Civil Aviation Medicine number not getting through

[Flight_Student]

Hi,

Has anyone called Civil Aviation Medicine Toronto at 416 952 0562 recently?
I received an email from Transport Canada to contact this number regarding my medical. I tried calling at various times of the day yesterday and today and it seems that it's not getting through at all. Not even a waiting line, just straight to the voice mail.

Maybe some times are better than others? Any ideas?

[DHC-1 Jockey]

I’ve been trying literally for months to get through by phone and email. I had to send in some specialist reports back in March before they could renew my CAT 1. I sent them in and I’ve been trying to confirm that they have them and that my medical is valid.

The only saving grace is I’m laid off and probably won’t be working for the foreseeable future, so there’s no huge rush for me.

[Flight_Student]

Thanks, that doesn't sound very promising...

[Inverted2]

I did my online medical in May and tried to get confirmation that they got it through phone and email and never heard back so I assume they got it. If not I’m still flying so at least I tried.....

[contactapproved]

Leave a message saying you have an unpaid balance and they'll probably return your call within the day. I remember trying to get through when they did the big document book renewal and recall finally getting on with a person by going through their finance department...Although I do applaud who ever I dealt with in PNR (Edmonton) with my attestation. They kindly sent me a reply email saying I was good for another year after I asked for one when I sent my form in.

[Bede]

TC medical is extremely short staffed. It's difficult to recruit physicians and pay them pilot wages.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

TC medical is extremely short staffed. It's difficult to recruit physicians and pay them pilot wages.

It’s not the medical itself or the doctors that’s the issue... it’s simply trying to get a hold of someone in the office on the administrative side to simply confirm that they have received the additional information they required. Until I have that confirmation, I am unable to exercise the privileges of my ATPL as per a letter they sent me back in early May.

[Flight_Student]

Agree with Jockey.
How difficult would it be to have a waiting line or call-back service?
Think Telehealth Ontario or the CRA. I'm sure they are both understaffed and overused during the pandemic, but after a while you can still get ahold of them.

[skyboy]

I had to deal with TC medical aviation in Ottawa last spring and i let me tell you : this was the worst gong show i ever seen in my life.
1st, you cannot call them. You must leave a voice mail and somebody might call you back one week later !!! and don't miss the phone call.. otherwize you are back at playing the voice mail game again.
2nd, they do not accept email... fax only!!! wtf....hello Mcfly ????
3rd, when i was able to speak to a real TC doctor (finally) after 3 months of bs... he told me that they are so short staff at TC, they have a backlog of over 1 year.

This place is total and absolute mess!

my two cents

[Civic]

You can’t get a hold of anybody at TC! I tried and still no replies after 4 Or 5 emails .

[Flight_Student]

I had to deal with TC medical aviation in Ottawa last spring and i let me tell you : this was the worst gong show i ever seen in my life.
1st, you cannot call them. You must leave a voice mail and somebody might call you back one week later !!! and don't miss the phone call.. otherwize you are back at playing the voice mail game again.
2nd, they do not accept email... fax only!!! wtf....hello Mcfly ????
3rd, when i was able to speak to a real TC doctor (finally) after 3 months of bs... he told me that they are so short staff at TC, they have a backlog of over 1 year.

This place is total and absolute mess!

my two cents

Am I reading this correctly? If you do your medical and require any further tests it could take a year for them to get back to you??

[twa22]

I don't remember which number I called, but it was the one that gave you an option to select a region, and I actually got a hold of them somehow a few months back. When I called, I selected Prairie region and the lady who picked up was the one who actually received my attestation form via email, and I am in Ontario... i'm pretty sure that the regions don't actually matter, it's whatever staff they have, will pick up the call, irrespective of the region selected by the user. I was told I would receive a confirmation email for my attestation form, but never have...she told me that as long as they have that email on file, my medical is good for another year... so like inverted2, i'm in the same boat, I just have the form with my license when I fly...

[Flight_Student]

Just to update here in case others are having the same issue.

The phone line simply doesn't work, I'm not even sure if anyone is checking the voicemail.
But it took them about a week to reply to my email (the second more concise email, first one went un-replied).
Once I got hold of the right person, they were quite helpful.

Also my Cat 3 medical came in about 3 months after the exam, so, all in all, wasn't too bad.

[2R]

They have caller ID . Try calling from the lottery store they will pick up on the first ring