Aéro Montréal's mission is to mobilize stakeholders in Quebec's aerospace ecosystem to support its global reach, innovation capacity and growth.

SPECIAL EDITION – REPORT ON LE BOURGET 2023

// MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear members, dear partners,

The world’s largest aerospace show came to a close last weekend for our Québec delegation. For this 54^th edition of the Paris Air Show, we were more than 53 organizations and 150 people: proud representatives of the Québec ecosystem.

After a four-year absence, the mission was particularly rich in discoveries, discussions and opportunities for sharing, as well as official announcements to support the industry’s development.

Among the key announcements, François-Philippe Champagne, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced an investment of $350 million to support Canada’s new Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Technology (INSAT). The investment will create a pan-Canadian, industry-led network to fund collaborative research and development projects. The initiative is aimed at companies of all sizes across the country, regardless of their role in the supply chain.

Pierre Fitzgibbon, Québec Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, announced $9 million in ESSOR funding for Avianor to purchase equipment for the Québec centre of excellence in A220 heavy airframe maintenance.

The cluster, for its part, had placed the strengthening of international relations at the heart of its mission. To this end, at Minister Fitzgibbon’s press conference, we reinforced our ties with the Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (GIFAS) to raise the profile of Québec’s aerospace industry in Europe. With this same vision in mind, we also renewed our collaboration agreement with Aerospace Valley.

Finally, the week ended with the launch of the Global Aerospace Cluster Partnership (GACP), in which Aéro Montréal has positioned itself as a leading player. I am convinced that it is through international cooperation that we will be able to meet the strategic challenges your companies are facing today. Whether it’s innovation, cybersecurity, labour shortages or advanced air mobility, we have much to learn from our peers, and our week at Le Bourget was a good illustration of this.

The week was also a wonderful opportunity to bring our partners together for some great networking moments. I’m thinking in particular of our welcome cocktail party organized in collaboration with BDC, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Norton Rose Fulbright and PwC Canada. As for our traditional international dinner, it was sold out several weeks before the event. With the support of Aéroports de Montréal, Canada Economic Development, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Investissement Québec International, we brought together nearly 150 people. We offered them a unique opportunity to get to know our international counterparts and open doors to new cooperative ventures.

Special thanks go to Investissement Québec International, the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Montréal International and the Délégation du Québec à Paris for organizing this important mission. It has definitely borne fruit, and I invite you to mark your calendars for the next major international industry event: the International Aerospace Innovation Forum, to be held from May 23 to 24, 2024.

// D-2 HIGHLIGHTS

AÉRO MONTRÉAL NETWORKING COCKTAIL

On June 17, Aéro Montréal organized a beautiful welcome reception in the emblematic site of the Aéro-Club de France. Mélanie Lussier, President and CEO of Aéro Montréal, warmly thanked the partners of this cocktail evening: Frédéric Riedl, CPA and Director, Major Aerospace Accounts at BDC, Dany Pelletier, Senior Vice-President, Investments, Private Equity and Impact Investing at Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Paul Raymond, Senior Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and Mario Longpré, Partner, Canadian Leader, Aerospace and Defence at PwC Canada.

During this convivial evening, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec's Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, delivered a short speech. We would also like to highlight the presence of Michèle Boisvert, Québec's Delegate General in Paris.

A great networking opportunity for the many companies of the Quebec and Canadian delegation present in Paris.

// D-1 HIGHLIGHTS

WELCOME ACTIVITY

The Québec delegation had the opportunity to gather for the mission's welcome seminar at the Pullman Hotel (Espace C2). This preliminary meeting, organized by Investissement Québec International and the Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et de l'Énergie du Québec (MEIE), was an opportunity for companies to briefly introduce themselves and present their respective mission objectives.

// DAY 1 

OPENING OF THE QUÉBEC PAVILION

In an effervescent atmosphere, Mélanie Lussier, President and CEO of Aéro Montréal, participated, in tandem with Marie-Ève Jean, Vice-President Exports at Investissement Québec International, in the inauguration of the Québec pavilion with the Honourable Stéphane Dion, Ambassador of Canada to France, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Michèle Boisvert, Québec Delegate General in Paris (DGQP), Simon Kennedy Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Iain Stewart President of the National Research Council Canada, Mike Mueller, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) and Bobby Kwon, President and CEO of the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC).

It was an opportunity to visit several booths of innovative companies in Quebec.

A great pride!

MEETING WITH THE CLUSTER OF BRITTANY

The International Air Show is also an opportunity for Aéro Montréal to develop strategic relationships with other clusters. Mélanie Lussier, President and CEO of Aéro Montréal and Didier Marchandise, President of Bretagne Aerospace, seized the opportunity to organize a presentation of their ecosystems.

As with Aéro Montréal, innovation and the development of the space sector are at the heart of Bretagne Aerospace's concerns. Bretagne Aerospace is a cluster led by industrialists and bringing together 160 companies and 12,000 employees.

EVENING & ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE EMBASSY OF CANADA

Throughout the Paris Air Show, we feel that the sector has the will to reinvent itself to become a carbon-free industry. As part of the iconic evening at the residence of Canada's Ambassador to France, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne announced that the Government of Canada will invest $350 million for aerospace innovation and sustainable development projects.

Great prospects to come!

// DAY 2 

WALLONIE MEETING | QUEBEC

Skywin and Aéro Montréal, the aerospace clusters of Wallonia and Quebec, held a breakfast meeting to showcase their respective ecosystems and markets. Etienne Pourbaix, Director Skywin Wallonie Pôle Compétitivité Aéronautique et Espace, and Mélanie Lussier, President and CEO of Aéro Montréal, Québec's aerospace cluster, were part of the panel of presenters. Thibault Carrier, COO of Sonaca Group, also shared his vision and perspective on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sustainable cooperation aimed at opening doors to new opportunities and a better understanding of each other's business processes!

