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The interest-free loan to one firm is a record amount for the federal government, but far less than the US$1 billion the Montreal-based aerospace company had been requesting from Ottawa to help with its troubled CSeries line. Roughly one-third of the $372.5 million will go toward the CSeries, the rest to developing the Global 7000.

Conditions have evolved since Bombardier first requested federal aid in late 2015, said Transport Minister Marc Garneau at the announcement, held before dozens of employees at a Bombardier facility in Dorval Tuesday evening.