The aerospace industry is known as an important sector of the Quebec economy. However, we know less to what extent the sector contributes to the province’s exports or that this more than century-old industry has players well beyond Greater Montreal. Overview.
The vast majority of Quebec aerospace activity is intended for export. In total, 80% of the production produced in the province is sold to foreign customers. Quebec companies exported more than $12.4 billion in 2022, up nearly 8% year-on-year, according to data from the Institut de la tourisme du Québec (ISQ). Aerospace thus ranks first among exporting industries in Quebec, ahead of aluminum production and ore extraction. More than ever, Quebec is reaffirming its leadership position across Canada. Two-thirds of Canadian aerospace exports are made by Quebec companies.
The Quebec aerospace industry has a great need for labor. This winter, there will be 4,964 positions to be filled in the province, according to the latest report on 2023-2025 workforce forecasts, published by the Aerospace Sectoral Workforce Committee (CAMAQ). Most of these positions (2,477) are vacant, 400 of which have been vacant for more than six months. But there are also 1,564 positions that have just been created this year to meet customer demand. Finally, 923 positions are to be filled due to natural staff turnover, linked to retirements, departures and the attribution of new functions.
Aerospace in Quebec is not only in the Montreal region. In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the Avionnerie Valdor company, specializing in the maintenance of small aircraft, is the first in Canada to obtain the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from Transport Canada, authorizing it to bring bush planes of the type Beaver. This authorization rewards the efforts of the Valdorian company which launched its certification project in 2017. Built at the end of the 1940s by the Canadian firm De Havilland, the BX Turbo Beaver redesigned by the company will carry the Pratt turboprop engine.
The Quebec aerospace sector is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. It was in 1903 that we found the first trace of what would become one of the main aerospace clusters in the world. That year, Guglielmo Marconi founded Canadian Marconi, which later became CMC Electronics. Today, the Montreal company is one of the main Canadian equipment manufacturers. It provides cockpit system integration solutions to nearly a thousand customers in more than 80 countries. For 25 years, CMC Electronics has been equipping the flight management system of Black Hawk helicopters designed by Lockheed Martin for the American army. And the Quebec company renewed this multi-year contract this year.
