About the project
Born from the Québec government's desire to maintain the province's competitive position in aeronautics and to pursue efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Greener Aircraft project was launched in 2010. Commonly called SA²GE for ‘Smart Affordable Green Efficient’, the project aimed at the collaborative development of innovative and more environmentally friendly technologies. SA²GE-1 ran from 2010 to 2015. Following the success of Phase 1, a Phase 2 was carried out between 2016 and 2020. The spectacular progress of these two major developmental projects can be consulted in "The Coalition Reports" section of this website.
In the fall of 2018, a Phase 3 was implemented. Following a call for projects from the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, Bell Textron Canada Limited, Bombardier Inc, CMC Electronics Inc and TeraXion Inc were selected to carry out this new phase. Together, the industrial partners will invest more than $27 million, bringing the total value of the project to more than $50 million in eligible expenditures. The government's contributions amount to $25 million.
Finally, in the spring of 2021, another major developmental project was announced to support the economic recovery of the sector after the COVID-19 pandemic which hit the aeronautics industry hard. The collaborative projects of the aircraft of tomorrow (LPCAD) allow 12 Québec companies to collaborate on four independent projects. All these projects target innovation and mobilization objectives.
Supporting innovation
Through major developmental projects, the Québec government provides financial support to private companies so they may combine their efforts to carry out development projects for an innovative product, process, or service, by involving universities, public research centers and SMEs.
Focus on development activities
The SA²GE-3 and LPCAD major developmental project are administered by a non-profit organization, The Coalition for Greener Aircraft, more commonly known by its common name SA²GE, which is responsible for the accountability and progress of the work in accordance with the respective grant agreements and other agreements governing the major developmental project. This organization is under the responsibility of a Board of Directors that are elected every two years. This governance structure ensures sound and efficient project management, while facilitating development activities to achieve the desired impact.
Meeting several times a year, the Board of Directors is composed mainly of industrial partners and other member organizations such as Aéro Montreal (the Québec aerospace cluster), the Consortium for research and innovation in aerospace of Quebec (CRIAQ) and Air Canada (representing the target customers).
Our accomplishements
5 years of development
5 sub-projects
6 partners
28 SMEs mobilized
16 research centers and universities
84 patents filed
2010-2015
5 years of development
4 projects
4 partners
10 SMEs mobilized
12 research centers and universities
2018-2023
2016-2020
5 years of development
5 sub-projects
5 partners
29 SMEs mobilized
17 research centers and universities
513 kilotonnes of CO2-eq avoided
2021-2022
1 year of development
4 projects
12 partners
30 SMEs mobilized
2 years of development
5 projects
8 partners
2022-2024
Governance diagram of projects carried out in SA²GE
