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AEROSPACE | LIFE SCIENCES | TRANSPORT
2012 edition
VOLUME 3
Montréal Economic Powerhouse
AEROSPACE
For world-class SMEs LIFE SCIENCES AND THE NEW CHUM
Economic gateways TRANSPORT
Promoting transportation PLAN NORD
The sky’s the limit
9,95 $
PP 41614528
ISSUE 1
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The face of Montréal – a daring, innovative metropolis – is changing thanks to projects of all kinds
montréal WHERE CREATIVITY LEADS TO SUCCESS
Do you have a project? montreal2025.com 514 872-2025
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The future Éco-campus Hubert Reeves, dedicated to companies in the Cleantech sector. technoparc.com technopa rc.com
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Contents EDITORIAL
LIFE SCIENCES
5 Message
35 Breathing new life
from the Editor
into life sciences and health technologies
7 Montréal,
36 Linking
city of talent and collaboration
science and economics
4O CHU Sainte-Justine
8 Gérald Tremblay
Investing in the health of tomorrow's adults
Banking on innovation
13 Richard Deschamps
41 The new CHUM
Promoting immigration
An economic gateway for Montréal
15 Montréal International
45 The CHUM
Attracting talent: the great seduction
Research Center
47 The CHUM Foundation
AEROSPACE
48 Building big
19 The Aerospace Industry SMEs on board for large innovation projects
52 Technoparc Montréal
21 The MACH Initiative TRANSPORT
Tackling the slimming of the supply chain
55 Transportation
26 SA2GE project
with impact
Opening the way for tomorrow's aircraft
61 The port, a bona fide economic engine
28 Ten candles and lots of projects for CRIAQ
30 Talent
MINING INDUSTRY
for the asking
32 Blue skies
63 Plan Nord
for Québec's aerospace industry
PUBLISHER Jacques Boisvert CHIEF EDITOR Danielle Ouellet WRITERS Serge Beaucher, Jacques Boisvert, Catherine Flores and Danielle Ouellet
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TRANSLATION, REVISION AND PROOFING Catherine Faucher, Adrienne Jackson and Maureen Nicholson ART DIRECTION AND WEBDESIGN Carole Bordeleau COVER PAGE ILLUSTRATION Istockphoto by Samarskaya and Dzianis Haikov ADVERTISING Zoé Lafond, Sales Director
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The sky's the limit
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— Montréal Economic Powerhouse – 2012 edition
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Message from the Editor
The great seduction
M
ontréal is in seduction mode on many fronts these days. As a genuine knowledge economy materializes, human capital is becoming more than ever the driver of business competitiveness. Attracting top talent to the metropolis and keeping it here is a key focus of present economic development. Fortunately, Montréal has much to offer. Besides its fine quality of life, which is well-known abroad, the investment promotion agency Montréal International extols the economic metropolis status of this city where business thrives. Montréal's creativity and innovation are becoming strong drawing cards given keen global competition to recruit highly educated young people. The big economic clusters established ten years ago are bearing fruit. Thanks to the success of leading prime contractors and original equipment manufacturers, Montréal has become one of the world's three aerospace capitals. The industry is now looking to its SMEs and making every effort to help subcontractors rise to the rank of world-class suppliers.
DANIELLE OUELLET
While the life sciences and health technologies are enjoying conditions that foster this new momentum, personalized medicine is drawing substantial Québec and federal government investment that unites science and the economy. Added to this are large-scale construction projects to revamp hospitals and their research centres. New prospects for innovation and collaboration are opening up and already stirring strong interest abroad. As the keystone of this revitalized economic foundation, the flow of people and goods is a very strong focus. A wide-ranging urban plan banks on densification of the population through the creation of mixed areas where people live, work and play in the vicinity of transportation access points. Rehabilitation of the road network begun in recent years is still timely, and public transit under the banner of sustainable development is claiming top place. Other prospects for economic spinoffs for Montréal and all Québec are appearing with deployment of the Plan Nord, which, for one, will spotlight Québec's mining and geological industry in the years ahead. This 2012 edition of Élites "Montréal Economic Powerhouse" presents the challenges and benefits of investments tied to these new prospects. Danielle Ouellet Chief editor, Élites
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Montréal, city of talent and collaboration By Jacques Boisvert
BY 2019, EMPLOI-QUÉBEC ESTIMATES, QUÉBEC WILL NEED ALMOST 1.4 MILLION WORKERS TO MEET THE BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS IN THE PROVINCE. MONTRÉAL WILL NOT ESCAPE THAT LABOUR SHORTAGE AND WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE NECESSARY MEASURES TO CONTINUE PROVIDING DESIRABLE BUSINESS AND LIVING ENVIRONMENTS. MONTRÉAL MAYOR GÉRALD TREMBLAY AND RICHARD DESCHAMPS, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VICE CHAIRMAN AND RESPONSIBLE FOR LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ARE FIRMLY COMMITTED TO DEVELOP, ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT.
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PHOTO : VILLE DE MONTRÉAL
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MONTRÉAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE
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Gérald Tremblay Banking on innovation
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Human capital is key to business competitiveness. The availability and quality of that capital is certain to determine how Montréal grows in the long term. The city can already bank on world-class higher education and research assets, including eleven academic institutions, making it a bona fide metropolis of knowledge. We are also seeing excellent results from the big economic clusters created back when I entered the mayor's office ten years ago – Montréal InVivo (life sciences), Aéro Montréal (aerospace), TechnoMontréal (information technologies) and the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec. Those early initiatives were followed more recently by two more clusters: Écotech Québec (clean technologies) and Finance Montréal (financial services). "But the world's major metropolitan areas are locked in keen competition. Being a creative city is no longer enough to attract talent, for more than 180 cities around the world lay claim to creativity. We want to attract even greater numbers of skilled people. Even more, we want to keep them here. So we will continue to create clusters, encourage brain-storming and promote collaboration. We're determined to be more than a commercial exchange centre; we intend to work toward our goals in a favourable environment. That environment is already appearing in the quality of our living environment and in a focus on locally owned business, diversity, planning and design — bear in mind that Montréal is a UNESCO design city.
"Underlying our actions are the idea of services tailored to new entrepreneurial needs, independent neighbourhood businesses, high performance infrastructure and greater mobility for people, goods and ideas. Practically speaking, we are banking on the organization of mixed areas for a harmonious combination of "work, live and play", a concept described in Montréal's 2011-2017 Economic Development Strategy released last June. This approach, which is also described in the recent Metropolitan Land Use Planning and Development Plan, calls for densification and the concentration of people and services around public transportation access points and employment zones. These actions are all encompassed in a vision of sustainable development that will make Montréal a preeminent "green and blue" city.
Montréal > First in Canada for university research > First in Canada for music, third in North America > In the world's top 50 cities > World's third best summer city > In the top 10 cities for outdoor dining > In the top 20 history and heritage destinations > First city in North America for bicycle paths, eighth in the world > In the top 10 most wired cities > In the top 10 travel destinations for 2012
" PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, WE ARE BANKING FOR A HARMONIOUS COMBINATION OF WORK, LIVE AND PLAY." – Gérald Tremblay
PHOTO : VILLE DE MONTRÉAL
ON THE ORGANIZATION OF MIXED AREAS
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MONTRÉAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE
JUST FOR LAUGHS FESTIVAL
"A unique mixed zone has already come of age in the district where Ubisoft is located at the corner of SaintLaurent and Saint-Viateur. An entire neighbourhood has sprung up around this interactive game software company. It now includes quality but affordable housing, bars and restaurants for eating out and diversified local services.
C2-MTL MONTREAL CREATIVITY IN COMMERCIAL MODE From May 22 to 25, 2012, Montréal will host the ground-breaking C2-MTL Conference, which promises to have a following among business leaders seeking ways to make creativity central to the strategic development of their organizations. Counting on partners such as Sid Lee, Cirque du Soleil, HSM Global and Fast Company, the event will be full of surprises, with participants entering into a new-look conference and a brave new commercial world conducive to invention. Montréal talent in the limelight!
"The Innovation District, built up around the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), is another bustling area, with the opening of the INGO Innovation Centre, Griffintown revitalization, the Bassins du Nouveau Havre project, the Bell Centre and, of course, two universities – ÉTS and McGill. A complete living environment guaranteed to attract a great deal of talent is being created. "A huge $470 million revitalization project is under way in the Namur–Jean-Talon area of the Côte-des-Neiges and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, known as Le Triangle and soon to be a green urban space. Nine housing developments are being built in this 40 hectare area adjoining two subway stations and axial highways. In the long run, there will be 4,200 dwellings and diversified local businesses. A brand-new living environment is being created right before our eyes, transforming a somewhat dilapidated commercial area into a neighbourhood geared to mass transit and quality of life. "Besides quality of life, Montréal talent is itself a strong drawing card. The names Arcade Fire, Cirque du Soleil and Moment Factory are enough to stir interest and motivate people to come settle in Montréal.
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CENTRED AROUND THE ÉCOLE DE TECHNOLOGIE SUPÉRIEURE (ÉTS), THE INNOVATION DISTRICT IS BUSTLING.
GANGING UP ON SCHOOL DROPOUT Fusion Jeunesse is an organization that creates original university-school partnerships to fight school dropout through projects that attract, motivate and stimulate students and ensure their commitment.
PHOTOS : VILLE DE MONTRÉAL
LE TRIANGLE: THE NAMUR–JEAN-TALON AREA OF THE CÔTE-DES-NEIGES–NDG BOROUGH
Fusion Jeunesse
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MONTRÉAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE
Montréal International ILLUSTRATION : VILLE DE MONTRÉAL
ATTRACTING TALENT Montréal International (MI) continues developing its know how and activities for attracting international talent thanks, for one, to a $655,000 grant awarded under the action strategy of the Conseil emploi métropole. It will use this grant to help bolster Greater Montréal's pool of skilled labour, with emphasis on three areas: study on foreign talent pools, web use and international recruitment.
Gourmet Montréal GROWING NOTORIETY In summer 2012, Montréal will be a destination on the Omnivore World Tour, a travelling food festival that will stop in 12 world cities renowned for their creative cuisine. Chefs Hugue Dufour (M. Wells), Marc-André Jetté and Patrice Demers (Les 400 Coups), as well as Derek Dammann and Alex Cruz (DNA), have been invited to participate in the Paris Omnivore Food Festival.
PHOTO : VILLE DE MONTRÉAL
"The businesses that move here see our trademark spirit of collaboration coupled with our creativity. This was clear when we launched our new economic development strategy: cyber characters the likes of Lara Croft are dressed by Montréal fashion icons such as Marie Saint Pierre; health care and digital arts join ranks to improve healing for sick children through collaboration between the Technical Arts Society and CHU Sainte-Justine, and so on. Such collaboration is fairly rare around the world.
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— Montréal Economic Powerhouse – 2012 edition
"Fine dining in Montréal is another sector that is gaining ground and exerting its power of attraction. Indeed, it is drawing the interest of food critics the world over and attracting famous chefs the likes of Daniel Boulud, who has a restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton. A brand image for gastronomy is forming." Tourisme Montréal vice president Pierre Bellerose said recently, adding that 2012 could well be a stand out year for our image as "North America's leading city of haute cuisine." "So we are counting on many and varied sectors of excellence in which we are already garnering awards in the global competition for talent.
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Richard Deschamps Promoting immigration "This points to the need to promote the social and economic integration of immigrants and take practical steps to deal with the factors that block integration. Insufficient on-the-job experience or contacts in the Canadian job market, as well as unrecognized prior learning and experience abroad, go a long way in explaining why immigrants find it hard to integrate our workforce.
PHOTO : ÉLITES BY DENIS BERNIER
"
Immigration is proving to be a vital source of talent in these economic times. Besides keen global competition to attract skills, population decline and aging in Québec are putting pressure on businesses and employers in need of workers. These two factors could cause labour shortages, in economic sectors with high added value, for instance. The young people now in training will fill half of the jobs, but immigration provides a second huge and important labour pool.
RICHARD DESCHAMPS
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MONTRÉAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE
International Startup Festival WHEN INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY MEET From July 11 to 13, 2012, this festival will bring together industry veterans and fresh faces, opinion leaders and technology giants from around the world for a series of lean, fast-paced events. This second staging of the festival will include startup launches, inspiring keynotes and deep dives into hot sectors such as mobility, social networking and gaming.
