Saguenay, Quebec, May 2, 2008 – The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister of Canada Economic Development, took the opportunity during today's official inauguration of the Centre universitaire de recherche sur l'aluminium (CURAL) to reaffirm the Government of Canada's commitment to stimulating the development of the aluminium manufacturing and transformation sectors. Construction of this laboratory, one of the best equipped in Canada, required an overall investment of $9.5 million and was made possible, in part, by $3.6 million in government funding. CURAL's mission is to conduct research in such areas as forging, fatigue behaviour and the manufacture of metal matrix composites, among others.
"The UQAC and CURAL play an instrumental role in the knowledge-development and training of the researchers of tomorrow. Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec and Canada, as well as contract providers worldwide, will benefit from the synergy among these specialists, who will now have access to state-of-the-art facilities to help them develop and bring to market the kinds of secondary and tertiary aluminium transformation technologies that are critical to the growth of this constantly-evolving sector," explained Minister Blackburn.
The aluminium industry shows positive prospects for growth. According to the Canadian Aluminium Transformation Technology Roadmap, world production and consumption of primary aluminium are experiencing steady growth, giving rise to numerous opportunities for Canadian enterprises. The Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region already possesses a solid network of experts working in the aluminium processing sector, including with the National Research Council's Aluminium Technology Centre (ATC), the Centre québécois de recherche et de développement de l'aluminium (CQRDA), the Réseau Trans-Al and in other institutions. These organizations contribute to the success of regional enterprises as well as to the creation and consolidation of highly-skilled jobs.
"The Government of Canada is committed to creating conditions that are favourable to the sustainable growth and competitive positioning of our regions. Canada's fiscal and trade rules, along with the measures our government introduced in its 2008 budget, aim to create the kind of climate that will incite Canadian enterprises to invest in research and innovation and thereby become industry leaders in their field," Minister Blackburn concluded.
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Sources:
Nadia Marceau
Communications
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 418-668-4602 or 1-800-463-9808
E-mail: nadia.marceau@dec-ced.gc.ca
Sylvain Frenette
Office of the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 514-496-1282
E-mail: sylvain.frenette@dec-ced.gc.ca
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