To Aussie Pilots in Canada

[lokione]

Can any fellow Antipodeans give me some advice on converting my Aust ATPL to Canadian?? I have a Canadian spouse and may have to head over to fly there. What must I do to convert. Should I apply for a working visa or hold off whist getting residency. Which would be more expediant? Would appreciate all feedback. Cheers. :cool: Ps What is the Halifax area like??

[flywestjetcr]

Hi there,
I'm sorry I can't provide any detail on your conversion, but I have lived in Halifax.

Halifax is the national headquarters for Air Canada's regional subsiduary Jazz. They currently have ~141 in furlough with chances of full recall not likely to happen for at least two more years. Canjet is also based out of Halifax. It is a small LCC operating 37-200's and 500's. They are growing slowly so there might be opportunity there. Other company's in the region but not necessarily based in Halifax, are Prince Edward Island Air(Navajo's up to 1900's), Provincial Airlines(King Air's to Saab340's) and Air Labradour(Twinn Otters to 1900D's..maybe Dash8). As well Air Georgian operates a fleet of 1900D's out of Halifax. That company is headquarted in Toronto. There is also asmall amount of corporate flying in the area. Sobey's (Grocer chain/family) has a couple Astra's. The Irvings have a small biz jet fleet based out of SaintJohn,NB. There is also a couple of heli company's that operate to off shore facilities. I believe Cougar Helicopters and Canadian Helicopters may be two players there.

As far as living in Halifax. Is your wife originally from there ? It's a nice small city. The metro is actually comprised of four sub cities.
Halifax on the west side of the harbour, Dartmouth on the east. Bedford at the north end of the harbour and Sackville just beyond Bedford. Cheaper housing prices can be found in Sackville and parts of Darmouth. From the metro it takes anywhere from 20 to 35 mins to drive to the airport. Communities closer to the airport like Lance and Enfield offer small town life with a closer drive. Cost of living is actually higher than where I am in some cases. Real Estate in the metro has definitely gone up but is cheaper than most cities in Canada. Groceries are higher than here in Calgary(excpet for seafood..yummm). Gas is higher. The consumer tax is the HST which is 15%. Most homes are heated with oil which is costlier(especially if you need a new tank).

The weather is definitely Maritime. Rain,fog,sun, and wind all within the same hour. Last July we had a lot of fog. Of course you may have heard about the hurricane that really did a number on the city. Most of the hurricanes that pass over NS our pretty much dead...this one wasn't. Usually winters are mild excpet for the past few years. This year had the big snow dump which closed down the city for a few days. The previous year we had as low as -20C with windchill to -32..and it was a WET cold !!

The landscape is stunning in some areas. It's a small province so very easy to get around and explore. Outdoors people love it as there is lots of opportunity. There is even surfing !! Bring a dry suit though...brrrr. The people are friendly enough except they do have a bit of a hard time accepting those who move there for work. The province has traditionally had high unemployment so when someone from out of province shows up to look for or take a job, it takes time for some of the locales to warm up to you. It wasn't the case for me as pilots always have a built in social network. Usually the spouses find this to be true. In many way's I found the entire province to have that small town feel. There are only ~910,000 people in the entire province(365,00 in the metro). Calgary, AB, has 950,000 in the city.

You may also want to look at applying to Westjet. It is a Calgary based airline and the only base is Calgary, but I know of at least four guys who commute from Halifax. It is a bit of a jump but definitely workable. The min quals are 4000 hours. They usually require in an in-house recommend, but there have been guys who have been hired without. The key is to visit and try to meet the key people...Grant Bestwick(Hiring Captain). Jetsgo is another possibility for you. However, they require that you put up a $30,000 loan for your training that they pay back for you over three years. You leave before that.... They base out of Toronto and Montreal(Md-83's and F100's...low time ~3-400hrs). It would be an easy commute though from Halifax.

Well, hope this info helps and best of luck. Try this link for your conversion questions:


http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/personnel/fore.htm

Correct the jetsgo quals...should read 3-4000 hours...and that is a guess as well.

[lokione]

Great info flywest. You have no idea how much that helps!Appreciate the time put into it.

Any Aussies out there who can give me their take on whether to apply for a work visa from Aust and then do the residency thing once in Canada - or just go over and take it from there?? What would be the quickest way to being employable.

Thanks again Flywest!!:ok: I've got 5000 hours up with some heavy prop time - should be able to talk someone into something??