Aéro Montréal Newsletter - Aerospace highlights in 2019 ✈️

At a time when industry players are mobilizing to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Aéro Montréal will review the record-breaking year 2019 on Monday, May 25, at its Annual General Meeting.

In times of crisis, these accomplishments take on another dimension and remind us of everything that our industry is capable of: in 2019, Québec aerospace industry sales totalled $17.8 billion and experienced an exceptional growth of 15.9%. This significant increase in sales stood out from the results observed in France (+9%), the United Kingdom (+6.6%), and the United States (+5%). This remarkable performance confirms our position as a leading Québec exporter, with sales representing 57% of total Canadian aerospace sector sales.

In terms of employment, our industry now has 43,400 workers, an increase of 3.1% over 2018. In the Montréal metropolitan region, nearly one worker out of 50 has a trade or profession in aerospace!

We can be proud of these numbers, recently identified by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MEI), which are a perfect illustration of the boldness that our industry has demonstrated over the past year.

Thanks to our unique and diversified ecosystem, Québec has confirmed its position as a leader in the global aerospace supply chain. Now, more than ever, I believe it is important to remember that this strategic industry can play a major role in the country's economic recovery.

Let us continue our mobilization!

Take care of yourself, your families and your loved ones.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing governments to rethink the criteria for economic success and make decisive choices to support the sectors most likely to revitalize the economy of a country weakened by the crisis. By focusing on an industry’s ability to create wealth and be strategic, the Institut du Québec demonstrates that the aerospace industry offers a credible solution to this major challenge. See the analysis grid for identifying strategic industries and support measures for the aerospace sector.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), created by the government to help companies maintain jobs and encourage the business recovery, will be extended for 12 weeks, until August 29, 2020. Eligibility requirements have also been expanded to include partnerships owned up to 50% by ineligible members.

Steeve Lavoie, President of Bell Textron Canada, has a message for Quebec manufacturers who are preparing to reopen with strict sanitary measures: Be patient.

STELIA Aerospace has just received a JEC Innovation Award in the "Aerospace" category with its partners, IS Groupe, Arkema, Latécoère and Hexcel, for the ISW (Innovative Solution for Welding of Thermoplastic Composites) welding project.

In the context of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, we anticipate that several procurement programs in the U.S. defence and security market will be launched or accelerated to stimulate the economy.

On behalf of the Québec aerospace cluster, we would like to offer our most sincere condolences to the family of Jennifer Casey, the Snowbirds' public affairs officer, who died in a plane crash on Sunday, May 17. This flight was the last in a series of flights by the Snowbirds across Canada as part of the "Operation Inspiration" tour to support Canadians during the pandemic. This very sad accident affected the entire Aéro Montréal team that had organized the first Snowbirds Air Ahow over Montréal in the Old Port in 2018. We had forged closer ties with the pilots' team and the Regroupement de la Relève en aérospatiale (RRAM), which had had the opportunity to work with them during their two-day stay in Saint Hubert and Montreal.

Aged 21, the young woman is completing her training at the École nationale d'aérotechnique (ÉNA) at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit, the largest aero technical institute in North America.

The new section allows companies to share their under-utilized employees with other organizations for short- to medium-term periods. The idea is to keep employees busy while the economic cycle is unfavourable to them.

Aéro Montréal is committed to helping you protect workers. Today, we are proud to launch a brand-new initiative: a turnkey digital safety signage solution to facilitate the implementation of good sanitary measures in factories: an unprecedented collaboration between Aéro Montréal and Intelligence Industrielle. This new project is made possible thanks to MACH FAB 4.0, an Aéro Montréal initiative funded by the Québec government to support companies of the Québec's aerospace cluster.