With more than 35 years of experience in the Canadian Armed Forces (Royal 22nd Regiment), Brigadier General (ret.) Richard Giguère has had a highly diverse career, ranging from operational theaters (Haiti, Kabul, Kandahar) to the diplomatic arena (Defense Attaché in Washington), as well as the academic sphere (Laval University, École nationale d’administration publique (ENAP), Sorbonne Paris Nord University, and the Joint Defense College in Paris). As the founder of a leadership consulting firm and a regular speaker at the École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce, he understands the needs and challenges of small and medium-sized businesses and is eager to put his extensive experience to work for them.

BGen (ret) Richard Giguère has accumulated over 35 years of experience in the Canadian Army.

Deployed among others in Germany, Haiti, Kabul and Kandahar, he was also a military attaché for three years at the Canadian Embassy in the United States in Washington. He had the privilege of ordering the 2^E Royal 22 Battalion^E Regiment and the Citadelle of Quebec, the Quebec Land Force Sector (now the 2^E Canadian Division) and Joint Task Force (East), and the Canadian Forces College Toronto, whose mission is to prepare senior military and civilian leaders (Canadian and international) to meet complex defence and security challenges.

Following his military retirement, he became an expert in residence at the École Supérieure d'Études Internationales de l'Université Laval where he teaches, among other things, a multidisciplinary seminar on international security, associate professor and trainer at the École Nationale d'Administration Publique (ENAP), and a lecturer at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi. A regular speaker at the École d'Entrepreneurship de Beauce (EEB), he is also a trainer at the Institute of Diplomacy of the Ministry of International Relations and Francophonie of Quebec.

Graduated from the École Interde Défense de Paris (École de Guerre), he holds a bachelor's degree with a specialization in military and strategic studies from the Royal Military College of Saint-Jean and a postgraduate diploma specialized in strategic studies from the University of Paris XIII (Sorbonne Paris-Nord). He completed training at the Harvard Kennedy School (Senior Executives in National and International Security) and at the United States Joint and Combined Warfighting School in Norfolk, Virginia. President of the Institut Militaire de Québec, he was honorary colonel of the Saguenay Regiment, an infantry unit in the Canadian Army Reserve, from 2019 to 2025.

With two colleagues, in 2017, he founded a consulting company, Ducimus Groupe Conseil, which specializes in the development of executive leadership skills.

With 4,000 employees, a $220 million budget, and $2.4 billion in assets under management—Gerry Champagne has led organizations as complex as some armed forces. Now, he helps small and medium-sized businesses think like defense integrators.

Gerry Champagne is a bilingual strategic leader recognized for his ability to manage complex organizations in environments with high operational, budgetary and regulatory intensity. His career is at the heart of the issues of operational readiness, organizational transformation and optimization of resources — key levers in the implementation of Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS).

He has led unionized and non-unionized organizations with over 4,000 employees, coordinated multi-site multi-functional teams, and administered operating budgets of up to $220 million, as well as asset portfolios of up to $2.4 billion. His leadership has significantly improved organizational agility, operational performance and financial discipline in contexts of increased constraints.

His expertise covers in particular:

• Strategic planning and organizational alignment in a context of transformation
• Operational excellence and organizational readiness
• Crisis management and integrated risk management
• The transition from national mandates to global operations
• The implementation of integrated corporate systems that promote predictability, resilience and the optimization of resources

Among its structuring achievements is the implementation of an Integrated Operational Readiness Management System at the corporate level, contributing to maximizing the efficiency of limited resources and supporting sustainable performance in highly demanding environments.

As a member of Inno-centre's Defence & Security Strategic Council, Gerry Champagne brings a thorough understanding of the operational and strategic requirements specific to the defence sector. Its contribution contributes to orienting the support of SMEs towards:

• Structured integration into strategic supply chains
• Strengthening organizational and operational capacities
• The emergence of agile and competitive Canadian integrators
• Alignment with the objectives of industrial sovereignty and economic resilience supported by SID

His expertise supports Inno-centre's mission: to strengthen the capacity of Canadian SMEs to play a strategic role in critical sectors for the economic and security future of the country.