World Congress on Information Technologies FULFILLING THE PROMISES OF THE DIGITAL AGE From October 22 to 24, 2012, Montreal will host thousands of delegates convening here from more than 80 countries under the theme "One Vision for a Global Digital Society." A unique opportunity to showcase Montréal know how and upgrade our public digital infrastructure.
"AT THIS POINT, THE 30,000 IMMIGRANTS ARRIVING EACH YEAR ARE THE DOMINANT DRIVER OF POPULATION GROWTH IN THE GREATER MONTRÉAL AREA AND THE MAIN SOURCE OF EMPLOYMENT GROWTH." – Richard Deschamps
"At this point, the 30,000 immigrants arriving each year are the dominant driver of population growth in the Greater Montréal area and the main source of employment growth. The Conference Board of Canada states, nevertheless, that meeting needs will require exceptional growth in immigration levels. Current projections in Québec do not address this. "According to the latest information, Greater Montréal is able to retain seven out of ten new immigrants five years after their arrival. The other three move to the suburbs, another Canadian city or another country. This makes immigrant workplace integration and retention a serious challenge that we are already taking on." Many initiatives have recently been taken to properly address these challenges: the Plan emploi métropole; the Conseil emploi métropole; a roundtable on Greater Montréal's toughest workforce challenges; the Défi Montréal strategy for promoting job access for Montreal immigrants; the Franco-Québec agreement on professional mobility to better welcome international talent; the partnership between Montréal International and the Department of Immigration and Cultural Communities to promote the retention of skilled temporary workers; the issuing of a Québec selection certificate for foreign students having earned a degree in Québec and for temporary workers who fill skilled labour needs; the Interconnection program set up by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal in partnership with Emploi-Québec and the Department of Immigration and Cultural Communities; Emploi Nexus: choose, invest, succeed, a support and referral program to help Montréal businesses meet head-on the challenges of hiring skilled immigrants in the fields of aerospace, information technologies, life sciences and health technologies. Projects with a sure future.
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Montréal International Attracting talent: the great seduction Interview by Danielle Ouellet
INVESTING, INNOVATING, WORKING AND LIVING IN GREATER MONTRÉAL – ALL ACTIVITIES TO BE IMPRESSED UPON FOREIGN COMPANIES TO ATTRACT THEM TO QUÉBEC'S METROPOLIS. THE RECRUITMENT OF THOSE FIRMS MUST ADVANCE THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE MONTRÉAL METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY (MMC), WHICH, WITH ITS 82 MUNICIPALITIES AND POPULATION OF 3.9 MILLION, ACCOUNTS FOR HALF OF QUÉBEC'S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP). THERE IS STRONG COMPETITION WITHIN THE GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY, BUT GREATER MONTRÉAL HAS MANY THINGS TO RECOMMEND IT. JACQUES SAINT-LAURENT, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE INVESTMENT PROMOTION AGENCY MONTRÉAL INTERNATIONAL (MI), EXPLAINS HIS GOALS AND HIS STRATEGY.
JACQUES SAINT-LAURENT President and CEO Montréal International (MI)
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MONTRÉAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE
Élites. How much of Montréal's prosperity do you attribute to the foreign companies that have settled here? Jacques Saint-Laurent. Their presence is highly profitable for the metropolitan area. Though they account for a mere 9% of overall employment in the region, they currently generate more than 20% of Greater Montréal's GDP. They create wealth through their vigorous research, development and innovation activity. They provide high-level jobs that are very well paid, often as much as one and a half times the average wage in the region.
Montréal’s power of attraction in North America 2nd for the ratio of university students to the general population 2nd for the quality of the health system and hygiene 3rd for the quality of life 5th for attracting patented inventions 7th for the concentration of high-tech jobs Source : Montréal International (2008-2010 data)
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Since 2000, investments totalling $7 billion in 450 projects supported by MI have been instrumental in creating and maintaining more than 40,000 jobs. In 2010 alone, 28 specific projects were completed, half of them for new business establishments. É. What kind of businesses do you target? J.S.-L. We recruit with the MMC's economic priorities uppermost in mind. Montréal International has its sights on aerospace, life sciences and health technologies (LSHT) and information and communication technologies (ICT), among other high-tech sectors. The results are encouraging, I might add. To take an example, the French aircraft company Groupe Latécoère announced last fall that it was establishing a new Canadian subsidiary called LATecis, with plans to create 60 jobs between now and 2014. It is making Montréal its gateway to the North American market and also moving closer to Bombardier. At one point, the video game company Square Enix Group decided to expand its Eidos-Montréal studio, which opened in 2007, by creating 100 new high-tech jobs. In 2012, it will open another studio providing another 150 jobs. The city of Beauharnois, which is part of the Greater Montréal area, is becoming the North American gateway for OVH.com, Europe's leading web host. OVH.com will be investing $127 million and creating 117 jobs here over the next three years.
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We support the firms throughout the stages necessary for settling in, while at the same time working to retain the companies we've already attracted. Indeed, it is vital to retain the subsidiaries already established here and to support their growth because half of the 2,000 or so foreign companies settled in our region are strategically positioned for us in terms of economic spinoffs. We are also interested in agri-food, nanotechnologies and new materials, clean technologies, transportation and logistics. We favour incisive targeting of firms that contribute added value to these sectors. É. What about the competition during this great seduction?
"THERE IS VERY STRONG COMPETITION FROM OTHER LARGE METROPOLITAN AREAS IN CANADA, BUT ALSO IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO REALIZE THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF ATTRACTING HIGH-TECH COMPANIES. THE CHALLENGES ARE BECOMING HARDER AND HARDER. IN ADDITION, THE INCREASED EXCHANGE RATE OF THE CANADIAN DOLLAR AGAINST THE AMERICAN DOLLAR IS DAMPENING THE ENTHUSIASM OF SOME COMPANIES." – Jacques Saint-Laurent
J.S.-L. There is very strong competition from other large metropolitan areas in Canada, but also in the United States and Europe. We're not the only ones to realize the economic benefits of attracting high-tech companies. The challenges are becoming harder and harder. In addition, the increased exchange rate of the Canadian dollar against the American dollar is dampening the enthusiasm of some companies. I might add that the Montréal subsidiaries of foreign corporations – for example, Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of the U.S. corporation Textron – often find themselves competing with their parent company's other subsidiaries in countries with cheaper labour or other advantages. We vigorously support our subsidiaries so that they come out winners whenever possible. All in all, Greater Montréal is doing very well. É. What strategic technological advantages do we have? J.S.-L. The quality of Montréal as a place to settle offsets the difficulties. What's more, we can call on solid partners, such as industrial cluster secretariats and Investissement Québec. Our critical mass of activities in leading-edge sectors is key to our recruitment activities around the world.
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MONTRÉAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE
"HIGHLY EDUCATED YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SEEKING MORE AND MORE TO SETTLE IN A CITY THAT WILL OFFER THEM SEVERAL CAREER OPPORTUNITIES OVER THE YEARS, AND THEY ATTACH GREAT IMPORTANCE TO QUALITY OF LIFE. MONTRÉAL EXCELS IN THESE RESPECTS AND ALSO PROVIDES A FERTILE ENVIRONMENT OF HIGHER LEARNING."
Airports Council International (ACI), which comprises 580 international airport authorities running more than 1,650 airports in 179 countries, inaugurated its head office in Montréal in 2011. It brought with it annual spending of $270 million and 1,500 direct jobs. Besides these advantages, ACI's presence projects Montréal onto the international scene as an outward-looking city.
– Jacques Saint-Laurent
At the same time, the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, which has been here since 2006, announced the expansion of its Montréal premises to prepare for implementing the Nagoya Protocol on the protection of biodiversity.
The Greater Montréal area ranks among Canada’s leading metropolitan areas for: > overall investment in university research > number of foreign university students
Other metropolitan areas are engaged in the same contest, but few of them are blessed with the same groundbreaking environment we have. Creativity is also an economic concept, as represented convincingly by Cirque du Soleil or the Moment Factory, which produced Madonna's show at this year's Super Bowl.
> number of research centres É. What big challenges lie ahead?
> number of research scientists > number of patents held > number of science publications through university-business collaboration > venture capital investments in 1996-2011 Source : Montréal International (2005-2008 data)
J.S.-L. We will have to attract even more talent. This may seem illogical since we already have a large, highly skilled workforce of excellent quality. But a real war for talent is being waged on a world scale. Highly educated young people are seeking more and more to settle in a city that will offer them several career opportunities over the years, and they attach great importance to quality of life. Montréal excels in these respects and also provides a fertile environment of higher learning (see boxes). Montréal's renown for its joie de vivre, fine dining and culture is so strong that it somewhat overshadows its status as an economic city where it is profitable to do business and pursue a career. We need to get this point across even better around the world.
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Aerospace
The Aerospace Industry SMEs on board for large innovation projects Feature report by Catherine Flores
The industry mobilizes for its SMEs
M
ontréal has unquestionably risen to the rank of world aerospace hub thanks to the leading prime contractors and OEMs that call it home. But Greater Montréal's aerospace industry is also upwards of 200 small and medium enterprises gravitating around the big players. Together, these players big and small form an ecosystem capable of ensuring its global competitiveness, provided that the SMEs receive the support they need to grow. "Boosting the innovation capabilities of SMEs is among our priorities," states Suzanne M. Benoît, president and CEO of Aéro Montréal. "We want to draw them more into the projects of the industrial cluster, such as the mobilizing project for a more ecological aircraft and the MACH initiative to optimize supply chain performance." Helping an SME go from subcontractor status to that of a world-class supplier is an ambitious undertaking needing mechanisms for close collaboration between those firms and OEMs. "International competition is exerting strong pressure, especially when it takes the form of low production costs in emerging countries. If we are to keep manufacturers and workers here in Montreal, we have to give the SMEs an opportunity to move up the supply chain into the global industrial sphere. But they must take certain financial and technological risks," Ms. Benoît points out.
The members of Aéro Montréal have mobilized to further the expertise and know how of the SMEs, for example, by bringing them into precompetitive industrial cooperation projects – such as those developed with the Consortium for Research and Innovation for Aerospace in Québec (CRIAQ) – and by helping them finance themselves, diversify and raise their profile. "The industry's strength lies in its tremendous ability to innovate, as shown by the $600 million annual R&D investment right here. The SMEs have their role to play in this connection," Ms. Benoît concludes.
SUZANNE M. BENOÎT President and CEO Aéro Montréal
"THE INDUSTRY'S STRENGTH LIES IN ITS TREMENDOUS ABILITY TO INNOVATE, AS SHOWN BY THE $600 MILLION ANNUAL R&D INVESTMENT RIGHT HERE. THE SMES HAVE THEIR ROLE TO PLAY IN THIS CONNECTION." – Suzanne M. Benoît
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The MACH Initiative Tackling the slimming of the supply chain Making Quebec SMEs world-class partners
A
dynamic global trend has all aerospace OEMs slimming down their weighty supply chains so that they have only a limited number of subcontractors to deal with. An example of this is Airbus, which chopped its suppliers for making the A380 from 3,000 to 500. Nowadays, manufacturers are required to make integrated systems and manage large numbers of subcontractors associated with those systems. As a result, suppliers often need to be more involved in the design stages and to share the technological risk, and even the financial risk. How can our SMEs succeed under these conditions?
"We don't have enough SMEs of the size needed for this new role," explains Philippe Hoste, president of the Aéro Montréal Supply Chain Development Working Group and CEO of Sonaca Montréal. "Our SMEs must absolutely position themselves differently by broadening their skills and areas of activity." The Working Group has taken on this big challenge. The MACH initiative is the result of joint discussions among members of the cluster. Its aim is to elevate Québec SMEs to the rank of world-class integrators and suppliers based on special collaborative relationships between suppliers and clients. Prominent industry players such as CAE, Bombardier Aerospace, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Héroux-Devtek, Mecachrome, L-3 Communications MAS, Mecaer and Sonaca Montréal, to name a few, are participating in the MACH program and providing mentorship for SMEs.
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AEROSPACE
This unifying project is multifaceted, Mr. Hoste explains. "First, there is the diagnostic component, which is supported by the MACH framework for excellence, a management tool developed by Aéro Montréal to help SMEs evaluate their results, identify performance gaps and determine which course of action they should take to improve their position along the supply chain. This framework focuses on three areas: excellence in leadership, excellence in operations and excellence in planning and developing workforce skills. This diagnostic tool measures almost 800 checkpoints and is used to evaluate SME maturity in light of 15 key business processes."
