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Borealis (software company)

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Borealis – Informations Stratégiques 2014 Inc. (commonly known as Borealis) is a Canadian software company that provides Stakeholder engagement management solutions. Based in Magog, Quebec, the company offers a centralized, cloud-based SaaS platform to manage stakeholder relationships. Its core functionality resembles that of a customer relationship management (CRM) system but is tailored to address the specific needs of stakeholder engagement.[1]

History

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Borealis was co-founded in 2004 by Patrick Grégoire and Jules Paquette. The idea emerged from their international development work in Africa, where they identified a need for improved stakeholder relationship management in extractive and infrastructure projects.[2]

Initially incorporated as Boréal – Informations Stratégiques Inc., the company began by offering its platform to clients in the mining and oil and gas sectors.

In 2009, co-founder Patrick Grégoire was named Quebec’s Young Entrepreneur Award winner by the Business Development Bank of Canada, recognizing the company’s early success.[3]

Despite early growth, Borealis faced financial difficulties around 2013–2014 and filed for bankruptcy protection, reporting liabilities of CAD$10.7 million.[2]

In 2014, the company underwent a court-approved restructuring process. Local businessmen André L’Espérance and Christian De Grâce acquired the company’s assets and created a new entity: Borealis – Informations Stratégiques 2014 Inc. to continue operations.[2]

Under new ownership, Borealis transitioned from custom enterprise solutions to a scalable SaaS model. This involved building a multitenant cloud architecture and standardizing modules for broader markets. By the 2020s, Borealis served clients in more than 60 countries with over 8,000 users worldwide.[4]

Software Features

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The Borealis platform includes tools to support stakeholder engagement, relationship management, and land management. Key features include:

  • Stakeholder mapping and engagement: Tools to identify, map, and prioritize stakeholders based on influence, interests, and Sentiment analysis.[5]
  • Issue and grievance management: Structured workflows for logging, tracking, and resolving stakeholder complaints, with support for anonymous submissions.
  • Compliance and reporting: Built-in tools to support regulatory and audit compliance.
  • Social investment: Modules to track community investments, environmental performance, and key impact indicators.
  • Land access and management: Capabilities to monitor land agreements, compensation, and communication with landowners.
  • AI and automation tools: Supports stakeholder identification, Sentiment analysis, and predictive risk indicators for proactive engagement. The AI tools bring up past notes, commitments, or issues related to a stakeholder when a user is engaging with that stakeholder, thus providing context and reminders.
  • Stakeholder engagement planning: Allows creation of engagement strategies with clear objectives, key stakeholders, timelines, assigned responsibilities, and progress tracking to ensure that all engagement activities are aligned with project goals and regulatory requirements.[6]

The software is accessible via web browser and mobile apps, with onboarding that includes data migration, training, and configuration. Borealis integrates with Gmail, Outlook, and other tools, supports open APIs, and complies with ISO/IEC 27001 and GDPR standards.[7]

Government Listings

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Borealis is listed on the UK G-Cloud Digital Marketplace, a public sector cloud procurement framework. This allows Borealis to work on government projects in the UK and other jurisdictions that accept G-Cloud compliance.

The platform is also registered on the Government of Canada’s Hosting Services portal, meeting Canadian federal procurement standards.

Use Cases and Clients

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Borealis is used across various sectors, including:

  • Extractive industries: Mining and energy companies use Borealis for community engagement and impact tracking.[8] A case study from Agnico Eagle Mines in Nunavut was featured in International Mining.[9]
  • Infrastructure and utilities: Clients such as Canadian National Railway (CN) and Hydro One use Borealis for stakeholder engagement across large-scale transportation and energy projects.[10]
  • Public sector and government: Used to document and facilitate public consultations and ensure regulatory compliance with participation regulations.

Global Operations

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Borealis has a distributed workforce with team members in Canada, Australia, Latin America, and Europe. This structure supports its international client base across multiple time zones.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Borealis Stakeholder Management Software
  2. ^ a b c Borealis en faillite – L’Espérance reprend l’affaire
  3. ^ BDC 2009 Young Entrepreneur Awards – Canada.ca
  4. ^ About Us – Borealis
  5. ^ Borealis Stakeholder Management Software
  6. ^ Borealis Stakeholder Management Software
  7. ^ Borealis Google Marketplace
  8. ^ Minera Las Bambas y su gestión en quejas y reclamos – Desde Adentro
  9. ^ Agnico Eagle engagement case study – International Mining
  10. ^ "Borealis - Stakeholder Engagement Software".
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