A partnership of Canadian government and industry officials has set out its initial proposals for a 20-year aerospace strategy designed to keep the country among the world’s top five aerospace nations.
The Canadian Aerospace Partnership (CAP), which includes representatives of companies such as MDA and Pratt & Whitney Canada, has received recommendations from three of its working groups, according to government agency Industry Canada.
Proposals include a three-year plan to strengthen research and development, and setting up a Canadian Aerospace Technology Network to link technology investments by government, industry and universities. Also under discussion is an evaluation framework, allowing government and industry to target their investments better and leverage Canadian participation in major international programmes.
CAP’s public procurement working group has stressed the need for a clear statement on how Canadian defence and space procurement can be used to meet national industrial objectives, as well as an investigation into how Canada’s benefits policy for state procurements can strengthen national competitiveness in aerospace and defence.
Federal industry minister David Emerson welcomed the proposals as “an important step in developing a co-ordinated future strategy for the Canadian aerospace industry”. He says the group has “brought forward substantial proposals for the government to consider”.
The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) says industry-wide revenue changed little between 2003 and 2004 after two years of decline, rising to C$21.7 billion ($18.3 billion) from C$21.3 billion. The figure peaked in 2001 at C$23.2 billion.
“We’ve turned the corner,” says AIAC president Peter Boag. “The market outlook for the next few years is promising, but we’ll face stiff competition from other nations’ aerospace industries.”
ANDRZEJ JEZIORSKI/VANCOUVER
Source: Flight International