Following a 35-year career in the Royal Canadian Navy, where he commanded ships and training units and ended his career as deputy commander, Admiral Couturier entered the business world.  Since embarking on this journey, he has served as CEO of Federal Fleet Services, the company that operates the Astérix; the Canadian Navy’s sole supply ship, and COO of Levio Conseil, a business and technology transformation firm.  Gilles embodies the successful transition from military service to the business world—exactly the path that Inno-centre charts for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Rear Admiral (ret) Gilles Couturier retired from the Royal Canadian Navy in May 2018 after 35 years working with extraordinary Canadians. During his career he commanded a ship in 2006, the Pacific Maritime Forces in 2016 and served as Deputy Naval Commander from 2017 until his retirement.

He then joined the firm Levio Conseil after his service in the navy, where he held the role of COO for 3 years, among other things.

He is currently responsible for one of the business units.

Gilles also held the position of CEO of Federal Fleet Services from 2020 to 2022, a firm responsible for managing the Astérix ship; the service tanker within the Royal Canadian Navy.

The Major (ret.) Nicolas Eldaoud served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 35 years. During his career, he was deployed to Croatia, on the Iraq-Kuwait border, and in 2007, he participated in the Joint Task Force Afghanistan as commander of the National Support Element.

At home, he held several important positions, including those of commander of the 5th Service Battalion in Valcartier, commander of the 202th Workshop Depot in Montreal and, upon promotion to Brigadier-General, commander of the 5th Canadian Division.

During his postings at Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, he held the position of Director - Arms Support Program Management, which is tank and artillery system support, as well as the position of Director of Combat Services Support for the Canadian Army. As a general officer, he successively held the positions of Chief of Staff of Operations of the Military Personnel Command and that of Chief of Strategic Staff. This last function allowed him to set up the guidelines for an unprecedented project of national scope, i.e. a new vision for the modern and adapted management of military personnel. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, a master's degree in defence studies, and a master's degree in security policy and management.

From the Valcartier defense research laboratory to Canadian aerospace collaborative research consortia, and including Hydro-Québec’s research laboratory: Dr. Denis Faubert has spent his career aligning R&D with his clients’ needs and transforming it into economic drivers for the industry.

Denis Faubert holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean, as well as a master's degree and a doctorate in physics (laser) from Laval University.

He has devoted his career to research and development (R&D) and innovation. He has held numerous positions of responsibility, including those of director general of the Valcartier Defence Research Center, director general of programs for all Canadian defence research laboratories in Ottawa, and senior director of the Hydro-Québec R&D laboratory (IREQ) in Varennes. He also chaired the Sensors and Electronics Technology Commission of the NATO Research and Technology Organization. Subsequently, he managed two aerospace research and innovation consortia (CRIAQ and CARIC) in Montreal.

As a self-employed worker, he supported the launch of the SCALE AI artificial intelligence super cluster in Montreal, supported the aerospace community in obtaining a funding request under the federal “Strategic Innovation Fund” program from the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and helped Concordia University start its grant under the federal Apogee program.

He has served on various boards of directors and is still active in PINQ2, an organization dedicated to quantum computing, and L'Ile-du-Savoir, organizer of the major Eureka science festival in Montreal. He also gives his time to the technological development of SMEs and young companies.

A recognized strategic leader, Sylvain Sirois brings unique expertise in critical infrastructure, major project management and defence capability development. He now puts this experience at the service of SMEs and Quebec’s defence and security ecosystem.

Major-General (Ret’d) Sylvain Sirois, OMM, CD, Eng. served in the Canadian Armed Forces for more than 38 years. He held numerous command and staff positions. He had the privilege of commanding 5 Combat Engineer Regiment in Valcartier and the 5th Support Group, now the 2nd Canadian Division Support Group. He worked within the Assistant Deputy Minister (Infrastructure and Environment) organization as manager of major construction, renovation and environmental remediation projects, then as Chief of the Canadian Military Engineers and deputy to the Assistant Deputy Minister for the management of the Defence real property portfolio. He also served within the Canadian Army training system during the war in Afghanistan and on the transition of the Canadian Forces personnel and pay management system. He had the privilege of serving Canada abroad: the Caribbean, Croatia, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Sylvain holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in Defence management and policy from the Royal Military College. He is also a graduate of the Command and Staff Course and of the National Security Programme at the Canadian Forces College.