Formal engagement (Supplier and client)
MACH framework of excellence processes maturity evaluation (audit)
Execution of improvement projects and training program
Elaboration of a personalized training program linked to the approved improvement projects
12 to 14 Months cycle
Identification of performance gaps
MACH performance certification attribution or revision
Improvement plan and projects approval
Elaboration of personalized improvement plan linked with identified performance gaps
This supplier evaluation results in the award of a performance label having five levels ranging from MACH 1 to MACH 5. The scheme is uncompromising, for the lowest rating obtained for any one business process is the overall rating assigned to the company. The diagnosis is performed at arm's-length by an outside firm, Sous-Traitance Industrielle Québec (STIQ), to guarantee objectivity. The second component consists in helping the diagnosed SME put together a development plan and improve its performance by closing the gaps discovered. A special feature of this component involves pairing the SME with a mentor, in other words, a client firm that will share its expertise and best practices with the smaller firm, inform that firm of its own needs as a client and help it achieve its goals." The MACH program has a five-year allocation of $15 million, with SMEs and participating mentors contributing up to 40% of that budget. To date, the other contributors are the Québec Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade; the Labour Market Partner Commission; the Montréal Metropolitan Community; Economic Development Canada and Aluminerie Alouette, which is helping boost the visibility of participating SMEs. Foreseeably, 70 SMEs will join in this initiative, the aim being to enable most of them to achieve world-class status. The first cohort of 20 SMEs is currently involved in the process, and selection of the next cohort will get under way shortly.
Source : Aéro Montréal
Green Aviation Research & Development Network
Blue-sky thinking for a green aerospace future Canada’s first green aviation initiative 22
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www.gardn.org
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"WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SMES OF THE SIZE NEEDED FOR THIS NEW ROLE. OUR SMES MUST ABSOLUTELY POSITION THEMSELVES DIFFERENTLY BY BROADENING THEIR SKILLS AND AREAS OF ACTIVITY." – Philippe Hoste PHILIPPE HOSTE CEO of Sonaca Montréal
Philippe Hoste feels confident: "The SMEs are facing global competition. The OEMs are all choosing the best ones, no matter what part of the world they are in. Whereas SMEs were once left on their own to gain visibility and canvas for clients, the MACH initiative gives them a single path to the OEMs. Our mentorship model is unequalled in Québec and all of Canada." A good case in point: Sonaca Montréal is a company that took off owing to its relationship with a large firm, Bombardier Aerospace. Twenty years ago, it was a small enterprise named NMF with 10 employees which had developed a high performance process for forming very thin wing panels. Acquired in 2003 by the Belgian group Sonaca, it now has a workforce of almost 300 and is claiming attention in the regional and business jet market through its ability to make large aluminum aircraft wing panels. It is also a systems integrator that delivers finished parts from its clients' technical drawings.
Aéro Montréal, Québec’s aerospace cluster Aéro Montréal was established in 2006 as a think tank grouping all of Québec's aerospace leaders from industry, educational institutions and research centres, as well as related associations and unions. Its mission is to optimize the competitiveness, growth and expansion of Québec's aerospace cluster so that it remains a source of wealth creation for the Montréal region, Québec and Canada.
QUÉBEC AEROSPACE FACTS AND FIGURES > Montréal, one of three world capitals of aerospace, along with Toulouse and Seattle > Some 235 firms > Nearly 40,000 workers > 70% of Canadian R&D spending > Sales totalling $10.9 billion
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AEROSPACE
ABIPA CANADA INC., MENTORED BY SONACA MONTRÉAL "One of our common traits as SMEs is frequently a very short-sighted strategic vision," states Rui Cabral, CEO of Abipa Canada, one of the first 20 SMEs to join in the MACH initiative. Following its diagnosis in October 2011, Abipa got down to preparing a development plan with support from a mentor, Sonaca Montréal.
RUI CABRAL CEO Abipa Canada Inc.
When it started out in 1982, this Laval-based SME manufactured tools for various industrial sectors. Over the years, it gradually focused solely on tooling and welding components for the aerospace industry thanks to orders from Pratt & Whitney Canada, then Bombardier Aerospace, Safran and Rolls-Royce. Today, Abipa employs 100 people and its productivity gain holds out hope for 15% annual growth. Concerned about the strong competition from low production costs in emerging countries, it hopes that MACH will move it into the world market.
"ONE OF OUR COMMON TRAITS AS SMES IS FREQUENTLY A VERY SHORT-SIGHTED STRATEGIC VISION." – Rui Cabral
"Thanks to this project, we are able to compare our strong points and performance gaps with the expectations of OEMs, and we know their vision over a 10 year horizon", Mr. Cabral states. "Being so close to the strategies of Bombardier Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney Canada and other OEMs makes us push our own strategy further. It also makes us ask some questions: do we have the critical mass to provide the service an OEM needs? Should we aim to have it as a direct client or should we be its supplier?"
PHOTO : ABIPA CANADA
In Rui Cabral's opinion, the other advantage of the program is its harmonizing effect. "Operationally, this means continuity because we were already looking to improve our performances through the programs of excellence of Bombardier Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney Canada. But it was difficult juggling different supplier audit programs all at the same time."
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Mr. Cabral hopes for more initiatives of this kind. "Coaching and mentoring by the large firms and their concern for making their needs transparent are fundamental. We also have to promote long-term collaboration among SMEs."
PHOTO : ABIPA CANADA
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A CHAIN IS NO STRONGER THAN ITS SMALLEST LINK One mentoring firm is itself an 80-employee SME. Mecaer America Inc., the Laval-based division of Italy's Mecaer Aviation Group, produces landing gear for business aircraft and helicopters. The firm posts annual sales approaching $18 million, and most of its client base is outside Québec, in Ontario, Italy and Philadelphia.
mentarity, join forces to develop our relationships with prospective clients and submit joint bids to them. Thanks to initiatives such as MACH, there is already more discussion, and SME commitment is becoming more apparent."
Anne-Marie Bertrand, Mecaer America's Vice president, Supply Chain sits on an Aéro Montréal working group. She emphasizes the situation of SMEs specializing in surface treatment at the end of the chain. "These suppliers are usually very small neglected companies and sometimes just workshops. It's hard for them to predict orders and plan, which puts Aéro Montréal's big projects out of their reach. To paraphrase, a chain is never stronger than its smallest link..."
Ms. Bertrand is convinced that most Québec firms in the industry can achieve international stature. "Of course, it's inconceivable that OEMs in Canada forego outside suppliers, and that includes Mecaer. But our SMEs can bank on their own strong innovative niches. We have to protect our essential skills and make sure we remain competitive."
Mecaer America has offered to mentor Lego Finishing Center Inc., its surface treatment supplier, in order to provide support and visibility. "Lego has already completed the audit and diagnostic report phases, and we're working on its improvement plan. In becoming stronger, it wards off the risk of weakening the entire chain," points out Ms. Bertrand, who wants such collaboration to have a stronger impact. "We have to bank more on comple-
ANNE-MARIE BERTRAND Vice president, Supply Chain Mecaer America Inc.
"THESE SUPPLIERS ARE USUALLY VERY SMALL NEGLECTED COMPANIES AND SOMETIMES JUST WORKSHOPS. IT'S HARD FOR THEM TO PREDICT ORDERS AND PLAN, WHICH PUTS AÉRO MONTRÉAL'S BIG PROJECTS OUT OF THEIR REACH. TO PARAPHRASE, A CHAIN IS NEVER STRONGER THAN ITS SMALLEST LINK..." – Anne-Marie Bertrand
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SA2GE project Opening the way for tomorrow's aircraft IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE NUMBERS OF FLIGHTS WORLDWIDE WILL SOAR FROM 26 MILLION TO MORE THAN 50 MILLION BY 2030. THIS IS RAISING ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS IN THE GLOBAL AEROSPACE COMMUNITY.
PATRICK CHAMPAGNE Vice president, Cockpits and Systems Integration Esterline CMC Electronics
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his applies to the Québec industry as well. Six of its brightest stars – Bombardier Aerospace, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada, Esterline CMC Electronics, Héroux-Devtek, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Thales Canada – have established the Regroupement pour le développement de l'avion plus écologique, an association for the development of more environment-friendly aircraft to open the way for the aircraft of tomorrow, a "greener" aircraft. This recently gave rise to the SA2GE initiative (Systèmes Aéronautiques d'avant-Garde pour l'Environnement), which is developing five sub projects steered by its members: fuselage, less polluting engines, integrated avionics for cockpit applications, critical systems and landing gear of the future.
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"WE ARE AIMING FOR AIRCRAFT THAT PERFORM BETTER, With a four-year budget of $150 million, breaking down as $80 million from the industry and $70 million from the provincial government, SA2GE is one of the initiatives described as "mobilizing" in Québec's 2010-2013 Research and Innovation Strategy. Its industrial partners join with Québec firms and research centres to pilot their R&D activities. In the six SA2GE firms alone, the initiative should provide for creating or maintaining 120 jobs. SA2GE seeks not only to design a new type aircraft, but also to improve the component parts. "We are aiming for aircraft that perform better, burn less fuel and are generally greener," explains Patrick Champagne, vice president, Cockpits and Systems Integration at Esterline CMC Electronics, and responsible for the integrated avionics component of SA2GE's cockpit applications. "For us, this means using the most innovative technologies, but also activating networks of firms pooling together to
BURN LESS FUEL AND ARE GENERALLY GREENER." – Patrick Champagne
develop and apply skills." This will improve aircraft navigation performance, even in poor weather. It will also allow for more precise prediction of the time of landing, while reducing the distance between planes. Airport congestion worsens with an increase in air traffic and delayed take-offs and landings owing to weather conditions. While banked up waiting for a free runway, aircraft must keep running and needlessly burn fuel. One solution is to group computing, display, control and signal processing systems in a single unit in front of the pilot. "This will improve decision making because pilots will find it faster and easier to retrieve the data they need."
BECAUSE YOU SEE BLUE, WE THINK GREEN With every new engine we develop, we’re reducing noise, emissions and fuel consumption. Today, we’re building engines that better many International Civil Aviation Organization standards by up to 50%. Because our world’s future depends on greener technology. And for that the world can depend on us.
WWW.PWC.CA
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AEROSPACE
Ten candles and lots of projects for CRIAQ
C
CLÉMENT FORTIN President and CEO CRIAQ
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onsortium de recherche et d’innovation en aérospatiale au Québec (CRIAQ) is ten years old this year. Its big successes include marrying research culture and industrial culture. For its president and CEO, Clément Fortin, the unique partnership model proposed by the Consortium – the collaboration of two firms and two universities or research centres on the same project – has promoted trust among partners. "We always steer clear of situations that create competition between the partners.
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The generic intellectual property agreement that we developed for precompetitive projects greatly favours this type of collaboration." This model of open collaboration is arousing widespread envy. "We have signed many international cooperation agreements, including quite a few in Asia, and a recent biofuel manufacturing agreement with an Indian oil company, which is investing $4 million. We plan to spread our model all across Canada," Mr. Fortin announces. The research projects carried out under CRIAQ are precompetitive. The president and CEO is moving toward the design of demonstrators by building more gateways between the research and product development stages. "A CRIAQ+, as it were."
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M O D E L I N G . S I M U L A T I O N . T R A I N I N G .
CRIAQ is seeking to attract more SMEs to the forum it will be holding this May. "Our biennial forum is an exceptional opportunity for companies to present their projects and find partners to carry them out. Many SMEs would benefit from this 'partner speed-dating'!" CRIAQ has 36 SMEs among its members. "Some of them come in the sole hope of becoming more visible to OEMs. I don't see that as the best way to seize business opportunities," Mr. Fortin regrets to say. "We can help SMEs take full part in the collaborative strategy, whether at the forum or at search committee meetings of managers out searching for their universities and research centres." Among other CRIAQ projects that could give strong impetus to SMEs, we might mention the projects with the Green Aviation Research and Development Network (GARDN), a federal initiative for industrial research funding.
"OUR BIENNIAL FORUM IS AN EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPANIES TO PRESENT THEIR PROJECTS AND FIND PARTNERS TO CARRY THEM OUT. MANY SMES WOULD BENEFIT FROM THIS 'PARTNER SPEED-DATING'!"
CAE is a global leader in modeling, simulation and training for civil aviation and defence.
