A manufacturing city that calls itself the "Capitale du développement", with 3,518 employers and construction as its largest sector. AGNT/01 builds a French-first AI receptionist, missed-call text back and follow-up for Drummondville trades, plant suppliers, clinics and shops, delivered from Ottawa.
By Aniket Gandhi, founder, AGNT/01, Ottawa · Last verified October 2026
AGNT/01 brings AI consulting to Drummondville from Ottawa: an AI receptionist that answers in French first and switches to English on request, a text to every missed caller, follow-up on quotes, and review requests that meet CASL. Builds respect Quebec's Law 25 and French-language service rules, and begin with a free audit of your calls.
Drummond Économique, the local development agency, describes the MRC as midway between Montréal and Québec City and within 90 minutes of 70% of Quebec's population [6]. For a contractor or supplier that means calls arrive from both directions, and a caller who cannot reach you rings the next name on the list.
The same agency says Drummondville hosts the Centre national intégré du manufacturier intelligent [6]. Shops that sell to plants take calls from purchasing staff in office hours; those calls are business-to-business, and the French-service rule applies to them too [3].
The agency's 2021 annual report, covered by Noovo in May 2022, put manufacturing investment at just over $229 million, a record, across 571 manufacturing companies employing 17,674 people [7]. These are 2021 figures; check the agency's newer reports before quoting them as current.
The city's own site carries the slogan "Drummondville - Capitale du développement" [8]. In the June 2026 count, construction is the largest sector at 561 locations, ahead of retail at 424 and health care at 332 [1]. Builders on a job site are the callers least likely to leave a voicemail.
Manufacturing ranks fourth at 295 locations and other services fifth at 284 [1].
Yes. Quebec's language office says businesses must be able to inform and serve clients in French, and sets three tests: French service on every channel the business uses, at all times in conditions comparable to any other language, and French information clear enough that customers need no translation [3]. The Charter's article 5 gives consumers the right to be informed and served in French, and article 50.2 extends the duty to businesses serving other businesses [3]. A phone line is a channel. The script below is the starting point we adapt with you.
| Moment | Français | English | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greeting | Bonjour, ici l'assistant virtuel de [Entreprise]. Cet appel peut être enregistré. En quoi puis-je vous aider? | Hello, this is the virtual assistant for [Business]. This call may be recorded. How can I help? | French first, recording notice up front [4] |
| Language switch | Je peux continuer en anglais si vous préférez. | I can continue in English if you prefer. | The caller chooses; French stays the default [3] |
| Quote or order (business caller) | Appelez-vous pour une soumission, une commande ou un suivi? | Is this a quote, an order or a follow-up? | Business callers must also be informed and served in French [3] |
| Job details | Quel est le nom de l'entreprise, l'adresse ou la pièce visée, et la quantité? | Company name, address or part, and quantity? | Collect only what the request needs [2] |
| Callback window | Quel est le meilleur numéro, et à quel moment pouvons-nous vous rappeler? | Best number, and when can we call back? | Written to the estimator's task list |
| Hand-off | Je vous transfère à [Nom]. Un instant, s'il vous plaît. | Transferring you to [Name]. One moment, please. | Anything the script cannot answer reaches a person |
| Missed-call text | Bonjour, c'est [Entreprise]. Nous avons manqué votre appel. Répondez ici ou rappelez-nous au [numéro]. Pour ne plus recevoir de textos, répondez ARRÊT. | Hi, it's [Business]. We missed your call. Reply here or call [number]. To stop texts, reply STOP. | Named sender and a working unsubscribe [5] |
Compare the approach in other Quebec cities: Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières.
3,518 locations with employees, 40th of 41 census metropolitan areas.
| Measure | Count |
|---|---|
| National rank (businesses with employees) | 40 of 41 census metropolitan areas |
| Business locations with employees | 3,518 |
| 1 to 4 employees | 1,778 (50.5%) |
| 5 to 9 employees | 677 (19.2%) |
| 10 to 49 employees | 856 (24.3%) |
| 50 to 99 employees | 135 (3.8%) |
| 100 or more employees | 72 (2.0%) |
| Top sector 1: Construction | 561 |
| Top sector 2: Retail trade | 424 |
| Top sector 3: Health care and social assistance | 332 |
| Top sector 4: Manufacturing | 295 |
| Top sector 5: Other services (except public administration) | 284 |
| Offices of lawyers (law firms) | 38 |
| Offices of dentists | 29 |
| Offices of physicians | 151 |
| Building equipment contractors (HVAC, plumbing, electrical) | 82 |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 124 |
| Personal care services | 34 |
| Architecture and engineering services | 46 |
| Real estate agents and brokers | 21 |
1,778 of the 3,518 locations (50.5%) have one to four staff [1]. Counts are by location, exclude businesses without employees, and leave uncoded locations out of sector rows.
| Sector, locations [1] | Drummondville leak | First | Next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction, 561 | Job-site calls while the owner is on a roof or in a trench | French-first receptionist that takes address and job type | Chase every open soumission |
| Retail trade, 424 | Hours, stock and delivery questions | Automated answers in French and English | Review ask once the sale is done |
| Health care and social assistance, 332 | Front desk on one line, patients on hold | Booking script that stops at logistics | Reminders for recall visits |
| Manufacturing, 295 | Supplier and buyer calls routed to a shared line | Quote-or-order triage with a callback window | Status texts on open orders |
| Other services, 284 | Rebookings that never happen | Text booking in French | Rebooking nudges and reviews |
General guidance for planning a build. Confirm specifics with your own lawyer.
| Rule | Reach in Drummondville | Script consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Law 25, private sector [2] | Every business that collects personal information on calls, forms or texts | A named person in charge, title and contact published; an incident register; consent requested separately for each purpose |
| Charter of the French language [3] | Consumers and business clients alike | Every channel served in French, in comparable conditions |
| Recording guidance [4] | Any line that records for quality or training; see the call recording consent guide | Disclosure before the first question, with a way to decline |
| CASL [5] | Every outbound reminder, review ask and follow-up text | Named sender, recorded consent, ARRÊT or STOP that works at once |
The Commission d'accès à l'information page says penalties "pourraient atteindre 2 % du chiffre d'affaires mondial ou 10 millions de dollars" [2]. General guidance for planning a build, not legal advice.
Yes. Every municipality in the metropolitan area is covered by the same builds.
2,559 locations: downtown, Saint-Joseph and the industrial parks
226 locations
184 locations
131 locations
80 and 57 locations in two separate municipal entries
58 and 55 locations
The city of Drummondville holds 2,559 of the metropolitan area's 3,518 locations with employees, 72.7%; the ring around it holds the rest [1]. Neighbours with their own pages: Sherbrooke and Montréal.
Ottawa, in the same time zone, with nobody on the ground in Centre-du-Québec. The founder, Aniket Gandhi, does the audit himself by video, the configuration happens remotely, and we test the French script against your real calls before go-live. One national price list sits in the pricing section, and the AI receptionist cost guide weighs it against payroll. Everything opens with the free AI audit.