Montreal's aerospace sector skyrockets

[MartinMtl]

Source: http://www.financialpost.com/working/story.html?id=272627

 

Montreal's aerospace sector skyrockets

Hiring Overseas

Christopher De Wolf, Canwest News Service*

 

MONTREAL - There's no way around it: The Aerospace industry in Montreal is booming. So much, in fact, that a new report issued by the Conference Board of Canada credits it with being the main force behind Montreal's economy, which is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2008.

Just last week, the federal government announced that Quebec aerospace companies will benefit from $660-million in contracts to build parts for new Canadian Forces airplanes. That should lead to even more job growth in the sector, which already counts 44,548 positions in Greater Montreal, an increase of more than 2,500 since 2006.

For many companies, finding new employees is a challenge. That's the case for Alta Precision Inc., a 50-employee Anjou, Que.-based company that makes landing gear components.

"Our biggest hardship in 2007 was finding the right labour," said Giovanni Bevilacqua, the company's director of business development. "We've actually been going to India and Romania to find new people. "

Alta Precision needs to fill 15 positions, Mr. Bevilacqua said. He expects most of its new hires to come from overseas, where it is easier to find workers with several years of experience. But that doesn't mean it has given up on local talent: Last year, the company invested in advertising, headhunters and in-school recruitment to find new employees.

Mr. Bevilacqua said that as a small company, Alta Precision has a hard time competing for workers with "big boys" including Pratt &Whitney.

Jean-Daniel Hamelin, spokesman for Pratt & Whitney Canada, a Longueuil-based aircraft engine manufacturer, stressed that the diversity of aerospace employers in Montreal is what makes the industry so strong. "If you have an excellent pool of candidates and a large group of employees, they can seek the employer that best suits their need," he said.

Last fall, Pratt & Whitney Canada hosted a job fair for the first time in years. "It was a real success," Mr. Hamelin said. "We had about 100 positions to fill and we ended up retaining 175 candidates."

The company's workforce now numbers 5,700 in the Montreal area.

One of Pratt & Whitney's greatest sources of new recruits are students from Montreal's post-secondary aerospace programs, including those offered by the Montreal Aerospace Trade School, the National Aerotechnical School and the engineering departments at McGill and Concordia universities.

Serge Tremblay, president of the Center for Aerospace Manpower Activities in Quebec, a non-profit organization that works with major aerospace players to develop skilled labour in the industry, said innovation is key to Montreal's success.

"[in Montreal,] we invest close to 10% of our sales in research and development. By investing millions of dollars a year, it's obvious that you're in it for innovation," he said.

 

Bravo Chris, aka Kilgore Trout :-)

[yarabundi]

Une autre bonne nouvelle surtout pour nos éternels pessimistes qui ne réussissent pas toujours à ternir ma naïve volonté de croire au potentiel de notre ville.

[mtlurb]

Bravo Chris!!

 

I can tell you that our company doubled its staff in the last 18 months! from 160 to 320!! and our recruiters are freaking out big time!!

 

Dassault Systèmes Montréal have its biggest clients in Aerospace.

 

(anyone looking for a job in mech ing and IT let me know).

[MartinMtl]

Je trouve ça quand même incroyable que d'ici quelques années, on soupçonne le plein emploi au Québec et une pénurie alarmante de main d'oeuvre. Et dire que pendant ce temps, Dumont voudrait réduire le taux d'immigration.

[mtlurb]

Ben si réduire l'immigration veut dire des salaires plus haut, pourquoi pas :stirthepot:

[Habsfan]

Une autre bonne nouvelle surtout pour nos éternels pessimistes qui ne réussissent pas toujours à ternir ma naïve volonté de croire au potentiel de notre ville.

 

Vrai que cet industrie roule sur de l'or, mais pendant ce temps, nous perdons encore plus de jobs dans le domaine manufacturier.

 

EN bout de ligne, c'est mieux d'avoir des jobs dans l'aérospatial que des jobs de manufacture, mais pendant ce temps, les choses restent difficiles.

 

En tous cas, ce sont de très bonnes nouvelles de la part de Kilgore Trout. Espérons que ça cotinue pour un autre 50 ans! je veux voir un vrai BOOM à Montréal!

[Gbx]

the main force behind Montreal's economy, which is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2008.

 

Wow, le conference Board semble être ultra optimiste pour l'économie Montréalaise: 2,6%, ce sera sans doute pas mal plus que la moyenne canadienne en 2008. Honnetement avec le ralentissement au EU, j'ai beaucoup de mal à croire cette prévision

[Kilgore Trout]

2.6% might be higher than the national average, but it's also the lowest growth expected for any major Canadian city, so I wouldn't consider it overly optimistic.

 

Thanks for posting this. I didn't realize that my article had been picked up by the Financial Post.

[cjb]

considering the portion of montreal's industry that is still based on garment, plastics, metalworking and petrochemical, I actually find it a little too optimistic.

[mtlurb]

Forte croissance au Québec

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L'industrie aéronautique québécoise exporte ses pièces et ses moteurs aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni et en Allemagne.

 

 

Un communiqué du Comité sectoriel de main-d'oeuvre en aérospatiale au Québec indique que le secteur connaît une « croissance remarquable ».

 

Signe tangible de cette croissance, les différentes entreprises du secteur envisagent de créer 1598 emplois au cours de l'année 2008. Ainsi, au 1er janvier 2009, le total des employés du secteur sera de 49 000.

 

Les emplois seront créés dans différents secteurs de l'industrie, de l'informatique à l'électronique en passant par l'ébénisterie et la mécanique. Près de la moitié le seront par des PME.

 

Selon le ministre de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, Sam Hamad, l'industrie « doit faire face aux besoins de main-d'oeuvre grandissants des entreprises dans un contexte de déclin démographique ». Pour cette raison, le ministre indique que les entreprises doivent faire preuve d'innovation dans la formation et les pratiques de gestion.

 

L'industrie aérospatiale recherche des scientifiques, mais aussi des diplômés des cycles collégial et professionnel.

 

Par ailleurs, sur le plan international, une étude de l'Organisation de l'aviation civile internationale prévoit une croissance de 5,9 % d'ici 2025.

 

http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Economie-Affaires/2008/02/26/001-aerospatiale-croissance.shtml