Professional Airline Pilot, Canada for Indian students

Program Structure and Time-line

Total duration of the flight training and the initial flight instructor internship is approximately 3 years. All stages of flight training are conducted in Canada to a very high standard by an accredited aviation college. After the completion of flight training phase, all eligible students will be offered an opportunity to apply for the internship phase in order to work as flight instructors, which, in turn, will give them an opportunity to build additional flight time. After pilots achieve 1500 hours of total flight time, students will be able to obtain their Transport Canada (ICAO) ATPL and apply for either airline pilot or ferry pilot internships by using the Canadian Experience Class Program. At the last stage, graduates will be provided permanent airline employment placement assistance service by our company with such airlines as Air India, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Air Aisa, GoAir, Fly Dubai, Emirates, Qatar, Cathay Pacific, Air Asia, Lion Air, Singapore Airlines, Air China, Chinese Airlines, Air Hong Kong, Malaysian Airlines, Jet Star, Tiger Air and many more. Those who elect to stay in Canada using the Canadian Experience Class Program, will be apply for apply for permanent employment with the regional and international airlines in Canada, such as Air Canada Jazz, Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada, West Jet, and so on.

So, how does this program work?

At this stage, student will be required to complete enrollment application form and provide documents for initial consideration by our company. After application details and document screening, student will be contacted for the initial interview to check his/her knowledge of English and conduct the initial screening for the program suitability. (The full list of enrollment requirements is published here >>>) Once all requirements are satisfied, the student will be furnished with the flight training agreement and allocated a ground school class start date. The student will need to make a payment of 5% of the full training cost (to ensure high visa approval rate) and pay all the related administrative fees. The enrollment is conducted with the assistance of our main Indian partner  www.veritastechpilotacademy.org

Transport Canada Class I medical can be taken before or after arrival in Canada. It does not matter if you want to take the medical before or after taking the written exams. veritastech pilot academy FTP admin will book you an appointment with the medical examiner in the metropolitan or greater Toronto area. However, some countries allow pilots to take TC Class I medical locally. Please review this page to see if a TC medical examiner is available in your country/region. Please note: if your country of residence has a certified TC medical examiner, we recommend to pass your medical at your earliest opportunity due to longer than usual (6 months) processing times.

DGCA Ground School & Exams (3 months). In order to ensure that our graduates have a wide spectrum of domestic and international airline employment opportunities with a diverse number of air carriers, as well as to lay foundation for a swift Canadian visa approval process, the students will be required to take DGCA (ICAO-India) ground school and sit through the DGCA theoretical CPL and ATPL exams. The classes are conducted by our Indian partner veritastech pilot academy.org

After arrival in Canada at our partner FPT training center, a student will undergo a short Transport Canada pilot medical (if you have not obtained one before arrival, as per phase 1). After this, student will start his/her theoretical and practical training: ground school and flying. The FTP aims to conduct at least 2 hours of ground school every day and 1-2 hours of flight training together with the ground school. The flight training segment will be subdivided into Private, Instrument and Commercial courses, each giving the student a higher aeronautical license and grade. After completion of this training phase, the student will become a fully-certified Commercial Pilot holding a Transport Canada (ICAO) license, rated to operate single-engine and multi-engine aircraft, both in visual (VMC) and instrument meteorological (IMC) conditions. It takes approximately 200 flight hours to complete this stage.

Students who completed the phase 2 with the required standard of airmanship, safety and English proficiency, will then proceed to obtaining his/her Transport Canada Class IV Certified Flight Instructor rating. The Class IV Instructor Rating certifies the holder of a Commercial Pilot License or ATPL to conduct flight training under the supervision of a Class I or II Flight Instructor working within a Flight Training Unit leading to the issuance of the RPP, PPL, and CPL licenses and the Night and VFR-OTT Ratings. This rating is necessary to facilitate the internship phase of our program, which would afford the student an opportunity to work as a flight instructors and build valuable flight time, as well as get paid for this work. It takes approximately 30 flight hours to complete this stage.

Student, and at this point, a fully-qualified Transport Canada (ICAO) flight instructor, will be offered opportunity to apply for internship as a flight instructor with one of our Canadian FTPs, under the terms of the Canadain The Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP). Our flight centers in Canada are both registered DLIs (Designated Learning Institutions).This means that the students who graduate from this program are eligible to apply for the PGWP. The PGWP allows pilots who have graduated from an eligible Canadian designated learning institution (DLI) to obtain an open work permit (can work anywhere in Canada) to gain valuable professional aviation experience. Students will be offered priority hiring with our FTPs in Canada for the flight instructor position to build valuable flight time for the duration of up to 12 months. Alternatively, or in case that our FTP is full and can not hire any more instructors, Aerocadet will provide internship employment assitance with another flight school or air charter company in Canada. PGWP does not limit students to any one particular flight school or charter company in Canada, so graduates can work at any one of hundreds of aviation companies across the country. The only limitations being are that the employment must be full-time (30+ hours per week), as a pilot (field of study), and can not exceed 24-36 month. Pilots can expect to build way over 1500 hours of total flight time during this period – experience which is required to obtain an unrestricted Canadain ATPL. (veritastech pilot academy will provide comprehensive administrative support for this stage of the program)

Upon completing 18-24 months and over 1500 hours of flight time under the PGWP, Students will be able to apply for the Canadian Airline Transport Pilot license. This license is a full, unrestricted ICAO ATPL and can be converted to any other ICAO ATPL, if needed. Practical and theoretical ATPL exams do not have any specific training pre-requisites, so pilots can take them as soon as they reach personal aeronautical experience of 1500+ hours. The minimum requirements for this licence are experience are: 1500 Flight Hours, incl. 250 PIC, 100 PIC Cross Country, 100 Night, and 25 Night Cross Country PIC, and 75 Hours Instrument; successful completion of a 2 Part Written Exam. There is no Flight Exam required for the issue of the Canadain ATPL.

