Canadian companies seek to land in Querétaro

QUERETARO - At least three Canadian aerospace companies are looking to set up in the state of Queretaro, said Alejandra Casanova, Project Manager for Aéro Montréal, the aerospace cluster in Quebec, Canada.

In a visit to the state during the Aerospace Meetings Querétaro 2024, which took place from February 21 to 22, Casanova, accompanied by a delegation of six companies, assured that half of them are very interested in setting up their company in Querétaro for the production of aerospace components.

"These are Tier 2 suppliers that are now evaluating technical aspects and working hand in hand with shelters to learn about what they require to be able to set up in Mexico," she explained.

Currently Canadian companies, she said, are looking for new markets to expand their operations and counteract the effects of the high costs of raw materials and the shortage of labor in Canada, so Mexico, specifically the states of Chihuahua, Baja California and Querétaro are attractive for their installation.

"In the province of Quebec, more precisely in Montreal, one can make an airplane from A to Z, in other words, there are all the companies, all the universities, the government that supports and we also support the improvement of the aeronautical industry," said Casanova.

She explained that the prices of raw materials to manufacture components have increased substantially, as is the case of steel, so they are in search of new markets that allow them to maintain their operating margins.

Moreover, the small population in Canada, in addition to the number of installed companies and the demand, means that there is a limited number of specialized talent to cover the demand, a shortage that is not specific to the aerospace sector, but also to other industries.

"There is a lack of labor in Canada of all types, both technical and engineering. It is very difficult to find this specialized labor," she said.

In that sense, she highlighted that Mexico, due to its geographic location and available talent, is one of the countries in which Canadians are most interested, in addition to being positioned among the five most important markets for the province of Quebec in aerospace.

According to estimates of the Mexican Federation of the Aerospace Industry, for this sector in the country is estimated a growth of 14% in exports this year.