Marc Parent (executive)

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Marc Parent
CM
Marc Parent Headshot CAE.jpg
Born (1961-02-05) February 5, 1961 (age 64)
Verdun, Quebec (now Montreal), Canada
Education (B.Eng.)
Alma mater École Polytechnique de Montréal
Years active1984-present
Board member of Telus
McGill University Health Centre Foundation
Awards Order of Canada CAN Order of Canada Companion ribbon.svg [1]

Marc Parent CM (born February 5, 1961) is a French-Canadian business executive, mechanical engineer, and philanthropist. He is the former CEO of CAE Inc., a position he held until August 2025. He also serves on the board of directors for Telus and McGill University Health Centre Foundation.

Contents

Early life and education

Marc Parent was born in Verdun, Quebec. [2] At the age of 12, he joined the 51st Air Cadet squadron in Ottawa. He later switched to the 783 Air Cadet squadron in Montreal and obtained his pilot's license through the Air Cadets at the age of 17. [3] [4] [5]

Parent attended Polytechnique Montréal where he graduated in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. [6] In 2012, he received an honorary doctorate from the same institution. Parent is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. [7]

Career

Canadair and Bombardier

Parent began his career as an aerospace engineer with Canadair in 1984, starting as an engineer on the Challenger and Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) programs. [8] He continued working on these programs following the sale of Canadair to Bombardier in 1986. In 1987, he became manager of the Challenger's mechanical systems group, with the mandate of fixing the aircraft's teething problems. [2] In 1990, he was made head of Program Management for the CRJ aircrat flight test program at the Bombardier flight testing and certification center in Wichita, Kansas. [2] In 1993, Parent was promoted to project director for the Challenger 604. [2]

Following Bombardier's acquisition of de Havilland Canada, [9] Parent was put in charge of the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 program. [2] He was made Bombardier's Vice President of Program Management in 1998, making him responsible for all of Bombardier's aircraft development programs, including the Global Express, the Learjet 45, the CRJ, and the Challenger 300. [2] [10]

From 2000 to 2004, Parent held various executive positions within Bombardier. He was promoted to Vice President of Operations for the company's De Havilland facility in Toronto, Canada, [10] and in 2001, he was named vice president and general manager of operations for the same facility, responsible for Q100/200/300/400 and Global Express aircraft programs. [10] He became the vice president and general manager, U.S. operations in 2003. [10] In 2004, Parent returned to Bombardier's Montreal facility where he became the vice president and general manager of the Challenger 300, Challenger 604, 850/870, and CRJ-200 aircraft programs. [10]

CAE Inc.

In February 2005, Parent joined CAE to take on the role of Group President of Simulation Products. [11] In 2006, he was promoted to Group President of Simulation Products and Military Training & Services [7] and in 2008 promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer, joining the company's board of directors the same year. [7] [12] Parent became president and CEO of the company in October 2009. [13]

With the shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and ventilators in Canada at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the loss of revenue caused due to travel restrictions related to the pandemic, [14] Parent shifted CAE's focus towards helping Canada's COVID-19 response. Under Parent's leadership, CAE developed the CAE Air1™ ventilator, signing a contract with the Government of Canada to manufacture and supply 10,000 ventilators. [15] In 2021, Parent led the charge in a mobilization effort with many large Quebec and Canadian companies to work with the government so they could expedite the vaccination effort by opening their own "vaccination hubs" for employees. [16] CAE's vaccination centre opened in April 2021 and administered over 33,000 doses of vaccine. [17]

During his time as CEO of CAE, the company became the first carbon neutral Canadian aerospace company, [18] [19] and in November 2022, CAE was voted as one of Canada's top employers. [20] Company revenue also doubled to $4.3 billion during his time as CEO. In 2024, Parent announced he would be retiring from CAE and left his role in the company in August 2025. [21]

Other corporate activities

Parent chaired the board for Aero Montreal, Quebec's aerospace cluster, from 2008 until 2010. [22] He is a past board member and chair for the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC). He also served as a member of the board of directors and executive committee for the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). [7]

As of 2025, Parent serves on the board of directors of Telus [23] and the McGill University Health Centre Foundation. He also served on the Business Council of Canada. [7] [24] [25]

Philanthropy

Parent is a trustee of the Lakefield College School Foundation, [26] and is a member of the Council of Governors for the greater Montreal branch of the United Way Centraide Canada Organization. [27] In 2013, he joined Michael E. Roach as co-president of the Centraide Cabinet de Campagne. [28]

In 2019, Parent made a donation of $3 million to Lakefield College School for the construction of a new student residence. The new residence was named "Parent House" in his honor. [29] In 2019, he joined Jean Raby as co-president of the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal (MBAM) Ball. [30]

