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 executive positions at Hydro-Québec in the areas of governmental and institutional relations, industrial and economic development in the Commercial Division. 

She  started  her  career  with  the  government  of  Canada  in  Ottawa  and  held  various  senior positions  in  the  International  Affairs  Branch  of  Industry  Canada,  where  she  managed  the industrial  cooperation  between  Canada  and  Japan  and  Canada  and  South  Korea  and  in  the marketing of the defence products in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

 In 2015, the Prime Minister of Canada officially appointed Ms. Benoît as one of three business 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  of  directors,  namely  “Invest  in  Canada”, Greener Aircraft Catalyst Project (SA2GE) and Chair of the Audit & Finance Committee, École de  technologie  supérieure  (ETS),  Sous-traitance  industrielle  Québec  (STIQ),  Conseil  Emploi Métropole,  the  Consortium  for  Research  and  Innovation  in  Aerospace  in  Québec  (CRIAQ), Comité  sectoriel  de  la  main-d’œuvre  en  aérospatiale  (CAMAQ),  Aerospace  Industries Association Canada (AIAC), and the Montreal Country Club.

Ms. Benoît holds a bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa. In 2016, she received the title of corporate director from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) program of the Rotman School of Management and McGill University. 

Ms. Benoît’s community involvement is also reflected by her honorary role and participation in many charitable organizations.