Marc Parent

Born in Verdun (Montreal), in 1961, Marc Parent was fascinated by aviation as a child. As a young teen, he joined 51 Air Cadet Squadron (Ottawa) and then 783 Air Cadet Squadron (Montreal); he earned his pilot’s license at 17, two years before being licensed to drive a car. Marc attended Montreal's École Polytechnique, earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a specialty in Aerospace, while nurturing his passion for flying by working as an aircraft lineman at the Saint-Hubert airport on Montreal's South Shore.

Although there were few French-Canadian mentors in the aviation industry, that did not deter Marc from beginning his business career in 1984 with Canadair. He joined the company as an engineer, two years before it was acquired by Bombardier, working in the Aerodynamics, Mechanical Systems and Project Engineering departments. Marc soon took on key roles in both the Canadair Challenger and Bombardier CRJ programs, playing a key role in the CRJ’s first flight in 1991.

Marc was subsequently posted to Bombardier’s flight-testing centre in Wichita, Kansas, where he led project management of the CRJ certification flight test program. He then went on to run the Engineering Technical Support group for the aircraft as it entered service with Lufthansa and Comair in 1992. In 1993 he headed development of the Challenger 604 aircraft, culminating in its successful certification and entry into service in 1995.

From Kansas, Marc took on a new assignment: leading the Q-400 program at de Havilland in Toronto. Upon the iconic aircraft’s first flight, Marc assumed greater executive responsibility when he was promoted to Vice President, Program Management for Program Development in 1998, overseeing all of Bombardier’s aircraft development programs, including the CRJ 900 and BRJ-X airliner, as well as the L-45, CL-300 and Global Express business jets. Until this point in his career, Marc worked under the direction of his long-time mentor, John Holding (CAHF 2019), Bombardier’s overall head of Engineering and Product Development. A year later, in recognition of his success at Bombardier, Marc was named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Leaders.

Between 2000 and 2004, Marc took on a series of senior positions in Toronto, Wichita, Tucson, and Dorval; first, in Toronto, as Vice President and General Manager of Bombardier’s de Havilland plant, then in the U.S. as Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Operations, where he oversaw the Learjet facilities in Wichita and Tucson. One of Marc’s fond memories is the realization one day that he was sitting at Bill Lear’s desk! Marc returned to Montreal in 2004 as Vice President and General Manager of Bombardier’s Dorval production facilities and programs, including the Challenger 300, 604, 850-870, in addition to the CRJ-200/700.

In 2005, Marc joined CAE as Group President, Simulation Products, responsible for the civil simulation products business. He was appointed Group President, Simulation Products and Military Training and Services the next year. Marc is credited with growing CAE’s share of the market and maintaining its leadership position through the development of innovative simulators, as well as for expanding CAE’s relationship with the defence industry. His success was reflected in his becoming CAE’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2008, and then President and CEO in 2009.

Taking the helm, Marc led CAE on a strategic evolution from a product company, selling simulators to the world’s airlines, to one offering training services. Through innovation and business acquisitions, CAE has become one of the world’s largest commercial and business aircraft training companies, with a phenomenal number of airline and business aircraft pilots having been trained in its simulators.

CAE has thrived under Marc’s tenure. It continues to grow as a high-tech company and has expanded work with the defence industry (and not just in aviation, but rather with simulators of all kinds, including the development of land and sea training), notably with its acquisition of L3Harris Military Training business in 2021. It has also branched out into newer fields, especially in medical training. In 2011, the company cemented its place in the medical simulation market by purchasing Medical Education Technologies Inc.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Marc’s vision for CAE to enter the medical sector meant the company was uniquely positioned to help. Employees developed the CAE Air1 critical care ventilator in record time and produced 9,600 units for the Canadian government. Recognized for his commitment to the community, Marc launched a movement in Quebec to accelerate vaccination against COVID-19, which led to the mobilization of 150 companies and to nearly 10 per cent of the population being vaccinated by the private sector across the province.

Marc is committed to corporate citizenship and under his leadership CAE became the first carbon neutral Canadian aerospace company. It has also created six employee resource groups and has been listed on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and recognized by Women in Governance. Marc has passionately supported both the Centraide-United Way campaign and the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer Quebec. A strong supporter of the aviation sector as well as the wider community, Marc has sat on the boards of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, Aéro Montréal, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, among many others.

Marc’s leadership, contributions, and accomplishments have been well recognized throughout his career. In 2005, for his education work with the charitable arm of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the SAE presented him with its Aerospace Engineering Leadership Award. In 2011, Canadian Defence Review named him its first ever Executive of the Year, an honour again bestowed in 2020. In 2016, Marc was awarded the Prix Mérite of the Association of Polytechnique Graduates and in 2018 the influential Les Affaires named him CEO of the year. The AIAC presented him with its James C. Floyd award in 2019. In 2020, Marc was named a member of the Order of Canada and, in 2021, he received the Prix Prospère given by the Conseil du patronat du Québec. In 2022, Marc Parent was inducted into Quebec’s Air and Space Hall of Fame and named Industry Leader of the Year by Living Legends of Aviation in the United States. Also in 2022, Marc was named a Knight of the distinguished Ordre national du Québec and was awarded the Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Award by Aviation Week.

In 2012, Marc received an honorary doctorate the Polytechnique Montréal. He is also  graduate of the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

Marc lives with his spouse Isabelle and is the proud father of three children: Alexandre, Sabrina and Stephanie.