Learning to fly in Canada

“We have seen a dramatic increase in students coming from overseas,” says John Davis, President of Canadian Flight Academy in Oshawa, ON, which also has a sister training school, Toronto Airways, in Markham, ON. “Most of these have been coming from India. India has seen rapid expansion of its airline industry, which has resulted in the country’s inability to train [enough] pilots. The airlines have hired away most of the country’s instructors forcing students to look elsewhere for the training.”

Lary Loretto from Ottawa Aviation Service in Ottawa, ON, agrees that job opportunities for pilots are definitely increasing in many countries. “To give you a picture, in the last two years our graduates have gone to almost every country that used to be behind the iron curtain, plus Kenya, Pakistan, Ireland, India, UK, Romania, Switzerland and the Cormeros Islands,” he says.

As well as the wealth of job opportunities available for trained pilots, Yves Le Roux at Passport Hélico in Montreal, QC, points out another reason why international students particularly choose to study for their pilot’s licence in Canada. “We get quite a few students from Europe,” he says. “They come here to obtain a professional rotary wings licence because it is cheaper in Canada.” However, he adds, “We’ve had [fewer] European students recently and we think it is because of the depreciation of the euro versus the Canadian dollar.”

While flying schools in Canada are keen to welcome international students into their classrooms, many stress that the most important entry requirement is a high linguistic ability and few provide extra tuition in this area. “Our function is to train students to become pilots. We don’t organise accommodation, visa applications, employment, transportation and language training,” notes Shawn Broughton from Brantford Flight Centre in Brantford, ON.

In Quebec, international students have the opportunity of studying in either French or English, which adds to this province’s appeal for European students, according to Le Roux. “Most of [our international students] come from France and we think it is because they see Canadians as cousins,” he says. “There are no entry requirements except to be able to read and comprehend French or English.”

For most flying schools in Canada, staying competitive in regards to cost is the most effective way of attracting new students. At Passport Helico, this awareness of price has resulted in a new programme being developed, as Le Roux explains. “We are implementing a new programme in order to help young pilots to accumulate hours for a very reasonable price,” he says. “This programme will be in place either fall 2006 or in spring 2007.”

However, with oil prices rising worldwide, this price advantage could become more precarious in the future. Loretto says that while they have remained popular with students because “we seem to be a low-cost operator” he also warns, “With energy costs going up this may not last.”