Quebec shipyard is setting up an Arctic icebreaking research centre

Sur le même sujet

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  7 décembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

  Airbus reports strong progress in generating FWSAR work in Canada

  Airbus reports it is on track to provide Canadian industry with the required level of high-value work associated with the fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft replacement in-service support (ISS) program. In its first FWSAR Value Proposition ISS annual report to the Government of Canada, submitted earlier this year and covering 2017, the company declared that more than 80 per cent of the ISS work was already being performed by Canadian industry in Canada. That data has now been validated and accepted by Canada. The activity, led by Airbus and its Canadian ISS integration partner AirPro – a joint venture with PAL Aerospace – is rapidly generating work and employment at partners such as CAE and Accenture. AirPro itself has already recruited nearly 20 highly qualified full-time staff to work on FWSAR ISS, and is adding resources in fields such as aeronautical engineering, architecture, construction, information technology and project management. More than 125,000 Canadian labour hours of work were performed by five companies in 2017 and the figure will grow more rapidly as many other companies begin their supply roles further into the program. The AirPro activity in particular will markedly increase as the Airbus CC-295 aircraft enters service and day-to-day ISS activities such as maintenance begin. Simon Jacques, president of Airbus Defence and Space in Canada, said: “We are proud of having made such a successful start to the development and transfer of capability to Canada with all the associated high value work that it brings. Ensuring an active role for AirPro in this set-up phase will ensure that it has a solid preparation for its ISS role in the operational phase. And this new expertise has the potential to be reused in other Canadian programs.” Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy applies to the FWSAR contract and ensures that the total value of the contract is leveraged resulting in high-value jobs in the Canadian economy. The FWSAR program is supporting some $2.5 billion in Industrial and Technological Benefits to Canada, through high-value, long-term partnerships with Canadian industry. “The work done in Canada as part of the fixed-wing search and rescue project demonstrates the tangible benefits of our Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy for Canadian industry,” said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. “This project will provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment and services they need to keep Canada safe, and the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy ensures Canadians have access to middle-class jobs, growing our economy along the way.” https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/airbus-reports-strong-progress-in-generating-fwsar-work-in-canada

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  24 mai 2022 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  DOD Innovation Ecosystem Webinar - Follow-up material

  Good day! Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the DoD Innovation Ecosystem Webinar on March 29th. As promised, please find the following (better late than never): Webinar Presentation Webinar RECORDING Passcode: t.4Z##u6 Q&As (questions asked during the webinar with responses) - attached If you have any problems accessing the Google Doc links, please let me know. In addition to the above, each of us in the cc line, will be sending you individual emails with a report covering each of our territories (as outlined below). Once you've had a chance to review the reports, you will be able to direct any questions to the right Trade Commissioner. There is a lot of great information included in the reports. We as Trade Commissioners, will be reaching out to organizations that we don't have contacts with to learn more about their programming and seek more information to better support Canadian companies. The three reports focus on: New England (Erin Donahue) Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia (Bobby Tate) Southern California and Arizona (Karen Sleiman)

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  8 octobre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Analysis: With Canadians tuned out on defence, political parties can safely ignore the topic at election time

  By DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN It's not much of a surprise that defence and security issues aren't a factor in this federal election. Despite the concerns of various commentators and analysts, the political parties can safely ignore those topics. Even though billions of dollars are to be spent on the future purchase of military equipment, and Canada is engaged in training missions in Ukraine, Latvia and Iraq, the average Canadian doesn't appear to care all that much about such topics. That doesn't mean that such a viewpoint is right. But it's typical of recent elections. The parties have touched briefly on defence and security in their platforms. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has noted he would improve relations with the U.S. and join the U.S. missile defence program. His government would buy new submarines and improve Arctic sovereignty. The Conservatives haven't discussed what it would cost to join the American missile defence system and there is no price tag for new submarines designed to operate in the Arctic. The subs, in particular, could be costly. In 2016 Australia announced its program to acquire 12 new subs with a price tag of $50 billion. Earlier this year Scheer vowed that a Conservative government would take the politics out of defence procurement, equipping the Canadian Forces with only what it needs. But even as he re-emphasized that point on the campaign trail, Scheer promised to order a second naval supply ship to be built at Davie shipyards in Quebec. While that would create jobs in the province and potentially generate support for the Conservatives, the leadership of the Royal Canadian Navy is adamant the second vessel is not needed. Liberal party defence promises have fewer details. Once again the Liberals have promised to increase support for the United Nations. But that's a repeat from the 2015 election campaign and many defence analysts point out that the Liberals didn't really deliver on that in their first mandate. There was the Canadian Forces mission to Mali, finished after only a year, and the assignment of a transport aircraft for UN use. But little else. The Liberals have a new promise to use the Canadian military's expertise for climate-related disasters, but again there are few details. They've also resurrected another of their 2015 election promises, which was to reform the defence procurement system. Little was done over the past several years to improve the system to purchase billions of dollars of military equipment. This time around the Liberals are promising to create a Defence Procurement Agency but it is unclear how that would be set up. The Green party has promised stable funding for military equipment and training, deployment of military personnel to deal with climate change disasters and pollution in the Arctic, to sign a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons and to cancel a deal with Saudi Arabia for light armoured vehicles. The NDP stated they would hold a fair competition for new fighter jets, keep shipbuilding procurement on time, stop the privatization of services at military bases and put more focus on peacekeeping. While defence and security issues are important, and can be costly to taxpayers, they don't seem to appear at the forefront of voter concerns. Most of the time they don't even register. Despite the thousands of words written and spoken by politicians and defence analysts about aging fighter jets, Canadians aren't marching in the streets to demand replacements for the RCAF's CF-18s. Scheer's promise to spend $1.5 billion to buy new medical imaging equipment for hospitals across Canada is more directly relevant to the average Canadian – who likely knows someone who has had to wait months for a MRI – than his promise to have Canada join the U.S. missile defence shield. The lack of interest by Canadians on defence matters has not been lost on politicians in power, particularly when they need to cut spending. By realizing that defence issues concerned only a small portion of the electorate, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper – who counted himself as a politician firmly behind the Canadian Forces – was able to chop the military's budget. At the heart of that issue is the lack of connection to and knowledge of the Canadian military by most Canadians. That was illustrated by a July 2018 report commissioned by the Department of National Defence which concluded that, “Awareness of and familiarity with the [Canadian Forces] was generally very low; virtually non-existent among those in the younger age group.” Only 26 per cent of those surveyed had some awareness of what the Canadian Forces had been doing over a year-and-a-half period. They couldn't even name what types of missions the military did at home, despite the high profile responses by the Canadian Forces to natural disasters such as floods and forest fires. Participants in the study were even surprised the learn the Canadian Forces operated in the Arctic. It's a situation that doesn't bode well for the future of the Canadian military. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/with-canadians-tuned-out-on-defence-political-parties-can-safely-ignore-the-topic-at-election-time