pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

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Yqmatc123
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pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by Yqmatc123 »

Like the title says, looking to hear from people as to what life is like at NavCanada. I got offered a VFR course and I’m just looking for some more info. I know NavCanada has a good reputation as an employer, and that CATCA is a strong union, but just looking to hear from people on the pros and cons of being an ATC (ex. Pay, benefits, pension, vacation, etc.).

Cheers!
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HouseholdCats
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Re: pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by HouseholdCats »

Yqmatc123 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 5:13 pm I know NavCanada has a good reputation as an employer, and that CATCA is a strong union
:lol:
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airraptor2023
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Re: pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by airraptor2023 »

Yqmatc123 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 5:13 pm Like the title says, looking to hear from people as to what life is like at NavCanada. I got offered a VFR course and I’m just looking for some more info. I know NavCanada has a good reputation as an employer, and that CATCA is a strong union, but just looking to hear from people on the pros and cons of being an ATC (ex. Pay, benefits, pension, vacation, etc.).

Cheers!
I mean, it's a pretty giant opportunity that's being offered to you. I'm surprised to hear of anyone making it to the offer stage without knowing everything that is being put in front of them.

$86K-$162K starting salary, full benefits, an ideal stimulating work environment, etc etc etc..

The downside would probably be the demanding training, along with having to move to where you are most needed when you start.
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atcguy98
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Re: pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by atcguy98 »

Lots of OT from what I've read... believe me this job is my dream but even if you're getting paid $150k+, what's the point if you don't have time to enjoy it.
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PAR.CYAW
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Re: pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by PAR.CYAW »

atcguy98 wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:02 am Lots of OT from what I've read... believe me this job is my dream but even if you're getting paid $150k+, what's the point if you don't have time to enjoy it.
even if you worked an entire extra shift every week, that still only puts you at 42 hours. You're never going to come anywhere near working as much as anyone in healthcare, accounting, finance, lawyers etc. but still make much more in most cases.
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Yqmatc123
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Re: pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by Yqmatc123 »

airraptor2023 wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:41 am
I mean, it's a pretty giant opportunity that's being offered to you. I'm surprised to hear of anyone making it to the offer stage without knowing everything that is being put in front of them.
I know quite a bit about Nav, and it’s operations. Maybe my original post made me sound too naive. I’m looking to join Nav to have better quality of life than my current job. I know the pay is great for how much time you work, I’m just wondering about the other stuff. I’d just like to know what people like/dislike about the job.
PAR.CYAW wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:31 am
atcguy98 wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:02 am Lots of OT from what I've read... believe me this job is my dream but even if you're getting paid $150k+, what's the point if you don't have time to enjoy it.
even if you worked an entire extra shift every week, that still only puts you at 42 hours. You're never going to come anywhere near working as much as anyone in healthcare, accounting, finance, lawyers etc. but still make much more in most cases.
This is great info! Thanks
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DHC-1 Jockey
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Re: pros/cons of working at NavCanada?

Post by DHC-1 Jockey »

Yqmatc123 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 5:13 pm Like the title says, looking to hear from people as to what life is like at NavCanada. I got offered a VFR course and I’m just looking for some more info. I know NavCanada has a good reputation as an employer, and that CATCA is a strong union, but just looking to hear from people on the pros and cons of being an ATC (ex. Pay, benefits, pension, vacation, etc.).

Cheers!
The collective agreement is freely available on the Government of Canada ESDC website. You can view it here: https://negotech.labour.gc.ca/eng/agree ... 15909a.pdf

It will answer your questions about schedule, benefits, pay, vacation accrual, etc. For VFR, Towers are classified ATC-1 through ATC-7 based on complexity. The busiest airports (Pearson, Vancouver) are up at ATC-6 and 7 and the smallest towered airports (Windsor, Hamilton) are ATC-1 and 2 with the rest in the middle. Just go to the appendix and you can clearly see the pay for each level. There are lots of pay grids, but as a new employee you'll be on ATC-X, not AI-X or the other grids. Starting pay for a trainee (ATC-0) is just shy of $50,000 per year. When I went through training 6 years ago, I don't even think it was $30,000.

If you qualify, there is a very generous travel and relocation program to help assist you in moving to your new location (Mileage, moving costs, airfare if required, etc).

The schedule is 17 days on and 11 days off in each 28-day period. This typically works out to 6 on, 3 off, 6 on 3 off, 5 on, 5 off OR 6 on, 4 off, 6 on 4 off, 5 on, 3 off and repeat. You can then extrapolate your schedule into the future if you wish, but schedules are produced for every 56 days, and are published 30 days in advance. In other words, I know my schedule out to Oct 30th, and in early October, the next 56 days will be published. If I wanted to know if I'm working a certain day next March, I can just plot out the 28 day periods and would have a reasonable certainty if it looks like it'll be a scheduled day on or off.

Overtime varies from location to location and some towers are severely understaffed, which means lots of voluntary (and involuntary) overtime. Other towers are at staff or slightly overstaffed which means the only overtime available will be if someone books off sick or there's a lot of vacation at the same time.

Pension for you would be 1.1% X best 5 years pay X years of service. For rough numbers, if you started today and retired in 30 years making $160,000 as your best final 5 years, that works out to an annual pension of $52,800 which you'll get till the day you die. Your spouse would get half of that I believe until they pass away.

If you want to move, I believe you're locked into the place you first qualify for 2 years after you get your license. Then you're free to bid to go to another tower. There are restrictions on how many times you can move though I believe, which makes sense because you'd be perpetually training at each location each time you move.

Training is a grind but I found the training environment very supportive. They want you to succeed. You need to show up every day ready to work, and ready to accept criticism. The whole training process could take upwards of 3 years (6ish months Basic Course followed by potentially 2.5 years of on-the-job training if at a busy tower). Smaller towers typically take a year or so of on-the-job training, so you're looking at a minimum of 18 months.

The work environment varies from tower to tower, just as in any job. I'm fortunate to work with a great group of people that make coming to work enjoyable.

In the end, it's a fantastic job with lots of time off. The best part is that at the end of the day, you unplug the headset and walk away. No preparing for that presentation tomorrow. No getting ahead of paperwork before going on vacation. No worries about that project coming due next month. Just unplug, walk away and do it all again tomorrow.
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