– Clément Fortin
s MORE THAN EMPLOYEES IN -ONTREAL s MORE THAN EMPLOYEES AROUND THE WORLD s CUSTOMERS IN MORE THAN COUNTRIES s TRAINING LOCATIONS IN MORE THAN COUNTRIES s MORE THAN CREWMEMBERS TRAINED ANNUALLY cae.com
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PHOTO : ÉNA
Talent for the asking
SERGE BRASSET Executive director of Collège Édouard-Montpetit and director of École nationale d’aérotechnique
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THE AVAILABILITY OF SKILLED LABOUR IS AMONG THE PRIME ASSETS OF QUÉBEC'S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY. WELL ESTABLISHED DIALOGUE BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES AND BUSINESS GUARANTEES BALANCE BETWEEN COMPANY NEEDS AND THE NUMBER OF TRAINED ENGINEERS. "UNIVERSITY-LEVEL AEROSPACE ENGINEERING PROGRAMS OR COURSES ARE DEVELOPED WITH INDUSTRY NEEDS IN MIND, AND THE PRESENCE OF AEROSPACE INSTITUTES IN MONTRÉAL'S FOUR ENGINEERING FACULTIES OR SCHOOLS SERVES AS A CATALYST," SUZANNE M. BENOÎT, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF AÉRO MONTRÉAL STATES.
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Patrick Champagne of Esterline CMC Electronics is most pleased. "Today's young graduates are more open to the world and more savvy about working in teams. They have had more complete programs that are better pegged to the industry, and they have interned in the field." The multiculturalism in today's schools provides an opportunity, he feels. " […] graduates become accustomed to cultural diversity earlier on. Such collaborators are an asset for firms such as ours that make 85% of their sales outside the country." Still, industry representatives all agree that skilled technicians are in short supply. ÉNA, the National Institute of Aeronautics, which offers specialized courses in aircraft construction, aircraft maintenance and avionics, admits 900 full-time students, whereas it has space for 1,300. The careers of ÉNA graduates get off to a good start, with salaries ranging between $17.33 and $30 an hour and a placement rate of 100% for aircraft construction jobs. "Many of our graduates go on to university," says Serge Brasset, executive director of Collège ÉdouardMontpetit and director of ÉNA.
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ENA also offers continuing education. "For one, we develop short customized training courses that are highly worthwhile for SMEs in urgent need of expertise," explains André Marcil, director of ENA business partnerships and of the Centre de services aux entreprises et de formation continue
"WE DEVELOP SHORT CUSTOMIZED TRAINING COURSES THAT ARE HIGHLY
Montréal's aerospace trade school (École des métiers de l'aérospatiale de Montréal - ÉMAM) offers a nine-month program that adjusts student admissions to industry needs and is the only program of its kind in Québec. According to a recent CAMAQ study on aerospace industry needs, the Québec industry foresees the need to hire 3,600 workers in 2012, including 500 technicians. "Those needs should peak in 2016. There will be a mad dash to hire engineers, specialists and trades people!" Suzanne M. Benoît asserts.
WORTHWHILE FOR SMES IN URGENT NEED OF EXPERTISE." – André Marcil
ANDRÉ MARCIL Director of ENA business partnerships and of the Centre de services aux entreprises et de formation continue
INGENUITY IS MAKING IDEAS FLY. Ingenuity is what happens when imagination meets possibility. Our tradition of looking ahead is what makes Bombardier a world leader when it comes to strategic thinking, technical expertise and ingenious solutions for the world’s aerospace challenges. It’s all about our dedication and resilience. IT’S HOW WE THINK.
aero.bombardier.com
The CSeries aircraft program is currently in the development phase and as such is subject to changes in family strategy, branding, capacity, performance, design and/or systems. All specifications and data are approximate, may change without notice and are subject to certain operating rules, assumptions and other conditions. The actual aircraft and configuration may differ from the image shown. Bombardier and CSeries are registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
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AEROSPACE
Blue skies for Québec's aerospace industry
GILLES LABBÉ Chairman of Aéro Montréal and President and CEO of Héroux-Devtek
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GILLES LABBÉ, CHAIRMAN OF AÉRO MONTRÉAL AND PRESIDENT AND CEO OF HÉROUX-DEVTEK, A CANADIAN LEADER IN THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF AIRCRAFT LANDING GEAR, IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE. INDEED, INDUSTRY TRENDS INDICATE PROMISING GROWTH PROSPECTS FOR THE INTEGRATOR AND ITS PARTNERS.
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HELPING LOCAL SMES TAKE OFF As Gilles Labbé sees it, the vitality of Québec's aerospace industry is directly contingent on the creation of synergies between prime contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the network of SMEs. This is why Héroux-Devtek is fully engaged in developing its supply chain in Québec, for one by participating along with many other aerospace firms in the MACH program, an Aéro Montréal initiative. "Being competitive these days is no longer simply a matter of offering the best possible costs. It also means offering a full-service package together with the product, everything from design to after-sales service. This is true for integrators such as us and it's true for SMEs," Mr. Labbé emphasizes.
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He gives the example of Héroux-Devtek's substantially bigger role vis-à-vis its clients. "It is no longer strictly a client-supplier relationship; it is a partnership. We work closely with our clients to develop their new aircraft models. This also entails sharing the financial risks. This business logic also applies to the SMEs. With all of us pursuing the same goals, we will all be stronger." A POSITIVE HEALTH REPORT "The good health of the world commercial aviation sector is reflected in the order books of our clients, Gilles Labbé points out. Boeing, which announced orders totalling $356 billion in late 2001 and 9% growth in its civil aviation sales, is banking on close to 600 civilian aircraft deliveries this year. Airbus, for its part, had a record year for orders in 2011 and estimates that orders will increase to 650 or so in 2012. Business aviation, which slumped in 2008-2011, seems to be making a comeback, thanks especially to Asian orders. For example, Bombardier has firm orders for its CRJ-900 from China Express Airlines. A Honeywell study shows that purchase intentions in Asia for 2012-2015 have increased by five points since 2011, more than for the other world regions.
INNOVATION AT THE HEART OF DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Innovation is the other key factor in growth. Canada's aerospace industry invests no less than $1.4 billion a year in R&D. "Rising oil prices argue in favour of aircraft that consume less fuel. All aircraft makers are turning their attention to building such planes these days. Our R&D projects are in line with this trend as we focus especially on developing technologies for making lighter, quieter landing gear." Mr. Labbé's company has named the development of exclusive value added products based on design engineering as its primary strategic objective, and it is investing 5% of its sales revenue in research and development. Its R&D team, which now comprises a hundred engineers and researchers – ten times more than ten years ago – recently obtained a development centre for simulating aircraft landings, a new facility equal to the task. This centre, which is located in Saint-Hubert, represents an investment upwards of $5 million. The R&D team must also meet the demand for systems that are easier and faster to service and is tackling the development of new processes for making more environment-friendly corrosion resistant coatings.
"BEING COMPETITIVE THESE DAYS IS NO LONGER SIMPLY A MATTER OF OFFERING THE BEST POSSIBLE COSTS. IT ALSO
However, there is some disappointment over the military aviation sector, in which Héroux-Devtek chalks up 50% of its sales, with the announcement of cutbacks in the U.S. defence budget. "This is sure to affect military aviation programs, but the U.S. government remains committed to a certain number of aircraft under those programs," Gilles Labbé explains. For example, orders for 2,400 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets are expected, including 600 outside the United States. Each order represents income of $750,000 for Héroux-Devtek, which supplies the aerostructures. "This sector will not grow as fast as we hoped, but there will nevertheless be some growth," Mr. Labbé comments.
MEANS OFFERING A FULL-SERVICE PACKAGE TOGETHER WITH THE PRODUCT, EVERYTHING FROM DESIGN TO AFTER-SALES SERVICE. THIS IS TRUE FOR INTEGRATORS SUCH AS US AND IT'S TRUE FOR SMES."
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–Gilles Labbé
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AEROSPACE
GOING ABROAD Héroux-Devtek recently set up in Querétaro, Mexico, to support the development of its clients, Bombardier and Bell Helicopter in particular. Does this move beyond our borders threaten its Québec workforce? According to Mr. Labbé, Héroux-Devtek's projects provide enough work for its Canadian teams, which are suffering no ill effects from the transfer of certain operations to Mexico. "We are bound by the requirement to stay competitive, while at the same time working to retain know how and skilled labour here at home. This is a delicate balance to achieve, but I think we can do it," the president and CEO says. Héroux-Devtek's Mexican facility currently has about 20 employees. This year, it will produce its first airframe and wing components. With the projected growth in business activity between now and 2014, it should see that personnel grow five-fold and its production space expand from 50,000 to 150,000 square feet.
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A LESSON IN OPTIMISM Gilles Labbé sees perseverance as the secret of success in the sensitive aerospace market. "A good manager in our sector has to think very long term. In beginning a business relationship, we must realize that it may take a long time to win a contract!" He mentions by way of example that it took Héroux-Devtek no less than ten years to win its first contract with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics back in 1997. Today, the two companies have a seven-year $70 million agreement for manufacturing landing gear for the C-130J Super Hercules. "As I'm in the habit of saying, success in our sector requires believing that today's no is tomorrow's yes," Gilles Labbé concludes.
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Life Sciences
Breathing new life into life sciences and health technologies Feature Report by Danielle Ouellet
Personalized medicine is drawing substantial public and private investment, science is partnering with economics, the pharmas are restructuring their research and billions are being poured into the construction of new health facilities. While all this is happening, efforts are intensifying to attract life science and health technology firms to Montreal and keep them here. The future looks bright.
ILLUSTRATION : ISTOCKPHOTO BY ARTCALIN
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LIFE SCIENCES
Linking science and economics In
ILLUSTRATION : ISTOCKPHOTO BY VLADIMIR
MARC LEPAGE President and CEO Génome Québec
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2011, the Québec government announced investments of $20 million in personalized medicine, an approach to health care that ties into our personal identity and is proving to be a promising niche for both Montréal and Québec. The private sector, for its part, was to put in an equivalent amount. Québec's chief scientist, Rémi Quirion, says that he has received a half dozen project proposals: development and consolidation of a high performance biomarker validation platform; product development programs, e.g. for diagnostic kits; digital tool production and a strategy for integrating and evaluating those
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technological tools within Québec's health system. Approved projects will be announced in the spring, and their spinoffs will be a strong stimulus for economic activity in this sector. Added to this effort is Génome Canada's large-scale genomics and personalized health competition held in cooperation with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium (CSCC). The organization will allocate close to $67.5 million to promote more effective treatments and thereby stimulate Canadian competitiveness in the field of personalized medicine. And there's something new: the project proposals must have an economic component. "This is a first," comments Marc LePage, the new president and CEO of Génome Québec. "Candidates will have to foresee the practical social and economic return benefits of their
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work and suggest implementation strategies. This component accounts for much of the project evaluation. This is unprecedented! We are confident that Québec researchers will do well in this competition, for we already have big players in such diverse fields as oncology, cardiovascular disease, neurology, diabetes and infectious diseases." Michelle Savoie, chief executive officer of Montréal InVivo, Greater Montréal's life science and health technology cluster, is thrilled with this approach. "We are working closely with Génome Québec, Génome Canada and the CIHR to stimulate development of this sector in Québec. We are creating a critical mass in personalized medicine that will showcase our expertise internationally in order to attract investors. The establishment of the Québec Network for Personalized Health Care, a new non profit organization tasked with implementing the strategy developed for this sector will probably be announced in June 2012," she goes on to say.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY Large numbers of pharmaceutical jobs have been cut in recent months. "The situation hits research the hardest and may cause concern," Michelle Savoie acknowledges. However, it ties in with transformation of the pharmas' business model around the world in the past few years. The firms often stay in Montréal but stop developing new molecules in house. They team up instead with biotechs, such as Caprion for proteomics or Corealis, which specializes in the development of pharmaceuticals (capsules, tablets and granules) or with university research laboratories, such as the Université de Montréal's Institute for Research, in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), the Montréal Heart Institute, the Centre d’innovation de Génome Québec, McGill University, and so on. This is generating a great many business opportunities.
" WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT QUÉBEC RESEARCHERS WILL DO WELL IN THIS COMPETITION, FOR WE ALREADY HAVE BIG PLAYERS IN SUCH DIVERSE FIELDS AS ONCOLOGY, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, NEUROLOGY, DIABETES AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES." – Marc LePage
A CHIEF SCIENTIST FOR QUÉBEC Québec appointed a chief scientist on September 1, 2011. Until then, life science researcher Rémi Quirion was scientific director at the Douglas Institute, where his laboratory studied aging and Alzheimer's disease. His current role is to advise the government on science matters in a world where interdisciplinarity is becoming the norm. "It's important to reduce the silo effect between disciplines," he explains. "For one thing, access to health care is increasingly helped along by input from other professionals, including engineers and ethicists." The chief scientist chairs the boards of Québec's three major funding agencies: the Fonds québécois de recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC), the Fonds québécois de recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT) and the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), "an ideal position for forging ties." Rémi Quirion is just now completing an extensive consultative tour of Québec's 18 research centres. He is very pleased to see the enthusiasm of researchers from all areas and sets himself two big objectives for the five years ahead. "I want to consolidate and enhance the financing of Québec's main research funding agencies, and I want to set four or five wide-ranging crosssectoral projects in motion." He is curently contemplating the sectors of mining, population aging, culture, imaging and multimedia, and training an advanced new generation. RÉMI QUIRION
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PHOTO : ÉLITES BY DENIS BERNIER
LIFE SCIENCES
MICHELLE SAVOIE CEO Montréal InVivo
"A new era is dawning," Ms. Savoie continues. "We need to get in position. In this connection, we will be sure to provide strong support for our companies and university research centres. They must have access to funding at different links in the drug development chain. Big business needs support, especially regarding intellectual property, an area in which Canada is lagging behind other global competitors. This calls for the Québec government to play its role with its federal counterparts in order to modernize our approach, especially where patents are concerned." MCGILL UNIVERSITY AND GÉNOME QUÉBEC INNOVATION CENTRE
Montréal InVivo management also intends to target, develop and promote Québec's sectors of excellence to make the pipeline of discovery of new drugs and processes even more productive. But what about the growing number of high performance biotechs bought up by foreign interests? "There are consequences on two levels," states Ms. Savoie, who takes an optimistic view of the situation. First of all, the buyouts create a return of capital that could be highly attractive for local investors. By way of example, Enobia Pharma, which produces a
therapy for the rare and often fatal disease of hypophosphatasia (HPP), was bought for close to one billion dollars by the American firm Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Montréal investors such as the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Desjardins Venture Capital will no doubt benefit from this. "There is another positive impact, for Montréal know how remains here in some cases," Michelle Savoie adds. This happened when the American firm Vertex bought Laval-based ViroChem Pharma, a spinoff of Biochem Pharma, originator of the triple cocktail for treating AIDS. Vertex kept the Laval laboratory and filled out the personnel there. Similarly, Elekta bought out Resonant Medical, which specialized in magnetic resonance imaging, and has made the Montréal laboratory a world-class centre for excellence.
Montréal InVivo > Groups 620 organizations, including some 150 research organizations, and 80 foreign subsidiaries > Comprises 43,000 skilled workers > Draws on 11 institutes of higher education
PHOTO : GÉNOME QUÉBEC
Source : Montréal InVivo
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BOOSTING MONTRÉAL'S POWER OF ATTRACTION The Québec government is currently spending some $5.5 billion to modernize Montréal's health institutions. The new Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) and its research centre are receiving the lion's share, $2.5 billion to be exact (see p. 41). They form the basic core of the Health District, which will include the Norman-Bethune Campus, specializing in population health, and already accommodates UQAM, the Université du Québec à Montréal. UQAM has more than a hundred professors and some 20 research units interested in health and life sciences, and 50 or so health-related undergraduate and graduate programs.
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The CHU Sainte-Justine has received nearly one billion dollars (see p. 40) for modernization and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) close to two billion dollars to build the Glen Campus, which will group the bulk of McGill's health care and research facilities. As of 2014, it will host the Montréal Children's Hospital, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montréal Chest Institute, MUHC Cancer Centre and MUHC Research Institute with its 500 researchers. The MUHC's Lachine Campus with its hospital and the Mountain Campus, centred around the Montréal General Hospital, round out the McGill reorganization project. All of these new facilities are intended to improve health care, with the associated service and research activities becoming powerful incentives for attracting companies to the metropolitan area. The administrations of these three hospitals are committed to putting Montréal and Québec in the lead worldwide. Complementarity is essential in this connection to avoid duplication of efforts. "The Centre d'innovation Génome
Québec and McGill University are excellent models of collaboration," Marc LePage points out. "Genomic research facilities have been concentrated in one single place, thus reducing procurement and utilization costs, while boosting Québec productivity. There are close to 70 employees and 800 Canadian users (60%) and foreign users (40%), American for the most part. These facilities post overall sales of $10 million a year. The activities of all concerned are enhanced." These efforts are vital, the Montréal InVivo CEO believes. "Practically all regions in the world have targeted the knowledge sectors, particularly the life sciences, as drivers of economic development. The challenge for Montréal is to take up a strong position of world leadership in our sectors of excellence by establishing sound directions, optimal strategies and the most effective policies for attracting and retaining investors and for stimulating the development of high performance Québec firms."
At Pfizer, we believe to be truly healthy, it takes more than medication. Introducing morethanmedication.ca – a website devoted to the everyday pursuit of health and wellness.
morethanmedication.ca
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LIFE SCIENCES
CHU Sainte-Justine Investing in the health of tomorrow's adults
PHOTO : CHU SAINTE-JUSTINE
In
PHOTO : ISTOCKPHOTO BY DNY59
DR. FABRICE BRUNET Executive director CHU Sainte-Justine
2010, the Québec government announced a $995 million investment to modernize the facilities of the Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine, the children's hospital then described by Premier Jean Charest as "the jewel of pediatric medecine."
The old building will be renovated and will house the outpatient department, laboratories and teaching facilities. The new building, which will be started in March, will house neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, the birthing centre, the surgery department and the medical imaging department. The research centre will occupy 27,000 square metres, and the number of researchers that can be accommodated will increase from 165 to 265.
For Sainte-Justine executive director Dr. Fabrice Brunet, this project is primarily an investment in Québec population health. "Over and above the buildings, the most important economic spinoff will come through future generations. We want today's children to become healthy adults and so to particpate more effectively in economic development. Brain power and human health go hand in hand."
"The modernized facilities will be a place for technological innovation as well," Dr. Brunet points out. "For instance, the neonatology unit will have 80 beds instead of the 65 it now has. We will be able to take in and treat premature infants using the world's best technologies. As for cancerology and cardiology, we will gain a better understanding of the effects of treatment and will be able to alleviate therapeutic side effects. Our objective in all cases will be to reduce late effects and improve the health of tomorrow's adults." The return benefits are already being seen in the arrival of world-class specialists drawn by our new technological environment. "There will be others," Dr. Brunet predicts. "The investments will also give us a greater hand in developing Québec's network of health care and social services. Telemedecine, for one, will give more children access to specialized and super-specialized care." The know how of Sainte-Justine's specialists is already recognized the world over. Their services are in demand for information technologies, biomedical technologies, etc. The hospital has ties with 22 countries, including Morocco for heart surgery, Haiti for construction of a regional university hospital, and also China, India, Europe and South America. "In the final analysis, these partnerships lighten the Québec tax burden," Dr. Brunet states. "Bear in mind," he concludes, "that a healthy population is the best assurance of a healthy economy. This is the real objective of today's investments."
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ILLUSTRATION : CANNON-DESIGN - DCYSA ARCHITECTURE+DESIGN
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The new CHUM An economic gateway for Montréal Feature Report by Danielle Ouellet
A
CHRISTIAN PAIRE Executive director Centre hospitalier universitaire de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM)
fter years of planning, construction of the new Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) is well under way. Before the scheduled opening of the hospital in 2016, the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Centre intégré d'enseignement et de formation (CIEF, integrated teaching and training centre) will open in the same building in 2013. Lastly, the surrounding buildings, amphitheatre, library and clinical and administrative offices will open in 2019. This hub of
excellence in health care, research and education is already generating economic spinoffs for Montréal. It also promises more international economic activity of benefit to Greater Montréal and all Québec. The immensely enthusiastic principals of this huge project are being challenged to carry out an elaborate strategic plan and to broaden and harmonize the culture of collaboration, consolidate areas of complementarity within the health network, create more partnerships with business and in the community, integrate the new CHUM into Montréal's emerging Health District and construct sophisticated buildings.
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LIFE SCIENCES
THE CHUM'S NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Christian Paire has had a love for Québec since childhood and gladly accepted the offer to head the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal and construction of its new facilities. Having been recruited in Rouen, where he ran one of France's largest hospital centres for eight years, he settled in Montréal in December 2009. "I was to participate in a wonderful project. A $2.5 million investment including a research centre, a new-look urban design/ architectural project and integration of that project into the Health District – all of this made for an exceptional, unprecedented project. I was determined to begin on solid footing." Upon his arrival, Mr. Paire persuaded the Québec government to increase its investment. "I'm responsible for reality checks. I realized the importance of keeping up the momentum. The CHUM Research
PAULINE MAISANI Strategic planning director Centre hospitalier universitaire de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM)
Five key areas of excellence at the CHUM > Cardiovascular and metabolic disorders > Neuroscience > Transplantation > Oncology > Functional musculoskeletal disorders THE FOUR FIELDS OF ADVANCED CROSS-SECTORAL EXPERTISE SUPPORTING THESE CLINICAL AREAS OF EXCELLENCE > Imaging > Leading-edge technologies > Biomarkers and genetics > Immunology and infectious diseases
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Centre has some 165 research teams. Public authorities had the necessary political will and quickly agreed to provide the missing $400 million for research so that the project would reflect researchers' aspirations and the needs of the public. I see it every day, the hope of researchers to move onto the cutting edge of excellence. Research is inseparable from a university hospital." THE WAY TO THE NEW CHUM Christian Paire also saw the urgency of developing a strategic plan "that would point the way to a successful project." Pauline Maisani, who had worked on the merger of Paris hospitals, headed that plan. "I was struck by the differences in culture and practices at the three hospitals – Hôtel-Dieu, Notre-Dame and Saint-Luc – that will make up the new CHUM," she confides. "The architectural model of the new hospital was beautiful, but we needed broad, cohesive consultation about how we would organize our activities. We had to share our vision of the future and direct our efforts toward the same goal." The consultations revealed some very different needs. "We had to justify our two primary interests: linking clinical practice and research and putting more emphasis on ultra-specialized care in the future CHUM," Ms. Maisani recalls. "This is our true mission as a university hospital. If we are to accomplish it, we must fortify our partnerships within the health network." Building bridges between clinicians and researchers was a challenge. "The first want very much to do research, and some of them already do; but they're stretched too thin. The others are often very focused on their work. We had to think about remuneration, time management and medical recruitment strategies." As for the type of care provided: "As a university hospital, we have the means to do more for patients in need of ultra-specialized care calling for a leading-edge technical platform found nowhere else. This is the category of patients for whom we especially want to focus our efforts and resources." Ultimately, Hôtel-Dieu hospital will be closed and Hôpital Saint-Luc razed and replaced by the new hospital. Hôpital Notre-Dame will become a community hospital. "We have entered into partnership with the Jeanne-Mance health and social services centre (CSSS) for support to change Notre-Dame into an urban community hospital," Mr. Paire explains.
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The success of the 2011-2015 strategic plan is guaranteed by interdisciplinary cooperation, recruitment consistent with the university vocation, an innovative method of remunerating medical staff involved in teaching and research, joint action and partnerships, as well as revision of health funding methods. The plan, which coincides with the 15 years of the CHUM, expresses "a shared will to rank the CHUM, and through it Montréal and Québec, among the world's leading health institutions." AN ENVIRONMENT OF HUMAN SCALE The 772 beds in the new CHUM, all in individual rooms, will be ready for the first patients in 2016, three years earlier than originally planned. Patients will have access to high-tech medicine in an environment of human scale. "The artistic aspect is essential," asserts Christian Paire, who is convinced of the positive connection between culture and health. "Adding a cultural component changes how society sees its hospitals. Individuality and humanity
come into play. To take an example, I've known dancers on AIDS wards who have altered the attitude of both staff and patients for the better." Patients will not only have access to the 500-seat amphitheatre and the library; they will also receive treatment in a light-filled environment and can rest in friendly open areas while enjoying splendid views of the city. IN THE HEART OF THE HEALTH DISTRICT The proximity between the new CHUM and the Montréal Convention Centre – 45% of the events taking place there involve life sciences – will generate synergy, made stronger by the 15,000-m2 Pavillon des bio industries to be built between the two complexes. "We're already wooing the biotechnology community, as well as firms that might benefit from the proximity of a healthcare and research complex ten minutes from the business district, the international district and the tourist sites of Old Montréal," Christian Paire tells us.
