Suzanne M. Benoît was appointed President of Aéro Montreal, Québec’s aerospace cluster, at its inception in August 2006. Aéro Montreal brings together major decision makers in Québec’s aerospace sector and aims to optimize the competitiveness, growth and the influence of the industry around the world.

Prior to joining Aéro Montréal, she led the Longueuil Economic Development Agency (LED) as its President and CEO, from its creation in 2002. From 1999 to 2002, she led the foreign investment prospecting team in the Americas division of Investissement Québec. From 1991 to 1999, she held various management positions at Hydro-Québec in the areas of government and institutional relations and industrial and economic development in the utility’s major industrial clients division.

Beginning in 1979, she worked in the federal civil service in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada as assistant director at International Affairs, Industry Canada, responsible for industrial cooperation between Canada and Japan and Canada and South Korea. She was also an assistant director of Marketing-defence products at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

In December 2014, the Prime Minister of Canada officially appointed Ms. Benoît as one of three representatives to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, one of the most important regional forums in the world.

Ms. Benoît is very active in the field of economic development both at the national and international level. She also serves on many boards, namely the executive committee and board of directors of the greener aircraft catalyst project (SA2GE), Sous-traitance industrielle Québec (STIQ), the Conseil Emploi Métropole, the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Québec (CRIAQ), and the Comité sectoriel de la main-d’œuvre en aérospatiale (CAMAQ). Ms. Benoît’s community involvement is also reflected by her honorary role and participation in charitable organizations.

Ms. Benoît holds a bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa. In 2014, she completed corporate director training at McGill University as part of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) program.