Summary of the Evaluation of Aerospace Programming

About the evaluation

  • The evaluation assessed the relevance, performance, and design and delivery of Aerospace Programming, the Technology Demonstration Program (TDP) and Bombardier C-Series program, with a particular focus on the extent to which the programs contributed to their immediate and intermediate outcomes.
  • It covered the period from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2018.

What the evaluation found

  • There is a need for the federal government to promote R&D and encourage private sector investment.
  • The programs have helped strengthen the technological and financial capacity of the industry, enhanced collaboration and networking on R&D projects, increased R&D employment and the talent pool, and enabled new aerospace expertise.
  • The C-Series program has contributed to R&D that played a part in the eventual commercialization of the C-Series aircraft.
  • Some phases of the TDP application and approval processes took longer than anticipated, although this was mainly due to circumstances outside the control of the program.

Program description

  • The C-Series program was established in 2008 to provide repayable contributions ($470 million to date) to encourage R&D in the development of technologies for the C-Series and other aircraft platforms.
  • The TDP was established in 2013 to support collaborative R&D projects that leverage private sector investment to accelerate innovation in the aerospace, defence, space and security industries ($187.5 million in non-repayable contributions committed to date).

Lessons learned

The following lessons learned were developed to inform the design and delivery of future programs which aim to provide support to key sectors of the Canadian economy.

  1. Government support for aerospace programming - Federal government support for the industrial sector continues to be important, including the aerospace, defence, space and security industries which are strategically significant for the country.  Government support facilitates Canada's competitiveness, as it helps accelerate the speed of R&D and innovation.  For the aerospace sector, it helps level the playing field with aerospace companies in other countries who receive more support than Canadian companies.
  2. Role of government as a catalyst for collaboration - The government has a role as a catalyst for fostering collaboration and networking among companies and academia across Canada.  Collaboration helps develop the supply chain and accelerates innovation.  The design of programs to require participation from small and medium-sized enterprises and academic and research institutions is helpful for bringing industry and academia together to work on R&D projects.
  3. Timely and predictable application process - To better respond to the needs of industry, consideration should be given to a timelier and more predictable application process.