Bell Helicopter to lay off 300 in Quebec after winning coast guard contract
Quebec plant was helping make new choppers for Canadian coast guard
Bell Helicopter is planning about 300 layoffs at its plant in Mirabel, Que., as part of a global downsizing that will see 1,100 jobs lost.
Bell Helicopter recently won a $156-million contract to build helicopters for the Canadian coast guard on top of a $172-million coast guard order placed in 2014.
The federal government promoted the awarding of a sole-source contract to Bell as a way of creating jobs in Canada.
The Texas-based company says an expected decrease in the production of military helicopters, combined with a failure of the commercial market to rebound, has forced it to review its cost structure.
"Across the industry, global commercial orders and deliveries in the medium market continue to be significantly below forecast," the company said in a news release Tuesday.
Layoffs will affect all employees, union and non-union, management and staff with notices to be handed out between now and the summer.
A company spokeswoman said the number of layoffs in Montreal might be slightly less than 300 if some employees take a voluntary severance package.