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LIFE SCIENCES
"FOR NOW, THE CHUM IS THE SECOND LARGEST EMPLOYER IN THE REGION, AND WE ARE CREATING WEALTH IN MANY WAYS – PROVIDING WORK FOR THOUSANDS OF EMPLOYEES, HIRING SERVICE COMPANIES, BUYING MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND, ESPECIALLY, SEEING TO THE GOOD HEALTH OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD OTHERWISE NOT BE WORKING." – Christian Paire
The Université de Montréal School of Public Health is another important integrating element that will promote exchanges and joint projects for improving population health. Soon to be installed in the Îlot Voyageur complex north of the new CHUM and its research centre, it will be the first component of the Public Health Campus, which should ultimately host the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, the Montréal-Centre Public Health Department and the Université de Montréal Public Health Research Institute. THE CHUM, AN ECONOMIC DRIVER The CHUM's $700-million annual budget represents a third of the total investment of some two billion dollars for construction of the hospital centre alone, "which is equivalent to only three years of operation," Christian Paire emphasizes. The investment may seem enormous, but the horizon is 100 years and the economic spinoffs critical.
The new CHUM in facts and figures > An area of 336,800-m2, including the research and teaching centre > $2.5 billion invested, including the research and teaching centre > 772 individual rooms > 26 inpatient units > 39 operating rooms > 7,000 employees > 800 doctors > 5,000 students and interns > 1,350 researchers, investigators and clinicians > 400 volunteers
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"Once the Pavillon des bio-industries is in place, the economic impact on research and the firms housed there will become clearer," he continues. "For now, the CHUM is the second largest employer in the region, and we are creating wealth in many ways – providing work for thousands of employees, hiring service companies, buying medical equipment and, especially, seeing to the good health of people who would otherwise not be working." "In the long run, Montréal will rank in the health sector right up there with the large cities on the U.S. East Coast, Boston and Philadelphia for example, and even Paris," Mr. Paire concludes. "There is one condition, however: Québec must overhaul its hospital funding system and create performance incentives, which it will be doing very soon!" AN INTERNATIONAL ROLE Owing to scientific strides, the CHUM is already favourably positioned on the international scene. New avenues for treating breast cancer, the discovery of a common genetic cause for autism and epilepsy, and breakthroughs in the causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) are some examples. But there is more. Knowledge transfer and training are becoming avenues of choice for boosting the impact of research in Québec and around the world. "We want society to reap the benefit of the huge investments in the project," Mr. Paire states. Service delivery activities – telemedicine, information technologies, a training simulation centre – are being developed. Collaboration with other institutions in Québec, but also in India, China and the Middle East is taking shape. "Globalization has a big impact for us," Mr. Paire adds. "Clinical trials are being conducted more and more in emerging countries. To preserve our advance in this field, we need to bank on our values of ethics and transparency and keep up with pharmaceutical innovation. With the new CHUM, we will be ready and able to star on the world health stage."
PHOTO : ISTOCKPHOTO BY KRISTIAN SEKULIC
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The CHUM
Research Centre M
DR. JACQUES TURGEON Director CHUM Research Chair (CRCHUM)
oney is the crux of the matter, especially when it comes to research. Dr. Jacques Turgeon, director of the CHUM Research Centre, estimates that his facility now contributes "$60 million a year to economic activity in Greater Montréal in the form of researcher funding, research grants and contracts with pharmaceutical firms and government agencies." He intends to boost funding by several means. "First, by having all research teams in one place, not spread out at six Montréal locations as they are now.
That will allow more collaboration, thereby improving our edge in the major competitions of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. "With the arrival of world-class research scientists and equipped with the finest technologies, we will be able to attract more foreign capital from large institutions such as the Bill Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, for example, or through contracts with Montréalbased international divisions of pharmaceutical firms," Dr. Turgeon continues. "Our outside advisory committee, which meets every two years, gathers top experts in the field who help us obtain the best performance ratings."
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LIFE SCIENCES
"THERE IS GROWING COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS AND BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES AND BUSINESS, AND RESEARCH CENTRES ARE GETTING INVOLVED SOONER AND SOONER IN THE PRODUCTION OF NEW DRUGS – Dr. François Lespérance
PHOTO : PRODUCTION MULTIMÉDIA CHUM
OR NEW THERAPEUTIC TECHNOLOGIES."
DR. FRANCOIS LESPÉRANCE CHUM associate director general of medical and academic affairs and director of professional services
CHUM Research Centre facts and figures > Occupies 68,800-m2 > $470 million invested > 110 basic-research teams > 55 clinical and population health research teams > Over 800 researchers, students and post-doctoral fellows > Over 500 research coordinators, professionals, research technicians and office workers > 75 laboratories > 36 clinical examining rooms > 10 specialized platforms
Dr. François Lespérance, CHUM associate director general of medical and academic affairs and director of professional services, stresses the importance of conducting basic research close to a clinical environment. "There is growing collaboration between the public and private sectors and between universities and business, and research centres are getting involved sooner and sooner in the production of new drugs or new therapeutic technologies. This is a global trend: proximity creates trust and promotes knowledge. We must also get even better at selling our expertise, which is why we are considering new research development structures."
> 1 cyclotron > 1 specialized research pharmacy
Scientific expertise and priorities for the CHUM Research Centre > Cancer > Cardiometabolic risk > Infection, immunity and inflammation > Musculoskeletal diseases > Neuroscience > Population health: health risks, world health, healthcare and service systems
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The efforts to secure an international position for the CHUM Research Centre, which is aiming for $100 million a year, depend on collaboration. "We favour complementarity with other universities," Mr. Turgeon says. "This is the preferred approach for creating the Health District. Each of us will be the best in our particular field, and the Research Centre will be on an equal footing with such major centres as Singapore, New York, Toronto and Vancouver." In this vein, the CHUM Research Centre already stands out in three key areas: imaging, reinforced by delivery of a new cyclotron; clinical research, favoured by the presence of a research centre – phases 1 and 2; and the creation of a centre for data analysis and evaluative and epidemiological investigation. For that particular centre, "we recently recruited three top names who have received funding of several million dollars," Dr. Turgeon states. "Through these efforts, we will get a very helpful overall picture of the community – for family medicine, for instance."
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The CHUM
Foundation
A PATIENT, VIOLINIST ANNE ROBERT, AND HER SURGEON, ALAIN GAGNON, WHO IS ALSO A PIANIST, COMBINED THEIR MUSICAL TALENTS TO SET UP THE CONTINUUM PROJECT.
T
he CHUM Foundation, a special partner of the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, was established 14 years ago through merger of the foundations for the three hospitals comprising the CHUM: Hôpital Notre-Dame, Hôtel-Dieu and Hôpital Saint-Luc.
Donations come from the business community, the Foundation's fundraising activities, present and former patients, individuals and family foundations. In 20102011, the Foundation handed over more than $8 million to the CHUM, 45% for research, 45% for care and health promotion and 10% for training. A novel recent initiative is creating excitement. A patient, violinist Anne Robert, and her surgeon, Alain Gagnon, who is also a pianist, combined their musical talents to set up the Continuum project. "I'm completely taken with the beauty of this project," exclaims Ékram Antoine Rabbat, president and CEO of the CHUM Foundation.
"In addition to their concerts, there is an interactive website, a music CD and a book. They want to provide patients suffering from genetic mutations with ready information about a little-known type of breast cancer. Their first benefit concert has already brought the Foundation $80,000 for Continuum." "The CHUM Foundation is about to launch one of the biggest fundraising campaigns the Canadian health community has ever seen," Mr. Rabbat says. "True, our $300-million target is ambitious, but it's far from outlandish considering the community support and many pledges we've received."
ÉKRAM ANTOINE RABBAT President and CEO CHUM Foundation
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LIFE SCIENCES
Building big
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THE NEW CHUM IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL BUILDING PROJECTS, SURPASSED ONLY BY TWO OTHERS, ONE ENGLISH AND THE OTHER AUSTRALIAN. ADDED TO THE $2.089 BILLION PROJECTED FOR THE HOSPITAL CENTRE ITSELF ARE $470 MILLION FOR THE CHUM RESEARCH CENTRE, WHICH WILL ALSO HOUSE AN INTEGRATED TEACHING AND TRAINING CENTRE (CIEF). PROJECT DIRECTOR PAUL LANDRY IS HAPPY TO HAVE ARRIVED ON THE JOB "AT THE RIGHT TIME, DURING THE CALL FOR TENDER PROCESS," WHICH FINISHED IN LATE 2010. "I WAS ABLE TO SHARE IN THE CONSORTIUM'S DECISION (SEE BOX P. 50), EXAMINE THE BUDGET IN DETAIL AND MAKE SURE THE SCHEDULE WAS REALISTIC."
P
aul Landry has a long-standing interest in health administration against the backdrop of an aging population and in the enormous economic impact and changes that this means for the health field. He is currently directing a megaproject that will be completed in 2019 with construction of a 500-seat amphitheatre, a library and clinical and administrative offices on the site of the present Hôpital Saint-Luc. The nearest project delivery date is September 2013 when the 68,800-m2 research and teaching centre will be completed. "We've finished pouring the concrete for the 15-storey north tower, earmarked for research," reports Sylvain Villiard, who heads this part of the project. This stage has been completed for the six storey south tower, which will house the administrative offices. The first tunnel connecting the research and teaching centre to the Champ-de-Mars subway station has been built and will connect with the Montreal Transit Corporation subway system once the access has been built. The second tunnel, which leads to the hospital under Avenue Viger is almost completed. This multifaceted downtown construction project poses big challenges in terms of
PAUL LANDRY Project director New CHUM
"I WAS ABLE TO SHARE IN THE CONSORTIUM'S DECISION, EXAMINE THE BUDGET IN DETAIL AND MAKE SURE THE SCHEDULE WAS REALISTIC." – Paul Landry
controlling the impacts of noise, dust and vibration, as well as automobile, pedestrian and bicycle traffic. We and our partner will need to keep tight rein over these impacts in the vicinity of Hôpital Saint-Luc. Our priorities include quality construction and compliance with our performance specifications, schedule and budget, as well as the health and safety of our workers." In October 2013, 2,500 research scientists, master's and doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and technical and administrative personnel will be working daily in the research and teaching centre.
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LIFE SCIENCES
SYLVAIN VILLIARD Secretary general Associate Executive Director Institutional and legal Affairs Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
The 20-storey hospital covering 268,000-m2 and having 772 rooms will admit its first patients in 2016. Until then, the site will be teeming with activity. "In late 2012, some 300 workers will report every day to the building site of the research and teaching centre. There will be even more working on the hospital building site," Mr. Landry foresees. "In 2013, there will be 1,500 workers on site every day, creating conditions that generate economic activity, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars spent on materials that come mostly from the Greater Montréal area and elsewhere in Québec." With the solid experience he gained during construction of two hospital centres in Ontario, Paul Landry can count on his strong organization skills, so essential for making a success of this kind of project. "It takes planning, deciding on strategy together with the consortium and relying on high performance in house teams. Some 60 people are at work operationalizing our road map charted three years ago.
The CHUM’s partners For the research and teaching centre: the Accès Recherche Montréal consortium is the private partner in this project; the design work and construction are handled by Consortium Pomerleau-Verreault S.E.N.C.
PHOTOS : CHUM
For the hospital: Collectif Santé Montréal, a consortium of the firms Innisfree, OHL Canada, Laing O’Rourke and Dalkia, is responsible for hospital design, construction, funding and maintenance. This $1.97-billion agreement covers a period of 38.8 years, the early years for construction and the remaining 30 years for maintenance.
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"The team of clinical consultants is meeting with doctors and nurses and helping them work with the consortium's architects so that their needs for emergency, operating, radio oncology and imaging rooms – facilities covering all specialties of the hospital – are filled as well as possible. More support is provided by the expert engineering team, which checks plan designs and compliance with performance requirements.
"IT TAKES PLANNING, DECIDING ON STRATEGY TOGETHER WITH THE CONSORTIUM AND RELYING ON HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HOUSE TEAMS. SOME 60 PEOPLE ARE AT WORK OPERATIONALIZING
"The logistics team," Mr. Landry continues, "is responsible for planning all stages of delivery of provisions – food, medical supplies, tools, linens, medications, etc. – to ensure that everything arrives on time in the right place until the facilities open. A fourth team is responsible for procuring specialized medical equipment and information technologies.
