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AIAC salutes the Government of Canada

Ranked fifth largest in the world, the aerospace industry in Canada directly employs more than 80,000 Canadians from coast-to-coast and over 150,000 Canadians through indirect and induced employment. Nearly 30 per cent of this employment is located in Ontario, according to a comprehensive study conducted by Deloitte last fall.

"AIAC is committed to the competitiveness of the Canadian aerospace industry and, as such, to the optimization and assessment of the economic benefits related to the government's decision to procure the Joint Strike Fighter F-35 for our Forces," said Dr. Claude Lajeunesse, President & CEO of AIAC. "Thanks to our world leadership in several sub-sectors, Canada is in a position to  secure a very significant share of work on this state-of-the art aircraft for the benefit of all Canadians, as demonstrated by the high-tech work done by Virtek Vision International on that platform," added Dr. Lajeunesse.

Any uncertainty around the decision is likely to negatively impact investment decisions as well as job creation across the nation. "Now is not the time to hesitate – it is time to work together to make the most of this important government decision for the benefit of Canadians from coast-to-coast," concluded Dr. Lajeunesse.

The AIAC is the national association representing Canada's aerospace manufacturing and services sector.  As the world's fifth largest aerospace industry, Canada's aerospace sector generated over $22 billion and employed nearly 80,000 Canadians in 2009. Seventy-eight per cent of Canadian aerospace products were exported.  AIAC represents the interests of 400 aerospace companies across Canada.