Jercs and Globemaster IIIs: $660 million for la belle province

The government news realease:

The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, along with his colleague, the Honourable Michael Fortier, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, today welcomed the news that Boeing and Lockheed Martin are providing contracts in Quebec with a minimum Canadian content value of more than $660 million, as part of their industrial benefits commitments to Canada.

"These significant investments are a sign of confidence in the talent and abilities of our region's businesses, which have demonstrated that they have what it takes to become part of Boeing's and Lockheed Martin's global supply chains," said Minister Fortier.

All of these contracts and investments are the result of the government's purchase of strategic and tactical airlift capabilities for the Canadian Forces. Under Canada's industrial benefits policy, major government procurements carry with them the guarantee that prime contractors will invest 100 percent of their contract values in the Canadian economy. Contractors are free to engage in commercial activities that make good business sense to them, thereby enabling them to build long-lasting business relationships.

The purchase and support of four C-17 aircraft from Boeing will see that company undertake approximately $1.5 billion in economic activity in Canada. In another contract for the recently announced procurement of 17 C 130J Hercules aircraft, Lockheed Martin has agreed to an $842-million investment, with further in-service support commitments to be negotiated over the next year.

"These investments are today's snapshot of the economic activity that has begun to flow from the strategic and tactical airlift procurement," said the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry. "They represent just the beginning of the significant industrial benefits to be realized in the coming years."

Given the extensive capacity of Canadian industry, businesses from all regions of the country are benefiting from these two major procurements, and are likewise expected to benefit further from the government's overall "Canada First" initiative. More projects, each with a guaranteed dollar-for-dollar return on investment, are expected in the future.

From a CTV story:

...
Boeing said it has identified more than 66 per cent of its total program obligations. Boeing will identify the rest over the next three years.

The firm has also agreed to a collateral agreement that provides further industry benefits worth $750 million over 20 years for in-service support of the C-17 fleet.

The contracts so far involve flight-simulator firm CAE Inc., Bombardier Inc., training system specialist Eedo and several others.

In addition, Boeing has teamed up with RTI International Metals and invested in the RTI Claro facility in Montreal in support of the $346 million worth of contract work that RTI Claro will perform for Boeing Commercial in Quebec.

Boeing employs more than 1,400 employees in Quebec, British Columbia and Manitoba. Canada is also home to the third-largest international supplier base for Boeing.

Headquartered in St. Louis, the Boeing Integrated Defence Systems unit is a US$32.4-billion business with 72,000 employees worldwide.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin also announced Monday it is providing Quebec companies with contracts worth a total of $240 million...

Update: More on C-17s from David Akins' blog.

And from the Lockheed Martin press release:

...Today's announcement is one of four regional announcements which combined will total the first 60% of the industrial benefits obligation under the contract. Lockheed Martin will continue to work closely with Industry Canada and Regional Development Agencies to identify Canadian capabilities for the remaining 40%...

Oink.