Since leaving the Canadian Armed Forces, Sylvain has been involved in several organizations. He is a member of a board of directors that awards scholarships for a reserve unit. He served as vice-president and president of the Société d’histoire des filles du Roy, and takes part in various activities at Legion Branch 99 in Cowansville in support of regional members.

A tactical helicopter pilot and former defense attaché in Moscow and Kyiv, Colonel (ret.) Pierre St-Cyr is one of the few Canadian voices to have been observing this conflict since its very beginning in 2014.  Sought after as an expert, he possesses the expertise and experience needed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to operate within the defense industry.

Colonel (ret) St-Cyr joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1978 where he obtained his military pilot's license and his officer's commission in 1981.

During his military career, he held several supervisory positions while accumulating more than 5,400 hours of flight time on various Tactical Aviation aircraft. He had the privilege of commanding 430 Squadron (ETAH) from 2003 to 2005.

He served as a staff officer at the headquarters of the 10th Tactical Air Group (TAG) as a project officer for the Canadian Forces Tactical Transport Helicopter (CH 146) and as an Air Safety Officer for the 10th GAT. He also acted as a National Defence liaison officer with the Canadian Space Agency.

Colonel (ret) St-Cyr's international experiences include the following assignments; Adviser to the Canadian Ambassador at the Canadian United Nations Mission in New York; Operations Officer and Deputy Commander of the Helicopter Squadron of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH); Commander of the Canadian Contingent Helicopter Detachment to the Canadian Contingent's Helicopter Detachment to the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) in New York; Director of the Evaluation Program at the Headquarters of the Allied Forces (UNMIH); Commander of the Canadian Contingent Helicopter Detachment to the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Director of the Evaluation Program at the Headquarters of the Allies' Forces in Haiti (UNMIH); Commander of the Canadian Contingent Helicopter Detachment to the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Director of the Evaluation Program at the Headquarters of the Allies' Forces Europe (SHAPE) in Mons - Commandant Deputy of the Canadian Task Force while simultaneously serving as commander of the Canadian helicopter detachment with the Multinational Interim Force (MIF) and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH); Senior Advisor to the Strategic Advisory Team in Kabul — Afghanistan. In addition, he was the Liaison Officer of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command (COMFEC) and the Task Force Afghanistan (FO Afgh) at the NATO Joint Forces Headquarters in Brunssum in the Netherlands. Colonel St-Cyr (ret) was deployed for the third time to Haiti as Chief of Staff of the United Nations military force for stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

After learning the Russian language, Colonel St-Cyr was, from 2010 to 2012, the Canadian Defence Attaché at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow — Russia while being accredited in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 2010 to 2012. He then worked as a Canadian Defence Attaché at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv during the period of the 2014 Ukrainian crisis. During this period, he was also accredited as a Defence Attaché in Bulgaria, Moldavia and Romania.

Colonel (ret) St-Cyr is the first Canadian citizen to receive three Meritorious Service Medals (MSM).

Colonel (ret) St-Cyr completed a bachelor's degree in military and strategic studies from St-Jean Military College and holds a master's degree in project management from the University of Quebec (UQAM & UQTR).  

Colonel (Ret) St-Cyr left the Canadian Armed Forces after nearly 37 years of service. Since then, he has been a lecturer at the University of Montreal, a mentor for the training of Canadian Defence Attachés, a trainer since 2018 at the Winter School on the Practice of International Relations at Laval University, a professor at the Advanced Leadership Program at the Robert Osside Institute at the Royal Military College of St-Jean, and was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Military College in St-Jean, and was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corps of Commissionaires du Québec and served as Director of the National Committee of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires. from June 2020 to June 2024.