Bombardier to move from downtown
Bombardier Inc. is taking off.
Canada’s biggest aerospace manufacturer plans to move its corporate headquarters to Dorval from downtown Montreal, the Montreal Gazette has learned. Employees should begin relocating this fall, and the goal is to complete the move early in 2021. New chief executive officer Éric Martel, who took over in April, informed employees of the plan in a recent email.
Moving to Dorval, into a company-owned building, will allow Bombardier to save on rent while bringing executives closer to key private-jet production facilities. Bombardier leases the better part of three floors in an office tower at 800 René-lévesque Blvd. W., though its top business jet executives are based in Dorval in a facility known as the CA building.
“Co-locating with Bombardier Aviation’s leadership and administrative staff already in the CA building will help us build a more cohesive Bombardier team as we prepare for our future as a business-aviation-focused company,” Martel said in the email to employees, a copy of which was obtained by the Gazette. “Moreover, utilizing available space within the CA building supports our efforts to lower our cost structure, drive efficiency and create a more positive and collaborative work environment.”
Jessica Mcdonald, a company spokeswoman, confirmed the news to the Gazette on Friday.
The move adds to a dramatic three-year reshaping of Bombardier, begun under former CEO Alain Bellemare, that has seen the once-sprawling Quebec industrial icon narrow its focus solely to business jets — with such transactions as the sale of the commercial aviation program formerly known as the C Series to European plane maker Airbus SA.
On Friday, France’s Alstom SA secured conditional clearance from the European Commission for the proposed acquisition of the Bombardier Transportation rail business, which is based in Berlin. Closing is still expected in the first half of 2021, Bombardier said.
Bombardier’s future headquarters at 400 Côte-vertu Blvd. W. sits close to the plant where workers build the company’s Challenger jets. It’s adjacent to the Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre, where the interiors of the ultralong-range Global 7500 business jet are completed.
About 180 employees are based at Bombardier headquarters, though the coronavirus pandemic means they are working from home. Human resources, legal affairs and finance are all housed downtown.
“I recognize that this move will raise questions and concerns for some employees and we’ll have a number of opportunities to address them,” Martel said in the email. An “all-hands” meeting is planned for later this summer, he added.
Located above Central Station, 800 René Lévesque Blvd. W. stands next to the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel. It was recently modernized and now boasts a redesigned plaza, a bigger lobby and a revamped elevator system. Vancouver-based Polaris Realty manages the building. This is the second time since Bombardier’s founding in 1942 that company headquarters are moving. Having started out as a snowmobile manufacturer in the Eastern Townships municipality of Valcourt, the company relocated executive offices to Montreal as business expanded.