At this stage, qualified pilots will be able to obtain employment permit in Canada and apply for employment as a first officer in the regional airlines in Canada, such as Jazz , WestJet, etc. This stage is facilitated by taking advantage of the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program. CEC candidates become eligible for an unrestricted work permit, including airline employment, after they have built up at least one year of Canadian work experience as full-time employees (30 hours per month as flight instructor, as per PGWPP). Because the required documentation is minimal, CEC applications are normally processed within six months. As soon as the CEC application is submitted, pilots are allowed to continue employment under CEC/PGWPP until the CEC application is approved. (Applicants under the Canadian Experience Class are not required to show proof of settlement funds). When approved, student becomes eligible to apply for airline pilot internship with any Canadian airline. The work experience must have been obtained after graduating from the program of study. veritastech pilot academy  will provide comprehensive administrative support for this stage of the program. (The Canadian Experience Class point-based system is discussed in detail on our blog here >>>)

This is a back-up option. In an unlikely event that student is unable to obtain Canada’s permanent residency permit, our partner in the Caribbean Global Air BVI Inc, will offer him/her employment as an international ferry pilot. This position requires pilot to work on the charter pilot basis, performing 1-2 aircraft repositioning flights per month from various destination around the world to North America and Europe using the D-type crew visa. The company will provide all the necessary training and visa support. The student will be able to build over 500 hours of valuable international cross-country flight time on various types of light piston and turbine aircraft with MTOW below 7500kg. (veritastech pilot academy  will provide comprehensive administrative support for this stage of the program)

At this stage student can convert his/her Canadian flight crew license to Indian flight crew license. The conversion process is fairly easy for those applicants who already passed their DGCA ATP exams with  veritastech pilot academy, and is fully-supported by them. This phase is not required, but recommended to ensure that students can apply for airline pilot positions in the domestic employment market. Despite the Indian market being competitive, our graduates will have a huge advantage over the competition, not only because they would have both ICAO Canadian pilot licenses and ICAO Indian pilot licenses, but also because they would be fully airline employment ready: with high total flight time, high jet flight time, and valuable airline environment flying experience,as well as excellent recommendation letters from several companies (veritastech pilot academy   ,Global Air, HATS and the internship companies).

This option is offered to the graduates who have completed at least 2 years of employment with a regional airline in Canada flying CRJ-700/900 or EMB-175 or Q-400 aircraft as first officers (see stage 5a). At this point, our company will continue fostering your pilot career by offering a comprehensive airline employment support with the leading airlines in Indian, as well as most Asian and Middle Eastern countries. There is no limit to the assistance program: we will continue our support until the graduates get permanent airline employment. Of course, it is conditional on the graduate’s passing the airline employment interview. Please note: this service is offered both to internship Option 6A and internship Option 6B graduates. However, internship Option 5A will be able to receive the fast-track placement, meaning that their employment placement should not take longer than 6 months. The graduates of Option 6B internship will receive a continues placement support, but the company will not be able to guarantee the total time it would take to place them with the airlines. (veritastechpilotacademy.org will provide comprehensive administrative support for this stage of the program).

Alternatively, graduates may opt to apply for Canadian permanent residency using the CEC immigration program, and continue working for Canadian airlines.

We are confident, that in view of growing pilot deficit in the World, and a unique and robust nature of our ATPL program, Students will be able to obtain airline employment within 2-4 months after completion of their internships.

FTP Selection: Canada East vs. Canada West

The flight training and internship phases are conducted by one of the two available FTPs in Canada: the Toronto Airways Inc (Canada East), or the Canadian Aviation College (Canada West). It is up to student to decide which FTP he/she wants to attend. Here is a short table which outlines main differences between the FTPs:

Ultimately, it is up to each student to decide which FTP is right for them. However, here is a summary of our recommendations:

Canada-West FTP. Pros: Milder winters, which means more flying during this period. Cons: Higher cost of living, fewer part-time employment opportunities.

Canada-East FTP. Pros: Lower cost of living, more part-time employment opportunities. Cons: Colder winters, more frequent snowfalls and winds, which can disrupt training.

Recommendation. If you are looking to complete your flight training quickly and have a higher budget, we recommend Canada-West FTP. If you are more concerned with the cost of living and part-time employment opportunities, we recommend Canada-East FTP.

Additional Considerations. Weather: Canada-East FTP is subject to the weather patterns caused by the Great Lakes, which means colder winters, more frequent snowfalls, and wind. This can disrupt training during the winter time. Canada-West FTP has milder winters, which prevents frequent snow-falls and allows more flying during this period. Cost of living: The cost of living in Western Canada is higher than in Eastern Canada. This includes the cost of housing, food, and transportation. Part-time employment: There are more part-time employment opportunities in the Toronto area than in Pitt Meadows. This is because Toronto is a larger city with a more diverse economy.

Conclusion. Both Canada-West FTP and Canada-East FTP are excellent options for flight training. The best choice for you will depend on your individual needs and preferences.