PRESS CONFERENCE OF THE MINISTÈRE DE L'ÉCONOMIE, DE L'INNOVATION ET DE L'ÉNERGIE DU QUÉBEC

At a press conference on Tuesday 20 June, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, made three important announcements:

1. Investment of $9 million in Avianor Inc. for the purchase of equipment to be assigned to Québec's future centre of excellence in heavy maintenance of A220 airframes. A structuring project for the ecosystem.

2. Renewal of Aéro Montréal's strategic agreement with GIFAS - Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales. An agreement to increase the influence of Québec's aerospace industry in Europe and strengthen our respective supply chains.

3. Renewal of the collaboration agreement between the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ), IVADO, IRT AESE - Saint Exupéry and the University of Toulouse.

COAST TO COAST TO COAST RECEPTION

IMPORTANT NEW AGREEMENT FOR SAF+ CONSORTIUM

SAF+ Consortium has signed an unprecedented agreement with Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to supply e-SAF aircraft with François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and Stéphane Dion, Canada's Ambassador to France.

MEETING WITH THE MAYOR OF LONGUEUIL

// DAY 3 

WORKSHOP-CONFERENCE ON ECO-RESPONSIBILITY

As part of the SIAE and the Year of Innovation France Québec (AIFQ), Philippe Dessertenne, Director of the Succession and Sustainable Development Pillar at Aéro Montréal, presented the Québec aerospace cluster's Eco-Responsibility initiative during a workshop-conference entitled Accompanying SMEs towards eco-responsibility. The objective was to initiate a channel for sharing good practices with local and international stakeholders.

Thanks to Houssam Alaouie, Senior Director, Research and Development Programs and Higher Education Relations at CAE, who shared CAE's approach to sustainability and collaboration with their suppliers.

Let's salute the 14 SMEs that have already completed their Eco-Responsibility course with Aéro Montréal!

INNOVATION CONFERENCE

Jarrod Morley, Director of Innovation, Competitiveness and Productivity at Aéro Montréal, moderated a panel on innovation entitled Ready for Takeoff: Québec's contribution to space.

Thank you to the three contributors from the Quebec space sector: Auriane Thilloy, Bachelor of Physics student at the Université de Montréal and member of the Regroupement Relève d'Aéro Montréal (RRAM), Johanne Lecomptek, President of NorthStar Earth & Space, and Clothilde Petitjean, Director of Programs at the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ).

Their discussions focused on the Canadian Space Agency's three missions: deep space exploration, Earth observation, and recruiting the next generation of astronauts and space workers.

More specifically, they addressed the themes of the space ecosystem (which has 176 private companies, 86 of which are SMEs and 62 are institutions and research centers dedicated to space), space sustainability through space debris management and how the next generation of workers and students are engaged in space innovation.

SIGNING OF AN AGREEMENT WITH AEROSPACE VALLEY

In the presence of Bruno Darboux, President of the Aerospace Valley Cluster, and Mélanie Lussier, President and CEO of Aéro Montréal, Aerospace Valley and Aéro Montréal renewed their cooperation agreement for a period of 4 years.

This memorandum of understanding aims, among other things, to set up joint training activities on new eco-responsible practices, decarbonization of the industry and support for the adoption of cybersecurity tools in the two respective territories; the establishment of collaborations around new advanced air mobility, a collaboration around the space subject, including Earth observation for applications in the blue growth sector.

* pictures from Aerospace Valley

JAUNT AIR MOBILITY CANADA AND GLOBAL PARTNER SOLUTIONS SIGN AGREEMENT

Signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Jaunt Air Mobility Canada, a 1st plan aerospace company focused on the design and manufacture of next-generation hybrid electric eVTOL and VTOL aircraft, and Global Partner Solutions (GPSI), a leading provider of sustainable procurement, supply chain and program management services.

The objective of the agreement is a collaboration to establish a world-class supply chain ecosystem, with a focus on engaging Quebec-based suppliers. The signing was attended by Robert Hachey, President of GPSI and Éric Côté, President of Jaunt Air Mobility Canada.

AÉRO MONTRÉAL INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING DINNER

We ended this 3rd day in style, with the Aéro Montréal International Dinner and which brought together 160 guests at the impressive Shangri-La Hotel. This dinner was an opportunity to highlight the contribution of Philippe Rainville, President and CEO of ADM Aéroports de Montréal, who will retire in the fall. Phillipe Rainville has contributed to the advancement of the industry and has distinguished himself by making an undeniable contribution on strategic topics such as sustainable aviation fuels. Note the much-appreciated presence of the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Mr. Pierre Fitzgibbon, who, despite a busy schedule, insisted on being present and giving a speech.

A big thank you to all our international cluster partners who were present and who networked with Quebec companies on site.

Finally, thank you to the loyal partners of this networking dinner: Philippe Rainville, Martin Massé, and Guy Landry of YMX Aérocité internationale de Mirabel, Dany Pelletier, Guy Boutin and Hugo Bisaillon of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Hubert Bolduc, Marie-Eve Jean, Renee-Maude Lebrun of Investissement Québec International and Jean-Frédéric Lafaille, Mathieu Trudelle and Julien Aubin-Beaulieu of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

// DAY 4 

GLOBAL AEROSPACE CLUSTER PARTNERSHIP (GACP)

The week ended with the creation of the Global Aerospace Cluster Partnership (GACP), for which Aéro Montréal has positioned itself at the forefront by focusing on international cooperation.

The challenges of our companies in terms of innovation, cybersecurity, labour shortages and advanced air mobility will be at the heart of this strategic partnership, which will allow an exchange of best practices between peers.

// EVENTS TO COME

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