Have questions about the economic measures put in place to support businesses affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19)? Visit the Québec.ca website.
La page est en cours de chargement...
A long tradition of innovation sustained by businesses recognized the world over
The Québec aerospace sector comprises six major prime contractors, 15 Tier 1 partners, equipment manufacturers and major maintenance-repair-overhaul (MRO) service providers, and 219 suppliers (SMEs).
Prime contractors:
Several major international aviation organizations are located in Montréal:
One of Québec’s strengths is its geographical location in the heart of the North American market, the biggest in the worldwide aerospace sector. Assembly plants operated by major aircraft manufacturers, in particular Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier, and manufacturers in the corporate aviation, aircraft engine, helicopter and space sectors, to name but a few, are located in Canada and the United States.
An ecosystem of businesses big and small at several stages of the value chain
Québec, and in particular the Greater Montréal area, possesses a genuine aerospace community that has over the years structured itself around its stakeholders’ strengths:
Multilingual, qualified, stable manpower
The Québec aerospace sector’s foremost asset is without question its skilled workers, who benefit from quality, top-notch training offered by universities, colleges and vocational schools that are well aware of the sector’s needs and the changing international market.
A sector based on knowledge, creativity and innovation
Innovation is an essential key to the sector’s competitiveness and Québec is determined to take full advantage of its resources in this respect in order to profit from future growth in demand in the aerospace sector. Supported by key organizations such as the CRIAQ, industry stakeholders are very active in research and development (R&D), as the significant share of Canadian aerospace R&D conducted in Québec attests.
Advantageous taxation, abundant venture capital and low operating costs
The Québec aerospace sector can rely on advantageous tax incentives and operating costs to attract and encourage investments. Taxation and operating costs are decisive factors when companies decide where to establish a new subsidiary or carry out a megaproject. Québec and Montréal offer significant competitive advantages.
In the most recent biennial edition of its study Competitive Choices, KPMG ranks Québec City and Montréal first and fourth from the standpoint of operating costs in the manufacturing sector, compared with several cities in the northeastern United States and Canada. In the same study, KPMG ranks Montréal third in terms of cost competitiveness in relation to the main international cities. In Canada, Montréal ranks ahead of Toronto and Vancouver. In the international ranking, only two Mexican cities rank ahead of Montréal.
Québec also offers attractive fiscal measures for manufacturing companies, which directly benefit the aerospace sector. The key measures are: