FARNBOROUGH — A senior executive at Canada’s leading flight simulation and training company, CAE, said he hopes Ottawa’s new observer status within the Global Combat Air Programme could open the door for new work for Canada’s aerospace industry.
“As a proud company and Canadian exporter in defense training and simulation — an area where our country contributes on a global stage — we sure hope, obviously, that Canada will bring us onboard but also go more than just be an observer, though that is not for CAE to decide,” Pascal Grenier, president of Defense and Security at CAE, said at the Farnborough International Airshow last week, after the much-awaited GCAP announcement was made.
The official announcement was vague about any specific participation Canada would have in the British-Italian-Japanese sixth-gen fighter program, saying that observer status would “provide Canada with enhanced insight into GCAP and an opportunity to deepen its understanding of the Programme’s governance, capabilities and industrial framework, as well as the related security requirements and wider partnering opportunities.”
Likewise Canada’s own department of defense only discussed “potential future participation” and the ability to “explore opportunities” for its defense industry to contribute.
In an email statement to Breaking Defense, the Italian Ministry of Defense specified that at this stage observer status “does not entail an industrial role for Canada.” It added that it is currently “not possible to predict the timing, modalities, or conditions of any potential expansion” of the new member’s participation.
Based on the latest available data from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, its defense industry generated roughly $17.3 billion in revenue in 2024, with aerospace as the largest export driver. A recent study by Export Development Canada listed four sectors of Canada’s industrial strength: land vehicles, advanced subsystems including sensors and electronics, technical services such as MRO, and mission and simulation systems.
CAE’s Grenier said Ottawa should see GCAP not only as another aircraft, but also as a program that aligns with the country’s defense industrial strategy goals of “creating jobs, expertise and future export.”
He added that while the company’s flight simulation technology could benefit the fighter jet program, it also goes beyond these systems to ensure mission readiness.
“Receiving these platforms doesn’t make you ready to operate them — you need proper training and servicing. As you buy platforms that are done outside the country, the sovereignty aspect is often found in the training,” he said.