Laurent Beaudoin

Laurent Beaudoin launched his career in Québec City in 1961 by founding a firm of chartered accountants, Beaudoin & Blais, soon followed by a second firm, Beaudoin, Morin, Dufresne & Associés. He joined L’Auto-Neige Bombardier in 1963 as Comptroller, became General Manager in 1964 and President and CEO in 1966. When he joined the company, it manufactured snowmobiles that had been designed and commercialized by Joseph-Armand Bombardier, the company founder. Laurent Beaudoin subsequently guided Bombardier’s growth and diversification, at first into rail transportation and later into aerospace. In June 2008, he handed over to his son his responsibilities as CEO and remained Chairman of the Board.

Laurent Beaudoin holds honorary doctorates from the following universities: Université de Montréal (Quebec); York University (Toronto); in Business Administration from Université de Sherbrooke (Quebec); in Economics from Université Sainte-Anne (Nova Scotia); in Civil Law from Bishop’s University (Quebec); in Science from Queen’s University, Belfast (Northern Ireland); in Law from the University of Toronto; in Engineering from Carleton University (Ottawa); in Law from McGill University in Montréal (Quebec); and in Commerce from Concordia University in Montréal (Quebec). He is a Companion of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec.

In April 1991, Laurent Beaudoin received the Canadian Business Leader Award from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Administration. In September 1991, he co-chaired the organization Regroupement Économie et Constitution and, in December, he was named CEO of the Year by the Financial Post and Caldwell Partners. On April 30, 1992, Laurent Beaudoin was honoured as Canada’s International Executive of the Year by the International Chamber of Commerce. In October 1992, he was inducted into the World Trade Hall of Fame by the World Trade Institute and the Greater Los Angeles World Trade Center Association.

On June 1, 2000, Bombardier was awarded the Visions 2000 – Grande entreprise by the Chambre de commerce du Québec. On October 18, 2000, Laurent Beaudoin received the Lifetime Achievement Award through the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 program in Quebec, Canada. On January 25, 2001, he was awarded the Golden Honorary Medal for Duties to the City of Vienna by the City of Vienna. In August 2005, he received the Aguila Azteca Award from the President of Mexico. On May 25, 2006, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation presented him with the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award. In October 2007, Laurent Beaudoin also received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship awarded by the Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, based in Washington, D.C. In January 2011, he was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation.

Since December 2003, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. In October 2010, he became president of FIRST Robotics Quebec.

Laurent Beaudoin was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Economic category in 1989 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.