PARIS: Airbus SE sees an opportunity to build helicopters in Canada for global export if it wins upcoming government contracts, as the country embarks on a historic defence spending spree and pushes to expand manufacturing jobs.
The European firm already employs more than 5,000 people in Canada, and it’s now growing its ambitions as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government seeks closer ties with Europe, said Olivier Michalon, executive vice-president of global business for Airbus Helicopters.
“Clearly, if Airbus helicopters are selected for any of the big upcoming campaigns and there is an industrial project which is tied to this contract, it’s an opportunity to export what would be manufactured here to the worldwide market,” he said in an interview in Ottawa.
“We’re selling helicopters to 170 countries around the world and not everything has to come necessarily from our main plants in France or in Germany.”
Carney’s government has launched a sweeping defence industrial strategy to spend more of its growing military budget at home and reduce reliance on US suppliers.
As part of that shift, it’s demanding stronger job and investment commitments from foreign firms when it buys their gear.
The company is eyeing three major helicopter projects in Canada, including for the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Michalon said Airbus has been talking to government officials about their helicopter needs and how to generate more domestic value, and potentially exports, from Canada.
Defence Minister David McGuinty’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Michalon said Airbus is “province‑agnostic” about where it would build helicopters. Canada already hosts the company’s largest footprint outside Europe, with operations in Ontario and Quebec.
He pointed to a success story with Spain, which was “in the same position as Canada” two decades ago and has since become one of Airbus’s strongest regions, on par with France and Germany.
Canada was long a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation spending laggard, but recently reached the target of directing 2% of gross domestic product to defence and aims to hit 5% by 2035.
It’s making the pivot as the United States pulls back from the alliance and hits Canada with tariffs and jabs about its sovereignty.
The shift is being felt “from the other side of the ocean”, Jean-Brice Dumont, head of air power at Airbus Defence and Space, said in the interview.
He pointed to Canada’s entry into the European Union’s (EU) €150bil (US$174bil) Security Action for Europe fund, which gives Canadian firms access to EU-financed defence procurements. — Bloomberg
