How do you become a commercial pilot in Canada?

[Janing]

Hi, i will be graduating High School soon and my whole life i wanted to have a career flying airplane. I want to end my career by being a commercial pilot in Canada but i have no idea how to get there. I need help from experts and people who know how to do this. I am a Canadian citizen. Thanks!

[Krimson]

Edited for relevance.
Then head to a local flight school or college for training. There are a lot of threads about the most efficient way to get you commercial licence, how to get funding, best schools, etc. Just have a search around.

[Sidebar]

I need help from experts ...

Sorry kid, you're out of luck. No experts here, only opinionated blowhards.

[longjon]

get your private pilot licence

then get your commercial licence

fly some hours to gain experience

become an airline pilot

really not so difficult

[Shiny Side Up]

Your first step will be to get your Category 1 medical. Do this before you start training, best to know that there is nothing physically wrong with you before you start, save yourself some grief. Second you will need to figure out which method of training will work for you to aquire your Private Pilot license. There are a few standard methods.

1) Go to a large flight college/university
2) Go to a smaller Flight Training Unit
3) Aquire the use of an airplane and hire a freelance instructor. Either by purchasing one, entering into a partnership with one, or be fortunate and have a relative you can bum some time off of.

In any case do not put money down on your flight training.

By the time you finish your Private Pilot License, you should then have some sort of idea on what sort of career path as a pilot you want to take. This will somewhat dictate how you go about your Commercial pilot license training. Note that you do not have to take your CPL training at the same place you did your PPL training at. Note that the 3 standard methods above also apply to getting your CPL.


Your first step on CPL training should be to get your night rating. If you choose to go this route, you should also think about doing your seaplane rating and multi engine ratings as well. You will be required to do some cross country flights during this period to increase your solo pilot in command time. There is the option to also do your IFR rating during your CPL or after it. This is up to you, people feel both ways about it, use the search function on this website.

Tips:

1) Do like no one else does and read up on what Transport Canada requires you to get for your licenses. If you can post here then you can also read stuff here. I'll trust you're smart enough to find the relevant documents in the list that the link gets you to.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/p ... m#training

2) Don't be afraid to change instructors/ schools if you feel it is necessary. If you have problems with your instructor, your first step is to make sure the Chief Flight instructor is aware of the problem. If he/she does nothing about the problem, switch schools.

3) Don't put money on account. This can't be stressed enough.

4) Be good at math, have neat printing (yes it matters), and have good reading comprehension skills.

5) Do some research so you know what you want to do with your new CPL at the end. Hint: there are more things that commercial pilots do than fly airliners.

[Colonel Sanders]

No experts here, only opinionated blowhards

Don't be so hard on yourself

Similar question was just asked here, by an Aussie:

http://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments ... in_canada/

[Shiny Side Up]

Best advice from that link:

There are some very good flight schools in Canada run by very good people. Unfortunately you can't tell the difference by looking at websites! Please spend some time with google. Be an informed consumer.

[Colonel Sanders]

You're welcome

[High Flyin]

Hi, i will be graduating High School soon and my whole life i wanted to have a career flying airplane. I want to end my career by being a commercial pilot in Canada but i have no idea how to get there. I need help from experts and people who know how to do this. I am a Canadian citizen. Thanks!

I recently heard a stat that only 1 in 5 pilots who set out for a career in aviation actually make it. Usually the road is long, expensive, and discouraging at times. Not to mention the pay at the beginning is unbearable. I remember doing my license with three other guys my age who all wanted to be commercial pilots, fast forward five years and none are involved in aviation.

[MartinB]

3) Don't put money on account. This can't be stressed enough.

What do you mean by this?

[jpilot77]

It means don't pay upfront. In all the training at different flight schools I've done I always payed after the flight. Some places want you to pay for the ppl or cpl in one lump sum. Don't, if they go under your up sh!t creek without a paddle.

[High Flyin]

3) Don't put money on account. This can't be stressed enough.

What do you mean by this?

When a school tells you you either must put money down, or you'll save 1-2% by paying for training up front, run. If the school goes belly up,you'll be out your entire deposit.

[Shiny Side Up]

Most schools that demand that training be paid for up front, don't offer any srt of incentive to do so as so many students are completely willnig to fork over the money.

[High Flyin]

Most schools that demand that training be paid for up front, don't offer any srt of incentive to do so as so many students are completely willnig to fork over the money.

This is true, but without mentioning names, there are a few schools that will give that 1-2% savings if you keep a $500 reserve on account.

Still, I'd advise against it. I'd rather have my $500 in the bank getting me 2.55% then on reserve saving me 1% on aircraft rentals.

[Shiny Side Up]

"If I give you five hundred dollars to put on my account will I get a discount?"

"Sure!"

"Ok, here's five hundred dollars, what do I get for a discount?"

"What discount?"

"The one I gave you five hundred dollars to put on account for me for."

"What five hundred dollars?"


People need to be wiser with their money.