Farnborough, Quebec, July 20, 2010 – The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, acting on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, today joined Clément Gignac, Quebec Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, in announcing that the governments of Canada and Quebec intend to grant a total of $1,400,000 in funding to Liebherr-Aerospace for the establishment of both a landing gear assembly centre and a logistics centre at the company's Laval site.
Aerospace is a catalyst sector for the Laval and Greater Montréal economy, with enterprises like Liebherr-Aerospace creating employment and investing in research and development. The Liebherr-Aerospace project is expected to generate an overall investment of $3,800,000 and result in the creation of some 35 high-level jobs.
The Government of Quebec will contribute $750,000 in funding to the project through its Economic Project Support Program (PSPE). The Government of Canada, for its part, has announced its intention to grant $650,000 in repayable funding toward the initiative through Canada Economic Development's Business and Regional Growth program, conditional upon the positive outcome of an environmental assessment carried out in accordance with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, compliance with the Government of Canada's funding allocation process and the signing of a contribution agreement between Canada Economic Development and Liebherr-Aerospace.
"The Government of Canada intends to lend its financial assistance to this Liebherr-Aerospace project and thereby reaffirm its commitment to promoting the growth of the Canadian aerospace sector. Enterprises in this sector occupy a solid strategic position and have the potential to conquer an ever-growing share of the market. This Liebherr-Aerospace project will contribute to the development of our know-how, the advancement of our knowledge and the extension of our country's global economic reach and influence," explained Minister Clement.
"This is excellent news for Quebec in that this project will allow another internationally-renowned equipment integrator to set up operations on our territory. This decision by Liebherr-Aerospace proves that Quebec is a dynamic, competent and high-performance market and confirms our standing as a world leader in the aerospace sector. The establishment of these assembly and logistics centres points to the possibility of other investments to come at the company's Laval plant in the next few years," stated Minister Gignac.
"The expansion into Laval of an industry leader like Liebherr helps strengthen Greater Montréal's reputation as a world-class centre of advanced knowledge in the aerospace sector. The company will benefit from the many advantages the aerospace cluster has to offer, notably its plentiful and highly-skilled labour force," added Jacques St-Laurent, President and Chief Executive Officer of Montréal International.
Liebherr-Aerospace develops and manufactures air management systems, flight control systems, actuation systems and landing gear for business jets, commercial aircraft, helicopters and military aircraft. With its involvement in many large-scale aircraft programs, the company has showcased its technological know-how over the years by, among other things, equipping all of the planes in the Airbus family as well as those of other aircraft manufacturers, including Bombardier Aerospace.
"Bombardier is an important customer for Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS. The company's CSeries aircraft program, for which we are supplying the landing gear and air management systems, is a major stake for our Division. The expansion of Liebherr-Aerospace Canada is part of our ongoing commitment to Bombardier Aerospace, which began in 1993 with the Global Express program and has been continuously reinforced and renewed with each new program. The strengthening of our relations with Bombardier is the result of both teams' ongoing quest for performance, efficiency, proactivity and proximity, and this is particularly true of Liebherr-Aerospace Canada. We believe this investment in Liebherr-Aerospace Canada will play a decisive role in the success of the CSeries program and are proud to go the extra distance in our support of Bombardier Aerospace," explained Francis Niss, President of Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS.
The funding from Canada Economic Development has been allocated through the Business and Regional Growth program, an initiative designed to help businesses improve their performance and engage in more innovation in order to facilitate their sustainable growth. The program is also aimed at promoting the transfer of technology and creating conditions conducive to the attraction of foreign investment.
The contribution from the Quebec Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade ( MDEIE) has been granted through the Economic Project Support Program. The goal of this program is to support Quebec enterprises in their investment and product development projects in an effort to bolster productivity and job creation.
Canada Economic Development is online at www.dec-ced.gc.ca. Subscribe to the Agency's press releases at www.dec-ced.gc.ca/fra/salle-medias/liste-envoi/envoi.html to keep up with the latest news.
For more information on the programs and serviced offered by MDEIE, visit www.mdeie.gouv.qc.ca/programmes.
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Source:
Anne-Sophie Desmeules
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade
Tel.: 418-691-5650
Information:
Geneviève Bégin
Communications Advisor
Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade
Cell.: 418-455-7072
E-mail: genevieve.begin@mdeie.gouv.qc.ca
Ève Cardinal
Special Assistant, Communications
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 819-997-3319
E-mail: eve.cardinal@dec-ced.gc.ca
