By Vanessa Chiasson
Cory Cousineau’s entry into the defence industry didn’t exactly come overnight. As the president of Voyageur Aviation Corp in North Bay, Ontario, he describes his foray into the field as something which was “truly an organic development over a significant time period.” As someone who has been with Voyageur since 1994, holding many different operational and commercial supervisory roles, Cousineau describes his interest in the defence industry as something that was mainly predicated on the capabilities of the company, saying: “Voyageur is truly a diverse organization, supporting the defence and special mission industry in multiple ways.”
Voyageur provides innovative integrated solutions for special mission aircraft, having adapted numerous commercial aircraft for new roles and missions to serve a variety of clients. The company honed its technical expertise in modifying aircraft for special mission roles to support fleets they directly operate on behalf of their customers. For instance, the company has modified and subsequently operated aircraft in critical care air ambulance and geophysical survey roles. As Voyageur’s depth of experience grew, so did the breadth of its customer base. Before long it evolved to provide special mission modifications in relation to defence contracts for several global customers.
The company also provides experienced deployed in-service support (ISS) from both the perspective of an approved air operator and an approved maintenance organization. For more than 15 years, Voyageur has been one of the largest aircraft fixed-wing dedicated contractors to the United Nations. This has involved the deployment of aircraft and staff throughout the globe, often in remote and challenging environments. Cousineau says: “During this time, we have mastered deployment and support of aircraft for these types of roles. This capability to perform this work on our own fleet of aircraft now translates into providing ISS services for other operators, governments, and the defence sector.”
The continual growth of their modification and ISS capabilities has earned Voyageur two recent key Canadian contract awards, including a three-year agreement to upgrade and modify Transport Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) fleet of three Dash 8-100 and one Dash 7 aircraft with new surveillance equipment, as well as an eight-year ISS and maintenance contract for Canada’s Manned Airborne Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (‘MAISR’) program in conjunction with General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada.
Voyageur’s work with the Dash 7 has been especially memorable for Cousineau. He recalls: “In 2005, we were asked to develop an aircraft survivability equipment (ASE) modification for a Dash 7 regional aircraft. The Dash 7 was selected because of its incredible short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities and the requirement for this performance in the planned operating theatre within Afghanistan. This contract exemplified the breadth of our capabilities in the defence market.” It was a lengthy process and multiple levels of approval were required from the Canadian, American, and Dutch governments. Voyageur’s flight operations teams established a procedure to operate this aircraft with the ASE configured and active, something never done before with a civilian operator. Their efforts resulted in an outstanding success, with this specialty aircraft being deployed, maintained, and operated by Voyageur on behalf of ISAF operations for seven consecutive years. Cousineau says of the accomplishment: “This was a significant source of pride for me and the organization. I am not aware of many organizations that could accomplish the modification, deployment, direct operation, and ISS of this asset, all under one roof.”
For Cousineau, tackling such huge undertakings is all in a day’s work. He describes himself as a proponent of the “nothing-is-insurmountable” school, a trait he suspects he shares with most people working in the defence industry. Having the vision and determination to take on daunting circumstances is something that served Voyageur well during the Ebola healthcare crisis in West Africa. During that difficult period, Voyageur deployed and permanently stationed three regional aircraft and associated civilian crew to support the UN response to the epidemic. They supported the movement of UN/WFP personnel including medical staff, administrative staff, medical supplies, first aid, and food. Cousineau says that the company’s front-line staff for this response showed what he describes as: “Incredible resolve in operating in a region with heightened risk. We established procedures and aircraft modifications to minimize risk and keep our people safe. When the outbreak effectively ended in March 2016 it generated immense pride in reflection. We had been in theatre for nearly two years and we felt like we made a significant difference to the people of the region.”
Cousineau recognizes that the aviation industry is now facing some serious challenges of its own. He observes that there is a nationwide labour shortage for technically qualified people, a situation that reflects what he describes as an “unprecedented shortage on a global scale”. He anticipates that this challenge will define much of the industry over the next few years and says that it will take a combination of grassroots and creative solutions to overcome. Yet there is much optimism in the advice he would offer a young executive on the cusp of entering the defence industry. Cousineau advises them to “Be pragmatic and be empathetic” and to “Understand the challenges of your people and your customers/stakeholder and be straightforward and pragmatic in finding solutions.” He describes the combination of these two qualities as key components in creativity, which he says is “Probably the greatest currency you can bring to the table to grow your career and organization.”
The gradual path that led Cousineau into the defence industry is something that has been very rewarding for him. As he describes it: “I entered the industry organically from other skills and expertise that have developed over the years. Entering the defence industry approximately mid-way through your career provides a unique perspective. The personal reward and growth factor can be very high, working on projects unique in nature that provide significant accomplishment when all said and done.”
In Cousineau’s personal life, he enjoys two hobbies that also require an appreciation for gradual, organic progress. Each spring, he’s busy in his maple patch, making maple syrup. He says that there is “Something about the 40-to-1 sap-to-syrup ratio that I find oddly satisfying. You can find me boiling to midnight many an early spring night.” He’s also a beginner fly-fisherman – and has been for the last 20 years! But 2022 might be the year that everything changes. As he says: “I am really hoping to graduate to the intermediate level this year.”
