CAE president and chief executive officer Marc Parent has been named CEO of the Year in the large corporation category, by Quebec-based business journal Les Affaires.

To explain its choice, the journal says: “CAE and its leader Marc Parent are often under the radar. However, with Mr Parent at the helm, the Quebec aerospace giant has undergone a major transformation over the last ten years that is propelling it to new heights.” It goes on to say that, thanks to the transformation that led it to become a global leader in training, over the past five years CAE has seen an impressive increase of more than 30 per cent in annual revenue, its stock has nearly doubled, and its civil and defence backlogs are at all-time highs.

“CAE is a global success story thanks to our 9,000 highly talented employees worldwide and their steadfast commitment to customer excellence. This honour is shared with all at CAE and its board of directors,” says Parent. “We are driven by a vision to be the recognised training partner of choice and by our noble purpose. CAE benefits society by making air travel safer, defence forces mission ready, and medical personnel better able to save lives.”

The Honourable John Manley, CAE's chairman of the board, adds: “It is thanks to Marc's vision and leadership that CAE has made such great progress with its training strategy; this recognition is well deserved. CAE has grown to become a world leader, offering the most comprehensive training solutions for customers in the civil aviation, defence and healthcare markets.”

The jury, composed mainly of members of the business community as well as university professors, was asked to assess the vision, innovation, capacity of implementation as well as the achievements of candidates, while taking into account the growth achieved by companies under their leadership.