A Pratt & Whitney engine.Pablo E. Zevallos
Ottawa is investing $300-million in Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. to help the company develop new jet engines.
The money, in the form of a "repayable loan" under the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative program, will support close to 1,500 jobs in Quebec and Ontario over the next five years, according to the federal government. It is not clear if those are 1,500 new jobs being created.
The funding is part of P&W Canada's $1-billion R&D program – spread over 4.5 years – to develop a new family of jet engines that are quieter, more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly.
Industry Minister James Moore made the announcement at a P&W plant in Mississauga, while Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel was at the head office and manufacturing centre in Longueuil, Que.
Opposition NDP industry critic Peggy Nash said in an interview Monday that the timing of the announcement is interesting.
"It's curious that it's coming just before an election," she said.
"This is a re-announcement of funds they already committed in the 2013 budget but of course we're getting into pre-election mode."
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation slammed the federal loan.
"Why does a highly profitable international corporation require $300-million in loans from the Canadian government? Pratt & Whitney has received so much money, so often, it is actually difficult to track precisely how much they've been into the trough for," CTF federal director Aaron Wudrick said in a statement.
"The federal government insists they have repaid or on schedule to repay all their loans – but can't give us a clear picture of what was repaid or when, can't tell us how many jobs have been lost or created, and can't explain why Pratt & Whitney deserves special treatment."
P&W Canada – a division of Hartford, Conn.-based giant United Technologies Corp. – says it has invested an average of $450-million a year in R&D over the past 10 years, ranking it among the country's top R&D investors.
P&W Canada is supplying the all-new fuel-saving engine for Bombardier Inc.'s C Series commercial airliner.
But the geared turbofan engine experienced trouble during a ground test at Bombardier's Mirabel facility earlier this year. Test flights have since resumed and Bombardier says the problem has been resolved.
P&W Canada employs about 6,000 people at facilities in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, including 1,400 engineering professionals at its R&D centres in Ontario and Quebec.
Last year, the Quebec government provided $19-million in financial aid to P&W Canada as part of the company's $275-million project to upgrade its Longueuil complex.
Bertrand Marotte