In 2020, Parent made a $100,000 donation to the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation. The funds were used to support research using the Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19). [31] [32] In 2020, he joined Suzanne Legge Orr and Jean Charest as co-chairs of the MUHC Foundation's Dream Big campaign. [33]

Personal life

Parent is an active pilot, holding an Airline Transport Pilot ratings from Transport Canada. [34] He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2020 and inducted into the Québec Air and Space Hall of Fame in 2022. [1] [35] He was also named a Knight of the Ordre Nationale du Québec in 2022. [36] [37]

References

  1. 1 2 General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor (2020-11-26). "Governor General Announces 114 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cloutier, Laurier (2000-12-28). "L'homme qui donne des ailes à de Havilland" [The man who gives wings to de Havilland]. La Presse (in French).
  3. ↑ "Une vision porteuse de transformation : Marc Parent, Po 84, génie mécanique, président et chef de la direction de CAE". Carrefour de l'actualité (in French). 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  4. ↑ "Testimonials". Air Cadet League of Canada. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  5. ↑ Laffont, Nicolas (2015-01-28). "Nouvelle formule pour le Spectacle aérien international de Bagotville 2015" [New formula for the 2015 Bagotville international air show]. 45eNORD (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  6. ↑ "Des honneurs à Marc Parent, Pierre Boucher et Antoine Sirard au Gala Prix Mérite 2016 de l'Association des diplômés de Polytechnique". Carrefour de l'actualité (in French). 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marc Parent, C.M." www.cae.com. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  8. ↑ "MARC PARENT NAMED AS CHAIRMAN OF AIAC". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  9. ↑ Farnsworth, Clyde (1992-01-23). "COMPANY NEWS; Bombardier Agrees to Buy De Havilland From Boeing". New York Times.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "2012 convocation - Polytechnique Montréal awards honorary doctorates to Marc Parent and Éric Mazur". Carrefour de l'actualité. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  11. ↑ "Comment Marc Parent a transformé CAE". www.lesaffaires.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  12. ↑ "MARC PARENT NAMED NEW CEO OF CAE, BROWN RETIRES". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  13. ↑ Ostrower, Jon (2010-07-20). "FARNBOROUGH: Face the facts with CAE chief executive Marc Parent". Flight Global. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  14. ↑ "CAE foresees 'major disruptions' into autumn due to COVID-19 pandemic". CTV News. 2020-05-22. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  15. ↑ "CAE". www.cae.com. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  16. ↑ INC, CAE. "Vaccination in the workplace: CAE takes action to help accelerate vaccination against COVID-19 in Quebec". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  17. ↑ "Corporate vaccination operation begins Monday at CAE in Montreal". Montreal. 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  18. ↑ "CAE becomes first Canadian aerospace company to commit to carbon neutrality on GreenAir Online". www.greenaironline.com. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  19. ↑ "CAE becomes first Canadian aerospace company to become carbon neutral". Vertical Mag. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  20. ↑ "CAE". www.cae.com. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  21. ↑ "CAE chief executive Marc Parent to leave company in August 2025". Financial Post. 12 November 2024.
  22. ↑ "Marc Parent". www.aeromontreal.ca. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  23. ↑ "Board Members and Committees - Corporate Governance". TELUS. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  24. ↑ "Marc Parent, TELUS Board of Directors Bio - About". TELUS. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  25. ↑ "Our Members". Business Council of Canada. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  26. ↑ "Foundation Trustees". www.lcs.on.ca. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  27. ↑ "Council of Governors". centraide. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  28. ↑ "Les présidents de CAE et de CGI à la tête du cabinet de la prochaine campagne Centraide". centraide (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  29. ↑ "Historic Week for Lakefield College School". Lakefield College School. 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  30. ↑ "Profit net record de plus de 1 600 000 $ pour le Bal du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal". www.mbam.qc.ca (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  31. ↑ "CAE's Marc Parent donates to support research using the Biobanque québécoise". MUHC Foundation. 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  32. ↑ QMI, Agence. "Gros don du président de CAE à la Fondation du CUSM". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  33. ↑ "MUHC Foundation launches $200M Dream Big Campaign". McGill Reporter. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  34. ↑ "Marc Parent". Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.
  35. ↑ André Allard (2020-11-30). "Marc Parent nommé à l'Ordre du Canada". Les Ailes du Québec (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  36. ↑ "Marc Parent – Ordre national du Québec". www.ordre-national.gouv.qc.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  37. ↑ "CAE's CEO Marc Parent named a Knight of the distinguished Ordre national du Québec and inducted into Québec's Air and Space Hall of Fame". Canadian Aviation News.
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