OUR ROAD MAP CHARTED THREE YEARS AGO." – Paul Landry
"These people are all working closely with the group of project managers, engineers, architects and other experts from the firms of SNC-Lavalin and Genivar, which are helping us work with our partners to advance the various stages of design and construction." The new CHUM is the first and biggest stage in revitalizing what will be a genuine health district.
nouveauchum.com
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LIFE SCIENCES
Technoparc Montréal By Danielle Ouellet
he Centre d'initiative technologique de Montréal (CITech) was established in 1987 in answer to the government's determination to settle high-tech centres in the metropolitan area. CITech was mandated to turn an area of 2.3 million square metres into one of the world's leading research facilities. Technoparc Montréal, the outcome of that initiative, consists of three hubs, namely, the Saint-Laurent Campus, the Health District and the Hubert Reeves Eco-Campus.
PHOTO : ÉLITES BY DENIS BERNIER
T
MARIO MONETTE President and CEO Technoparc Montréal
Every day, over 6000 people go to work on the Saint-Laurent Campus. Their average age is 29, 60% of them are from outside Canada and, all origins considered, they speak 30 languages. Total payroll amounts to $315 million, and the $300 million investment in construction generates $13.5 million in municipal and school tax revenue. "We support the administrations of the major industrial clusters, as well as Montréal International, in their efforts to attract companies here," explains Mario Monette, president and CEO of Technoparc Montréal, "because all their efforts would be in vain without solid infrastructures to accommodate those companies.
PHOTO : TECHNOPARC
"The costs of setting up on the campus are much lower in Montreal than in any other large North American city," Mr. Monette emphasizes. "This plus comes on top of generous tax refunds, North America's lowest business tax rates (30.9%) and five year tax breaks for foreign research scientists."
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The Health District THE HEALTH DISTRICT BUILDINGS OCCUPY THREE GEOGRAPHIC SECTORS: West sector: 42,000 m2, 2 buildings, 8 storeys Central sector : 10,000 m2, 2 buildings, 4 storeys East sector: 32,000 m2, 1 building, 12 storeys
IN AEROSPACE TERRITORY Set in a wooded regional park ten minutes from Montréal-Trudeau Airport and a few kilometres north of centre city, Technoparc Montréal is firmly planted in the middle of aerospace territory. "Over half of Canadian corporations are located within a 30 km radius," Mr. Monette points out, "and 75% of Montreal firms are less than 10 km away. Over 1500 aerospace engineers and researchers hail from Montreal's four leading universities. All of Bombardier's major research programs around the world are represented here, and the employees of engine maker Pratt & Whitney and Bell Helicopter are within walking distance of Air Canada's biggest maintenance facility.
PHOTO : INFOGRAPHIE GRAPH SYNERGIE
PHOTO : TECHNOPARC
EXPANSION FOR LIFE SCIENCES The Saint-Laurent Campus has also become a strategic site for the life sciences. "They represent 50% of the activities taking place on the campus and a third of the jobs, spread among 300 research groups. We are home to the Human Proteome Organization, and the Canada-US free trade agreement positions Montréal as a strategic gateway to a market upwards of 425 million consumers, almost half of them less than 1000 km away."
Source : Technoparc Montréal
Since 2009, the Health District has become the second hub of Technoparc Montréal (see box). "We have sealed agreements with key stakeholders in the Health District," Mario Monette explains. "At present, it provides another attractive location downtown for foreign firms. The new Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), the Norman-Bethune Campus specializing in population health, and the Pavillon des bio-industries for housing biotech firms are located there. Other large real estate projects – at the McGill University Health Centre and CHU Sainte-Justine – are providing impetus for the life sciences and creating new conditions for success in future. Substantial spinoffs can be expected two or three years from now."
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LIFE SCIENCES
A MONTREAL PREMIERE FOR ITC Now that a large electronic data processing centre is settled on the Saint-Laurent Campus, "Montréal will be able to attract companies having huge information processing requirements, examples being the Apples, Twitters and Googles of this world," an enthusiastic Mario Monette says. This TIER 3 data centre is being established in collaboration with Canadian industry giant Canix, which already hosts the servers of more than 10,000 Canadian and international companies.
Many global leaders in information and communication technologies (ICT) have a Montréal place of business: a CSC Centre of Excellence specializing in business applications and corporate resource planning, Ericsson, IBM, Matrox, SAP, and so on. Canada claims 3% of the $30 billion world market of original interactive games, and Montréal hosts several giants of that particular industry – Softimage, Ubisoft, Eidos and Electronic Arts Montréal. "The video game and multimedia industries are concentrated more in the Innovation District, however, not far from the École de technologie supérieure (ETS)," Mr. Monette goes on to say. "Together with them, we're looking for the best way for us to be part of developing that pole."
THE HUBERT REEVES ECO-CAMPUS, WHICH WAS ANNOUNCED
THE THIRD HUB The Hubert Reeves Eco-Campus, which was announced in 2010, rounds out the Technoparc Montréal triad. "2012 will be a pivotal year for developing this new facility," Mario Monette expects. "The demonstration buildings for cleantech companies will accommodate tests, trials and exchanges. The challenges in this sector tie into the decision making of consumers, who are not always ready and willing to change their habits – even when they clearly understand the benefits, as in the case with measures to block climate change. Still, the world's clean technology market is booming, and we intend to pull in as many as 60% of foreign cleantech companies."
IN 2010, ROUNDS OUT THE TECHNOPARC MONTRÉAL TRIAD.
ILLUSTRATION : TECHNOPARC
A GROWING DEMAND FOR MONTRÉAL REAL ESTATE "There is a growing appetite worldwide for Canadian and Montreal real estate," Mr. Monette informs us. "This has been playing out for several years now. For example, Nortel's collapse in 2008 left behind ten empty buildings. Those buildings are now full, and only 8500 square metres, or 4.26% of high-tech building space, are vacant. Our real estate market is among the most robust in the world, outpacing those of Asia and Europe. The time is right to capitalize on our strong position."
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PHOTO : STM
Transport
Transportation with impact By Serge Beaucher
TRANSPORTATION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF A CITY. IN MONTRÉAL AND VICINITY, FOR INSTANCE, EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE TRAVEL DAILY IN ALL DIRECTIONS TO WORK, STUDY OR PLAY. USING CAR, TRUCK, METRO, TRAIN AND BUS, THEY KEEP THE GIANT WHEELS OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY TURNING. "THE MOBILITY OF PEOPLE AND GOODS IS FUNDAMENTAL TO EVERY MODERN ECONOMY," COMMENTS YVES PHANEUF, TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR WITH THE MONTRÉAL METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY (MMC).
If mobility in itself is a daily stimulus for economic activity, what of the benefits created by investment in transportation? Both investments and spinoffs figure in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year. In terms of spinoffs alone, public transit far outperforms private travel by automobile. Public transportation is the focus of all authorities in this field, in Québec City and the city of Montréal, as well as the MMC. While staying on course with rehabilitation of the road network
YVES PHANEUF Transportation coordinator with the Montréal Metropolitan Community (MMC)
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TRANSPORT "ON ISLAND AND OFF, PUBLIC TRANSIT
RIDERSHIP ON THE WHOLE HAS INCREASED IN THE PAST 10 YEARS: 3% IN GREATER MONTRÉAL, 20% FOR COMMUTER TRAINS
begun in recent years, those bodies are readying to invest billions of dollars in public transit. With the environment in mind, naturally, but also to mitigate the growing problems caused by congestion of streets, roads and highways in the Greater Montreal area.
FROM 2007 TO 2011." – Michel Labrecque
PHOTO : ATM
MICHEL LABRECQUE Chairman Montreal Transit Corporation (STM)
ENORMOUS FIGURES Whether we look back or ahead, the figures are enormous! Over the past ten years, nearly $7 billion has been spent on the road network alone, which includes 24 bridges and 17,000 kilometres of roads, 10% of them highways. Much more lies ahead. With large ongoing construction sites, such as the Turcot Interchange, Dorval Circle, Mercier and
ALONE, AND 11.5% FOR THE STM NETWORK
BUS
Tie your business to the world
If the success of your business is tied to the rest of the world, the Port of Montreal can take you there. From reducing transit time between the American Midwest and Europe to offering alternative routes to global markets, the Port of Montreal is the connection you need.
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www.port-montreal.com
10:07
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ARTICULATED NOVA BUS LFS
Between 2000 and 2008, spending on public transportation systems in the metropolitan area totalled $2.7 billion, including $700 million for extension of the metro to Laval and new rolling stock for the commuter train network. Administered by the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), that network comprises five lines serving 16 million passengers a year. The STM, for its part, makes 1.2 million trips a day on the island of Montréal, or more than 80% of all public transit in the metropolitan area. Its network consists of 213 bus lines (1,700 vehicles) and four metro lines served by more than 700 metro cars.
PHOTOS : STM
Champlain bridges and completion of Highway 30 on Montréal's South Shore, to name but a few, billions of dollars will flow for years to complete the network and upgrade aging infrastructure. Collateral damage? Users will still need a large store of patience, but "they will be happy to have better public transportation," Michel Labrecque, chairman of the Montreal Transit Corporation (STM), qualifies.
METRO
On island and off, public transit ridership on the whole has increased in the past 10 years: 3% in Greater Montréal, 20% for commuter trains alone, and 11.5% for the STM network from 2007 to 2011. During that time, the use of cars dropped 1% in Greater Montréal and 6% on the island – despite steady growth in the automobile base. This shows that spending on public transit has begun bearing fruit. According to the latest available figures, public transportation now accounts for a fourth of all morning rush hour traffic over the entire territory. But the bar is set higher. A BIG CHALLENGE The STM's 2020 strategic plan calls for spending $11.6 billion to improve the transit corporation's network and services with the aim of reaching 540 million rides in 2020, as compared with 405 million in 2011, for an increase of 40%! "This is a big challenge," the STM chairman acknowledges. "The stars will have to be properly aligned. The first real boost will come in 2014 with delivery of the new metro cars we've been waiting for five years to receive."
TROLLEYBUS
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TRANSPORT
MORE THAN $20 BILLION Public transportation in Greater Montréal will require spending some $23 billion over the next 10 to 20 years, according to the Metropolitan Planning and Development Plan, which the MMC released in December. That document, which follows upon broad consultation, set out the sustainable development that Greater Montréal (more than 80 municipalities and regional county municipalities) will have to provide by 2031. One of its main proposals is for creating sustainable neighbourhoods around public transit access points in order to concentrate 40% or perhaps 60% of new households in those areas, provided more public transportation is available. The goal, which was set together with the partners, is a 30% increase in overall travel by mass transit in the region.
The measures that should help the STM reach its goal include a long list of projects: replacement of a second series of subway cars; replacement and addition of buses, including 32 just to relieve the inconvenience of road work; extension of the metro eastward; introduction of an iBus smart communication system to provide real-time information for employees and riders; addition of more reserved lanes; commissioning of trolleybuses and a tramway, and gradual electrification of the entire vehicle fleet. On Montréal's South Shore, the AMT and the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) are still planning to add six stations to metro line 4 arriving from Montréal ($1.2 billion). They also want to carry through with the light rail transit line alongside Highway 10, the former Champlain Bridge/Estacade project. Furthermore, the AMT intends to expend part of its efforts on boosting its service to the east and the west, with at least one new line, and on electrifying the entire system.
Yves Phaneuf admits that $23 billion is a great deal of money. However, the amount has the consensus of the transit agencies that submitted their asset improvement and maintenance requirements when the plan was being drafted. "It's now a matter of completing the financial framework to meet these needs," he says. This part of the plan will be submitted for further public consultations this spring. It is already expected that the participants will have to decide on such measures as highway and bridge tolls, higher licence fees and gas taxes and other financing sources that are not necessarily popular.
" FURTHERMORE, THE AMT INTENDS TO EXPEND PART
OF ITS EFFORTS ON BOOSTING ITS SERVICE TO THE EAST AND THE WEST, WITH AT LEAST ONE NEW LINE, AND ON ELECTRIFYING THE ENTIRE SYSTEM." – Yves Phaneuf
A PAYING INVESTMENT We must consider, however, that such an investment can make economic sense," Mr. Phaneuf goes on to say. Citing Public transport: at the heart of Montréal’s economic development, a recent study by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal, he emphasizes that each dollar spent on public transit provides almost three times the economic stimulus that the same dollar spent on automobile transport would provide.
TRAMWAY
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PHOTO : ATM
Why is this? "For one thing, because Québec does not make cars, but we are home to the likes of Bombardier and Alstom, which manufacture rolling stock," Michel Labrecque replies. For another, because the metro and soon the buses and commuter trains will run on electricity, which is clean Québec-owned energy, whereas the gas that powers automobiles is imported.
