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With the support of Montréal International (MI), German firm PFW will be establishing its North American head office in Greater Montréal. PFW, renowned for its wide range of design, engineering and certification services in the aerospace industry, is expecting to create more than 100 jobs during the next three years. The announcement was made at the 2013 Aeromart Montréal business convention, which was attended by Élaine Zakaïb, Minister for Industrial Policy and the Banque de développement économique du Québec.
PFW has subsidiaries throughout Europe, the United States, Turkey and Asia. It has over 2,200 employees and annual sales of more than €250 million. PFW’s customers include Airbus, EADS, Boeing and Lufthansa Technik and the company is currently in discussions with Bombardier Aerospace and Aerolia Canada to further expand their customer base.
“Because Montréal is a world aerospace hub and is experiencing continued growth with major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) such as Bombardier Aerospace, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada and Pratt & Whitney Canada, PFW feels we have the expertise to provide both engineering and manufacturing support to the Canadian customer base,” said Ian Sidsaff, general manager of PFW Aerospace Canada. “We also plan to further expand our facility by doing work that has been entrusted to us by our existing customers around the world.”
Montréal International, whose mandate is to attract foreign direct investments to the Greater Montréal area, supported and advised the company in its project to establish itself in the region. “The fact that PFW has chosen Québec’s largest city as its base within the North American market is proof that our aerospace industry has pride of place on the global stage,” said Jacques St-Laurent, CEO of Montréal International. “As it grows, the company will be able to count on the support of a highly-qualified workforce and an exceptional network of research centres and companies in the sector.”
Québec is world-renowned in the aerospace sector, and Greater Montréal is among the foremost international centres in the industry, along with Seattle and Toulouse. “With more than 42,000 jobs and sales in excess of $12 billion, the province’s aerospace sector is home to a complete and competitive supply chain including prime contractors, high-quality equipment manufacturers and integrators and a network of almost 200 world-class SMEs,” said Suzanne Benoît, president of Aéro Montréal, Québec’s aerospace cluster. In 2012, Québec’s aerospace industry ranked sixth in the world in sales volume, after the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
