2023-06-19 04:56:00
(Paris) The International Air Show at Le Bourget, which opens this Monday, will once more this year be invested by a strong Quebec delegation of around fifty companies and organizations linked to aeronautics, and the government federal government has already begun to mark time by announcing a new innovation support program of 350 million.
Posted at 12:56 a.m. Updated at 6:30 a.m.
The federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, will announce this Monday noon (Montreal time) the creation of a new national innovation network, the Sustainable Aeronautical Technology Initiative ( INTAD), which will tackle the financing of greening projects for aeronautical companies.
This new fund will build on initiatives already begun with the announcement two years ago of the $2 billion Strategic Innovation Fund for Major Investments in Sustainable Aviation.
Unlike the Strategic Innovation Fund, which has helped fund specific projects with major partners such as CAE, Pratt & Whitney and Bell Helicopter, the Sustainable Aerospace Technology Initiative has a broader focus, since its funds will be available both to manufacturers of origin than to SMEs, airlines or airports.
Another particularity of INTAD: the investments that will be made from the 350 million fund will be administered and carried out by the industry, through the creation of a non-profit organization, an initiative appreciated by Mike Mueller, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada.
“This is an industry-led initiative that will be led through an independent board of directors who will determine how best to position Canada as a world leader in aerospace innovation,” commented Sunday. To The Press Mike Mueller.
At Aéro Montréal, we expect to support the development of investment projects within the Quebec aeronautics cluster, anticipates Mélanie Lussier, CEO of the organization.
Ottawa therefore wishes to solidify the ecosystem around issues related in particular to biofuels, hybrid propulsion or any other initiative related to the reduction of greenhouse gases in the industry.
The announcement of this new program, which will be unveiled at a reception at the Canadian Embassy in Paris and which will bring together 450 participants from the Canadian aerospace industry (and a strong contingent of Quebec players), is part of the vast decarbonization movement that countries want to impose on the aeronautical industry.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week unveiled a 300 million euro (CAD 433 million) program to support the development of the green plane.
A recovery in a parallel world
The Quebec aerospace industry, which emerged last year from the sharp slowdown caused by the pandemic, is still well in the saddle and continues to benefit from the recovery, despite the apprehended economic slowdown and the rise in interest rates. A bit as if this industry, which employs 37,200 people in Quebec, was evolving in a parallel world.
All the participants I was able to meet at a welcome cocktail party organized by Aéro Montréal on Saturday evening confirmed that business was going well, even if most mentioned the shortage of labor as the main obstacle to attained full zenitude.
And Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, who renamed himself Minister of Aeronautics for the duration of the Paris Air Show, at a press conference on Sunday followingnoon, is of the opinion that the industry is able to cross more difficult times.
“We are working on the aeronautics of tomorrow. We are working on strengthening the supply chain. We have 235 companies in the aeronautics sector. On top of that, we have regarding twenty first- and second-tier manufacturers, which leaves 215 SMEs that are active and operating with good order books,” indicated Pierre Fitzgibbon.
“The pandemic is behind us, aircraft orders have not dropped, production has slowed due to supply issues, but here we go once more,” he continued.
The employment level of more than 37,000 workers in the sector is back to what it was in 2019, but it is still far from the peak of 46,000 reached in 2006.
It is certain that the labor shortage is an obstacle to reaching the full potential of companies, and it is not for nothing that Montréal International is organizing a recruitment blitz for international talent in the middle of the Paris Air Show.
Accompanied by 12 human resources managers from as many companies, the CEO of Montreal International, Stéphane Paquet, will increase recruitment meetings to try to fill 200 urgent positions.
“We know that there will be 38,000 positions to fill over the next 10 years in the aeronautics sector, which is more than the current workforce. We have to take care of it,” underlines Mélanie Lussier, of Aéro Montréal.
Pascal Désilets, director of the National School of Aerotechnology (ENA), is also on site and also wishes to significantly increase the number of enrollments in the college program.
“We have increased the number of new registrants by 20% for September, which will bring the number of participants in the three-year program to 900. But, ultimately, we aim to reach 1,300 participants per year. All of our graduates have a job before completing their program,” he points out.
It is not only the race for workers that mobilizes the companies present at Le Bourget. They also want to broaden their scope of action, just as Quebec wants to attract new players in the sector to Quebec soil.
During the week, Investissement Québec teams will hold no less than 150 meetings with potential investors as well as with future foreign clients for our SMEs.
After the strong turbulence of spring, marked by the countless demonstrations and violent break-ins which followed one another in reaction to the adoption of the passage of the compulsory retirement age from 62 to 64, Paris seems to have regained a certain calm which seems announce a Paris Air Show without too many disruptions.
1687183976
#Ottawa #offensive #mode #Bourget
