Standing Committee on Industry and Technology

Comité permanent de l'industrie et de la technologie

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 16, 2022 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (Committee) presented its Fifth Report in the House of Commons entitled Development and Support of the Aerospace Industry.

The committee held four meetings and heard 33 witnesses as part of this study. It also received two written briefs. This report describes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aerospace industry and presents witnesses’ visions of the way forward for the industry. The report also makes seven recommendations to the federal government to improve sectoral research and development, training, environmental initiatives, aircraft maintenance and procurement projects. Notably, it recommends that Canada develop a national strategy for aerospace and provide sector-specific funding.

"Canada’s aerospace industry is a vibrant and diverse industry that generates innovation, research, and tremendous economic outcomes. It is an industry whose importance cannot be overstated and which operates in a very competitive and rapidly evolving field. I wish to thank all witnesses for helping our committee better understand the unique challenges and opportunities facing the sector, and for helping us to provide helpful recommendations to the Government for Canada to continue to lead in the aerospace sector."

Joël Lightbound, Chair of the Committee

“I enjoyed working with my fellow Conservative MPs on the committee, as well as the MPs from the other parties, to complete this important report regarding Canada's aerospace sector. Conservatives reject new taxes on Canada’s aerospace sector which will result in declining sales and cause significant damage to the competitiveness of the sector. I look forward to the Minister’s response once the report has been tabled in the House of Commons."

Michael Kram, Vice-Chair of the Committee

“The aerospace industry is Quebec’s pride and joy. Thanks to the Bloc Québécois’s tireless efforts, an official body of the Parliament of Canada is finally taking a stand and for the very first time asking the government to establish a national strategy for the aerospace industry, create significant financial incentives to spur development of more environmentally friendly aircraft and build a Centre of Excellence for Aerospace 4.0, following consultations with industry partners and union representatives. My colleague Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay from St-Hyacinthe-Bagot and I, we are obviously very proud of the precedent we set with our initial study in 2021, which we brought back in 2022 and expanded during the study of the report. Thank you to all stakeholders who appeared before the committee to promote a more sustainable aerospace industry.”

Sébastien Lemire, Vice-Chair of the Committee

“The aerospace industry in Canada is one of our bedrock essential manufacturing sectors. It provides high paying employment, significant research and innovation, fostering educational opportunities while attracting talent from around world. The federal government needs to modernize the policies for the aerospace sector to keep our domestic industry competitive with those across the globe.”

Brian Masse, member of the Committee from the New Democratic Party

The report is available on the Committee’s website