Bell Helicopter to Invest $726 million to Upgrade Montreal-Area Factory

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd. will spend $725.6 million - a third of it from taxpayers - to upgrade its Montreal-area factory to build a new line of commercial helicopters.

The investment will take place over 12 years and is expected to maintain the jobs of about 600 full-time workers at the Mirabel plant, the company said yesterday.

The Canadian and Quebec governments, which granted large subsidies to attract the plant to Quebec in 1986, will share equally about $230 million of the new project's cost, but Bell Helicopter said the latest money will be repaid during production.

The $115 million from Ottawa is provided through Technology Partnership Canada, a controversial program that has granted loans to Bombardier Inc., among others.

The Bell Helicopter investment involves creating a new approach to design, develop and produce components for a new family of four, light, civilian helicopters.

The products to be designed at Mirabel include advanced composite cabin elements, a new electrical and avionics system and a new drive train.

Premier Jean Charest, attending the news conference, congratulated Bell for choosing Quebec for research, and defended his Liberal government's loan to the project, repayable through sales royalties.

"Every (aerospace) industry everywhere in the world has the support of its government," he said at the plant north of Montreal.

His government has previously cut subsidies to business.

Jean Lapierre, federal transport minister, said the innovations will have applications throughout the Canadian aerospace industry and will increase demand across Bell's supply chain, including 100 small and medium-sized companies employing 1,000 people in Canada.