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Marc Parent (born February 5th, 1961) is a French-Canadian business executive, mechanical engineer, and philanthropist. He is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of CAE, a position which he has held since 2009. He also serves on the boards of Telus, the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), McGill University Health Centre Foundation, and the Business Council of Canada (BCC). Parent is also a trustee of the Lakefield College School Foundation, and is a member of the Council of Governors for the greater Montreal branch of the United Way Centraide Canada Organization.

Early life and education
Marc Parent was born in Candiac, Quebec. At the age of 12, he joined the 51st Air Cadet squadron in Ottawa. He later switched to the 783rd Air Cadet squadron in Montreal. Parent obtained his pilot's license through the Air Cadets at the age of 17, making him a certified pilot two years before he learned to drive a car. He remained in the Air Cadets for a total of 6 years.

Parent graduated from the Polytechnique Montréal in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Later that same year, he began working at Canadair as an aerospace engineer.

Career
Canadair and Bombardier

Parent began his engineering career as an aerospace engineer with Canadair in 1984. He started as an engineer on the Challenger and Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) programs. Following the sale of Canadair to Bombardier by the Mulroney government in 1986, Parent continued his work on those programs. In 1987, three years after his initial employment at Canadair, he became manager of the Challenger's mechanical systems, with the mandate of fixing the aircraft's teething problems. In 1990, he was made responsible for setting up the Bombardier flight testing and certification center in Wichita, Kansas. In 1993, Parent's responsibilities were expanded, as he was promoted to project director for the Challenger 604. Soon after Bombardier's acquisition of De Haviland Canada, Parent was put in charge of the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 program. In 1998, he was named as Bombardier's Vice-President, Program Management, making him responsible for all of Bombardier's aircraft development programs, including the Global Express, the Learjet 45, the CRJ, and the upcoming Challenger 300.

From 2000 to 2004, Parent held various executive positions within Bombardier. In 2000, he was promoted to Vice-President, Operations, for Bombardier's De Havilland facility in Toronto, Canada. In 2001, he was named Vice-President and General Manager of Operations for that same facility. In 2003, he was promoted to Vice-President and General Manager, U.S. Operations. In 2004, Parent returned to Bombardier's Montreal facility in order to take on the role of Vice-President and General Manager of the Challenger 300, Challenger 604, 850/870, and CRJ-200 aircraft programs. This is the last position he held at Bombardier.

CAE

In February of 2005, Parent joined CAE to take on the role of Group President, Simulation Products, ending his 25 year career with Bombardier. CAE had been in dire financial straits since 2004, and Parent was ostensibly hired to correct the situation. In 2006, his role in the organization was expanded, as promoted to Group President, Simulation Products and Military Training & Services. His role at CAE was once again expanded in 2008, as he was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, making him effectively CAE's second-in-command. As Executive VP and COO, Parent was responsible for all four of the company's business segments and all new growth initiatives. In November of 2008, Parent joined CAE's board of directors. Following the announcement of CAE's CEO Robert E. Brown's retirement on August 12th, 2009, CAE's board of directors announced that Marc Parent would be chosen as his successor. Parent officially became President and Chief Executive Officer of CAE in October of that same year.

Philanthropy
Centraide

Recognition
doctorat honoris causa