CAE launches year of celebrations for 70th anniversary

- Starting with 18 employees in a vacant hangar in the suburbs of Montreal, CAE is now an 8,000-people strong global company focused on training

- Unique public company with over $5 billion equity market capitalization

Founded on Saint Patrick's Day in 1947, CAE is launching today a year of celebrations with its 8,000 employees worldwide to commemorate its 70th anniversary. CAE is today a global training company headquartered in Montreal.

"Over the last decades, we've built on our diversity, our passion for excellence and the talent of people all over the world to create a great company," said Marc Parent, CAE's President and CEO. "We come from different countries, different cultures and we have different expertise, but we are united as one team - one team focused on one vision: to be the worldwide training partner of choice to enhance safety, efficiency and readiness. This year, we are going to celebrate CAE's history and bright future."

Employees in each of CAE's 160 sites around the world will participate in celebrations which will continue throughout the year; they include activities, historical videos, a global contest encouraging employees to tell their CAE story, a global family day, and more.

Formerly known as Canadian Aviation Electronics Ltd., CAE was founded seventy years ago on the determination and vision of ex-Royal Canadian Air Force officer, Ken Patrick, who assembled what he called "a war-trained team that was extremely innovative and very technology-intensive."

"Today, innovation is still at the heart of our company," said Marc Parent. "Since our first contract to build a flight simulator for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1952, we transformed ourselves over the years from a simulator manufacturer to a global training company focused on making air travel safer, allowing defence forces to return home safely, and helping medical personnel provide better care. That's something we are really proud of."

CAE's training network, the world's largest, spans more than 65 training centres and flight academies around the globe. In civil aviation, we are the industry leader in cadet-to-captain training. Every year, we train over 120,000 civil and defence crew members and work with more than 300 airlines and major business aircraft operators to increase the safety of air travel. We also provide air, land, naval and public safety training to more than 50 defence forces in approximately 35 countries. We are also the leader in innovative training solutions for the healthcare sector, helping medical personnel to provide better care.

Learn more about CAE's history on our website: http://www.cae.com/about-cae/corporate-information/history/

Watch our first historical capsule: CAE - The Beginnings on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU-k2W7nrxY&t=61s