I used to work at a flight school at ZBB (Boundary Bay).
There are about 4 good flight schools there, each has its pros and cons.
Canadian Flight Centre (
Welcome to Canadian Flight Centre) is a great school, fantastic staff (somewhat biased) and a well maintained aircraft, though they are getting old. They've recently picked up some new aircraft but have a relatively small fleet. This may be a factor in the busy summer months when all the planes are booked up. Their main selling feature is the staff there. You'll be happy to go to class, and be looking forward to the next lesson. Ron, the owner hires cool people.
Pacific Flying Club (
Pacific Flying Club - i think) is another good school there. Bigger fleet and facilities, though you'll be less noticed as a customer as a result. Well run operation with excellent maintenance. Good facilities. They do the flight training for a local college airline program, so they are well equipped. They have a really nice new simulator that is the best in the the lower mainland
Pro (
www.proifr.com) is probably the best known, though not really sure why. They have a big fleet, lots of good programs but from the staff i've met, are not as personable. The owner talks like a used car salesman, which turned me off right away. Nothing personal, people like that irk me. While a student there, you can expect to make an appointment and have whatever instructor is available at that time to cover. good thing is that you will have better chances of going when it is most convenient for you, the con is that you may or may not have the same instructor, so you'll spend money and time at the beginning of each lesson recapping the previous lesson so the instructor can figure out where you are in your training. They have lodging available for foreign students, which is a nice touch.
Montair is the last but not least. They have good staff and decent fleet. The owner is a douche so be careful around him. Butted heads with him on occasion. Talks to people the way a drill sergeant would talk to a recruit. If you stand up to him he ususally backs down. They have some overseas contracts with China (or was it India) for airline training, so they can bring you from 0 hours through PPL, CPL, IR, Instructor and into a king air 100. They don't do charters from what I know, so don't dream of getting a right seat there.
There are also 1-2 flight schools in Pitt Meadows, Langley and Abbotsford. Boundary Bay is the closest to Vancouver, but one of the hardest to get to. There really isn't a very good transit system to get there from downtown. The other airports are easier to get to from their respective towns but offer less in flight training.
All in all, there is no wrong choice in flight schools. Just which one is best for you. All licenses/ratings/endorsements are the same in the end. Your potential employer will look at them all exactly the same, unless he/she spent time there themselves. The difference will be in the people you will be learning from. I encourage you to email them for information. See if they respond with a personalized "thank you for your interest" letter or a form letter. Are they as interested in having you as a student as you are in being one? If you can pay them a visit, that would be best. Go and feel the 'vibe' of the school. You'll know what I mean when you do it. I've walked into places and stood around for 10 minutes before being noticed. Other places I walked in and was greeted with a warm hello. Needless to say, I gave my money to the latter.
Hope this helps. Feel free to post or PM me if you have any further questions.
Cheers.