OTTAWA – On a press conference at 10am on the first day of this year CANSEC at the EY Center, Boeing announced the completion of a US$749 million Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) commitment for the C-17 Strategic Airlift acquisition program.
Boeing Canada Jim Barnes.
Photo: Boeing.
During this briefing, Jim Barnes, Director Canada, Defense, Space & Security and Roger Schallom, Roger Schallom, Manager, Canada Industrial Participation Program, Integrated Defense Systems made public that a year ahead of schedule, Boeing had fulfilled its industrial and technological benefits (ITB) obligations of $749 million in offsets on the four CC-177 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2007 and 2008.
Jim Barnes opened the press event by underlining that ‘We (Boeing) deliver on our commitments’.
Robert Schallom reminded that ‘As a result of this program, more Canadian parts are being integrated into Boeing products and opportunities are being presented that can help support healthy growth for the Canadian industry well into the future’.
He also thanked Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (known before as Industry Canada) for supporting Boeing to develop a plan that met small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and technology sub-requirements and was ‘geared toward bringing long-term value to Canadian industry’.
Boeing’s plan included 61 companies, 21 of which were SMEs located in eight provinces involved in aerospace manufacturing, research and development, engineering software, training systems for a range of its military and civilian aircraft, and other programs.
Companies like Bluedrop and Solace Power of Newfoundland and Labrador, Héroux-Devtek of Longueuil, Québec, and MDA Systems of British Columbia, received work packages in the areas of aerospace manufacturing, research and development, engineering software, training systems, and more.
For Jim Barnes, finding partners has been easier in Canada ‘because of the quality of suppliers available to us’.
In March, Boeing recognized six companies :Apex Industries, Avcorp Industries, Fellfab Ltd., Magellan Aerospace, Messier Dowty (now Safran Landing Systems), and Valiant Machine & Tool—with its annual performance excellence awards.
“We look at Canada for breadth and depth of capabilities,” said Barnes.
Boeing CC-177 ‘Canada One’ First Flight.
Photo: Boeing.
The first of the four CC-177s ordered in February 2007 was delivered in the summer of 2007 and the last arrived in April 2008. The first aircraft was immediately called into service as part of Canada’s disaster relief response to the aftermath of Hurricane Dean in Jamaica in 2007.
Boeing still has ITB obligations for a fifth CC-177 acquired in December 2014 and delivered in March 2015.
In only the five past years, Boeing has injected US$6 billion into the Canadian aerospace industry and continues to add more than US$1 billion in economic value to Canada annually.
Canadian industry already contributes to all Boeing commercial (737, 747, 767, 777 and 787) and defense programs, including the AH-64 Apache, V-22 Osprey and CH-47 rotorcraft, the F/A-18 and F-15 fighter aircraft, the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter and aircraft trainers. Boeing and Canada continue to grow the partnership through collaboration in research and technology that can help keep Canadian industry competitive in the global marketplace.
Canada has been a customer, a supplier and a partner to Boeing in both the defense and commercial sectors since 1919. Today, more than 97 years later, Canada is home to one of the largest international supplier bases for Boeing including more than 600 suppliers spanning every region of the country. Boeing working with Canadian companies under the government’s IRB program, and the current Industrial and Technological Benefits program, have already completed more than US$6.7 billion in Canada, with another US$2.9 billion in high-value programs currently under way.
Boeing Canada Winnipeg plant.
Photo: Boeing.
As of 2016, Boeing directly employs approximately 2,000 highly skilled Canadian workers at the following locations:
On the commercial side, more than a dozen Canadian carriers operate Boeing airplanes, including Canada’s leading airlines, Air Canada and WestJet.
Air Canada Boeing 787-8..
Photo: Air Canada.
Air Canada and its low-cost carrier Rouge operate the 787 Dreamliner, 767-300ER, 777-200LR and 777-300ER. Air Canada has 60 Boeing airplanes in its current fleet and orders for 81, including 61 of Boeing’s newest family of single-aisle airplanes, the 737 MAX.
WestJet continues to grow with its all-Boeing fleet of Next-Generation 737-700s and-800s. The Calgary-based carrier added its 100th Next-Generation 737 to its fleet in late 2012 and in 2013 finalized an order for 65 737 MAX airplanes. WestJet also leases four 767 airplanes to fly to Hawaii and London.
In addition, the newly formed low-cost carrier Jetlines, headquartered in Vancouver, started building its fleet in December 2014 with an order for five 737 MAXs.
McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet over Hawaii.
On the military side, Boeing played a major role in the transformation of the Canadian Forces by modernizing 77 of Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets with a two-phase avionics upgrade program completed in January 2014. L-3 Communications MAS was the prime contractor to Boeing and carried out the installation process for this program at its facilities in Mirabel, Québec, and Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in Alberta. Boeing also provides the Canadian Navy’s all-weather Harpoon missiles, several of the Anik series satellites, and supply chain services to fleet support programs.
In February 2007, Defense, Space & Security signed a contract with the Canadian Department of National Defence to supply four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to modernize the country’s defense forces airlift fleet. Boeing delivered all four C-17s to the Royal Canadian Air Force within 15 months of the contract signature. In December 2014, Defense, Space & Security signed a contract with the government of Canada for a fifth C-17, which was delivered in March 2015.
In May 2008, Canada awarded Boeing a $14 million interim contract to provide the Canadian Army with Insitu ScanEagle UAV services, including launch, recovery, maintenance, service support and training. The contract was extended to include installation of UAV capability on Royal Canadian Navy vessels, and all work was completed as of March 2015.
In August 2009, the Canadian Department of National Defence awarded Boeing a contract for 15 Boeing CH-47F Chinooks, designated CH-147, to meet Canada’s domestic and international missions requiring medium-to-heavy-lift helicopters.
Canadian industry is directly contributing to the mission-ready capability of the C-17 and CH-147 through separate 20-year in-service support contracts for the aircraft.
In June 2014, the Canadian Armed Forces received the 15th and final CH-147F Chinook helicopter in Petawawa, Ontario. The CH-147F Chinook is an advanced, multi-mission helicopter. Its primary mission is to transport equipment and personnel during both domestic and deployed operations, but it also provides a vital capability to respond to humanitarian emergencies, such as fire, floods and earthquakes.
Boeing has worked with Canadian companies under the government’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (formerly Industrial and Regional Benefits) program to perform business worth more than $6.5 billion in Canada, with another $3.1 billion in high-value programs currently under way.
In 2002, Boeing initiated the process that led to the creation of the successful Composites Innovation Centre (CIC) in Winnipeg, a not-for-profit composite materials research organization developing new materials and processes for the industry. Through engagement with the CIC, Boeing has provided funding to support the Canadian Composites Manufacturing Research and Development consortium, a teaming of industrial and research organizations across Canada seeking to develop new composite manufacturing processes. In February 2013, Boeing became the founding industrial member of the University of British Columbia’s Composites Research Network, a group working with Canadian scientists to create practical applications of new composite manufacturing discoveries.
Diplômé universitaire en histoire, journalisme et relations publiques, en 1993, Philippe Cauchi amorce une carrière de journalisme, analyste et consultant en aérospatiale. En 2013, il fonde avec Daniel Bordeleau, le site d’information aérospatial Info Aéro Québec.
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