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TAILOR-MADE TRANSPORTATION Groupe Orléans specializes in all facets of bus transportation: urban, intercity, charter, airport, school and paratransit. Safe, reliable, and uncompromisingly customer-oriented, Groupe Orléans will efficiently meet all of your needs. From individual travellers to public transit authorities, each of our customers is unique, which is why we offer solutions tailored to your particular transportation requirements. Groupe Orléans is a member of the Keolis Group, one of Europe’s leading public transportation providers, established in 12 countries and owned in part by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
www.groupeorleans.com
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TRANSPORT
Smart mobility While the goal and economic aim is to increase the share that public transit claims in overall travel within Greater Montréal, it is a matter of improving not only the public transit, but also the efficiency of the information service, says Catherine Morency, holder of the Mobility Chair at the École Polytechnique de Montréal. The municipalities and the transit agencies, many of which are Mobility Chair partners, are counting heavily on this. Public transit users will become intermodal pedestrians informed in real time of all the possible ways to get where they want to go, Ms. Morency predicts. It will not be long before users, mobile phone in hand, will be able to call up a 3D display of their city to find out the location and traffic situation of the bus they are waiting for. "Increasingly, information and technology will be part of the transit experience," the researcher says. CATHERINE MORENCY Holder of the Mobility Chair École Polytechnique de Montréal
Are we talking "smart mobility"?
Intercity transportation The Board of Trade's study also mentions the rise in the value of property located near a transportation line, as well as the easing of congestion problems, which cost "$3 billion a year in Montréal according to the most recent data from the Department of Transportation," Mr. Labrecque points out. Not to mention the avoided costs of accidents, the costs relating to greenhouse gas emissions and the overall savings of $800 million a year for people who opt for public transit. In 2009 alone, the study states, the $1.8 billion spent by transit agencies in the metropolitan area generated added value of $1.1 billion for the economy and supported more than 14,000 job-years! Even more, that spending has provided a transit system that improves year after year and also benefits motorists and the trucking industry by easing pressure on the road network. As the STM chairman says, "No dynamic metropolis can develop economically and maintain its vitality these days without relying on good public transportation service." 60
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Public transit in Montréal is also thousands of people who arrive every day from all parts to keep the wheels of the local economy turning. All by itself, the Groupe Orléans, the leading intercity transport operator in Québec, embarks and disembarks more than a million passengers a year on the platforms of Montréal and Longueuil motorcoach terminals. Besides its Orléans Express routes, which also provide a shuttle service to the airport, the company operates a system of city buses in Montréal's second suburban ring –Terrebonne and Repentigny – as well as school buses and paratransit vehicles in Lanaudière. In addition, two daily services carry students and workers from Saint-Donat and Joliette to the Radisson metro station in Montréal's east end.
DENIS ANDLAUER President and CEO Groupe Orléans
Denis Andlauer, the new president and CEO, does not hide the fact that his company wants a higher profile in urban transit in distant suburbs. The company would also like to extend its activities into Ontario by acquiring companies serving that market. The Montréal-based Groupe Orléans has 450 vehicles, including its Murray Hill motorcoaches and its Acadian fleet in the Maritimes. It has a workforce of 900.
PHOTO : PORT DE MONTRÉAL, PHOTOGRAPHE JEAN-PAUL LEJEUNE
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The port : a bona fide economic engine
"The main economic impact of the port is the 18,000 direct and indirect jobs it creates and the $1.5 billion in spinoffs it generates," says Sylvie Vachon, president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), the arm's-length federal agency that manages the port. Ms. Vachon leases the port facilities to private companies operating the terminals along the 20 kilometres of docks
down from the Old Port. The MPA alone spends an average $25 million a year on its facilities, and the terminal operators as a whole probably spend as much, according to Ms. Vachon. The other significant impact, the president and CEO points out, is attracting to Montréal "manufacturing or service companies that want to profit by the port's proximity to carry on business." Large shipping lines such as HapagLloyd and MSC Canada have even opted to base their head offices in the metropolis.
PHOTO : YVES MÉDAM
It would be hard to talk about Montréal transportation without special mention of its port, a bona fide economic engine. Millions of tons of merchandise – 28 million during the record year of 2011 – are received or shipped out year after year. The 2,200 ships that docked at the port last year represented a third of all vessels plying the St. Lawrence River. The Port of Montréal is Québec's largest harbour and the second largest in Canada, after Vancouver.
SYLVIE VACHON President and CEO Montreal Port Authority (MPA)
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TRANSPORT
PHOTO : PORT DE MONTRÉAL, PHOTOGRAPHE CHRISTIAN CARPENTIER
PHOTO : PORT DE MONTRÉAL, PHOTOGRAPHE SYLVAIN GIGUÈRE
Containers are the trademark of the port, which has four terminals spread over 80 hectares with an annual capacity of 1.6 million containers. The port also handles all types of non-containerized cargo, including solid and liquid bulk goods. Even cruise ships dock there in season to embark and disembark thousands of passengers, 48,000 in 2010.
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The local economy benefits all the more as Montréal is not just a stopover for passenger ships, but also a point of arrival or departure, Ms. Vachon says. The Montréal Port Authority has its own railroad network to route merchandise to the docks: five locomotives going back and forth over a hundred kilometres of track connected to the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways and a highway circuit, putting markets only a few hours away. In addition to her position at the MPA, Sylvie Vachon chairs an interim committee that, at the MMC's request, is examining the feasibility of forming an industrial cluster on logistics and transportation in the region. That new cluster could comprise some 40 transportation industry firms seeking to resolve the challenges they all face.
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MINING INDUSTRY
Plan Nord The sky's the limit By Danielle Ouellet
IT IS QUÉBEC PREMIER JEAN CHAREST'S INTENTION TO MAKE THE PLAN NORD A KEY ECONOMIC PLATFORM FOR THE 25 YEARS AHEAD. THE PLAN, AN AMBITIOUS RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT MEGAPROJECT SET IN THE FAR NORTH, POSES CHALLENGES ON MANY COUNTS: MINING EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY FIRST OF ALL, BUT ALSO TRANSPORTATION, LABOUR, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ETC. THE QUÉBEC GOVERNMENT EXPECTS INVESTMENTS AND PROGRAM SPENDING TO TOTAL $2.1 BILLION FOR THE FIRST ACTION PLAN 2011-2016. REFLECTION ON PROJECT DELIVERY IS ONGOING, WHEREAS SOME PRACTICAL BENEFITS ARE ALREADY MAKING THEIR WAY SOUTH. BOOM TIMES There are high hopes for investment spinoffs. "They are not unrealistic and the circumstances are indeed very favourable," according to Michel Jébrak, geology professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), who thinks of the high points in the history of mining development worldwide. "There have been three times of intensive urbanization, meaning strong demand for metals. The first boom occurred during the belle époque at the turn of the twentieth century when most of today's big mines were discovered, with large deposits of iron, copper, coal and, to a lesser extent, nickel and aluminum. That time gave rise to giants such as Rio Tinto in 1880.
PHOTO : ISTOCKPHOTO BY ANOUK STRICHER
"The second boom occurred in the post-war years, when uranium became an energy source in demand, and Canada became one of the world's leading uranium exporters. "During the past ten years, the world has seen a third mining boom. For one thing, modern communication technologies require a wide new variety of metals – including rare earths and lithium – that are still largely untapped. China has a large rare-earth mine, as does California. Demand is strong. But unlike the oil situation, there is no risk of a shortage.
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MINING INDUSTRY
MICHEL JÉBRAK Geology professor Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
"We are in a mining boom, and the world market for metals is growing. Populations the world over are seeking to raise their standard of living to the level enjoyed by Americans and Europeans. Québec is in a strong position. For example, the apatite being mined in Sept-Îles provides the phosphate used in making fertilizers, in strong demand for producing food for a fastgrowing world population."
Alain Liard, general manager and secretary of the Ordre des géologues du Québec, comments: "Mining investment had all but dried up before 2000. The demand, especially the Chinese and Indian demand for iron, is now exerting strong pressure on the markets. The global corporations are searching for alternative sources of supply. Although not all our iron deposits have been tapped, we have known about them since the 1950s."
The Plan Nord for developing Northern Québec
DRAWING ATTENTION TO OUR MINING POTENTIAL Alain Liard takes a realistic view of the Plan Nord. "Except for a few existing projects, such as iron mining in the Fermont-Schefferville area, projects in Québec's Far North are still hypothetical and demand colossal investment to start up. "With an investment of $100 million, we can think about a small mine in Abitibi," he continues. "But it will cost much more in the Far North. Metal showings are discovered during the first stages of geological exploration in that vast, largely unexplored territory. It then takes years of further exploration to open a mine. The opening of new mines will require extensive infrastructure: roads, a railway, buildings, etc. One single mine calls for several billions of dollars to produce a tonne of ore. Given these conditions, the deposits that could be tapped will have to be very large or very rich to be cost-effective.
ALAIN LIARD General manager and secretary Ordre des géologues du Québec
> $821 million for transportation infrastructure > $370 million for other infrastructure, i.e. housing, health, education, culture and creation of parks and protected areas
"MINING INVESTMENT HAD ALL BUT DRIED
> $382 million for social housing, health and education measures
THE CHINESE AND INDIAN DEMAND FOR
> $52 million for canvassing for foreign investment and administering the Société du Plan Nord
IRON, IS NOW EXERTING STRONG PRESSURE
> $500 million advance to Investissement Québec for equity participation in projects to come
CORPORATIONS ARE SEARCHING FOR ALTER-
UP BEFORE 2000. THE DEMAND, ESPECIALLY
ON THE MARKETS. THE GLOBAL NATIVE SOURCES OF SUPPLY."
Source : Nicolas Bégin, Media Relations, Communications Branch, Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife
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– Alain Liard
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"The Plan Nord has the advantage of calling attention to our mining potential, but investment decisions are made largely in financial circles far from Québec. Creating wealth here at home requires using the resources on our territory." As far as the Plan Nord is concerned, Québec's approach to mining must fit the global economic context. "What we know about geology indicates that the Northern Québec subsoil contains metals that are currently in demand on the markets. But we need to watch our timing," Mr. Jébrak cautions. "It may take 10 to 15 years from the time a metal is needed to the time it is produced. Prices right now are high, not only for rare earths and lithium, but for more conventional metals such as iron and copper. In addition to connecting with global demand, we'll have to think about adding value to extraction operations by processing raw materials here at home." ALL OF QUÉBEC BENEFITS For the Québec government, the success of the Plan Nord does not stop at mining exploration. It also involves sustainable development. "This is an exemplary project," states Nicolas Bégin, with the Communications Branch of the Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife. It will include energy, mining, forest, bio-food, tourist and transportation development; wildlife enhancement; environmental protection, and the conservation of biological diversity. It will promote development for the benefit of the communities concerned and all Québec, with regard for cultures and identities. The Plan Nord is a mega-project that will create jobs and wealth benefitting all Quebecers for the next 25 years." Alain Liard foresees considerable economic benefits in the south from large projects in the north. "Engineering firms will have a lot of their plates, as will mining OEMs, specialized Québec manufacturers. The workforce will come from all over Québec." Marc Dorion, lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault, sees things the same way. "The direct spinoffs associated with mining exploration will have tremendous infrastructure implications, requiring the construction of roads, a railway, a port, electric power transmission lines and fibre-optic facilities, for instance. Attorneys will be involved at all stages of the project.
"We work at the interface with the financial community," Mr. Dorion points out. "Obtaining building permits, negotiating with First Nations, project funding, legal compliance, environmental agreements and the fiscal side of financial structures are all areas requiring legal expertise." Together with Suzanne Durand, of the Université du Québec en AbitibiTémiscamingue (UQAT), Michel Jébrak is also co director of the UQAT-UQAM Chair in Mining Entrepreneurship. "There are more and more students in programs associated with mining development, owing to the opportunities for very well paying jobs.
Me MARC DORION Lawyer McCarthy Tétrault
especially
"The Plan Nord is a timely development in the mining exploration sector. The sky's the limit for Québec," Mr. Jébrak concludes.
Expected spinoffs from the Plan Nord over the next 25 years > $80 billion or more in private and public investment > $47 billion for renewable energy development > $33 billion for investment in the mining and public infrastructure (roads, airports, etc.) > $14 billion in tax revenue for the government > Average of 20,000 jobs created or maintained each year > $162 billion: anticipated impact of these investments on Québec's gross domestic product Source : Nicolas Bégin, Media Relations, Communications Branch, Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife
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