Bombardier slashes 200 jobs in Toronto in favor of outsourcing

TORONTO — Bombardier Aerospace and its union have agreed on a plan for cutting 200 positions. The company will cut positions from its Q400 manufacturing operation in Toronto so some work can be outsourced to other countries.

Bombardier will be offering training and transfer opportunities within the company to some of its employees currently in those positions. Others will be offered retirement packages under the agreement with Unifor.

In November, the aerospace giant announced that it planned changes to help make its products more profitable and competitive in the long-term. A Bombardier spokeswoman says this is just one part of that five-year plan.

Bombardier plans to make the Q400 wings in Mexico and cockpits in China, for final assembly in Toronto.

The Toronto operation currently has about 3,500 employees. Of those employees, approximately 1,400 work on the Q400, a turboprop used by commercial airlines around the world. Toronto-based Porter Airlines and WestJet’s Encore service are among the Q400’s customers.

Besides the Q400s, Bombardier does final assembly of the Global Express 5000 and 6000 business jets in Toronto. The Downsview plant is also scheduled to work on the longer-range 7000 and 8000 Global Express jets.

Bombardier spokeswoman Marianella de la Barrera said it’s too soon to say how many of the Q400 positions will be eliminated through retirements and how many will be dealt with through retraining and other mitigation measures.

“We can’t speculate until we’ve done the exercise with the union,” de la Barrera said Monday.

Scott McIlmoyle, president of Unifor local 112, was unavailable for comment.