Any Canadian ATCO here?
 

Hi there!

I'm thinking about going abroud and applying to Navacanda. Can anywone tell me about working conditions, working hours, salary etc?

Thanks for help,
:-)

Hmmmm, yes.............

Send me a PM with your questions. :ok:

As I got it, they had a stop for conversions until summer of 2007.

Careful there! Jerricho is a bl**dy Oztrayan. ;)

Lots of rumour and speculation going on. Last check was they were looking for tower only (that's on the website) and I believe the contact listed on the website is away on maternity leave.

Union site: www.catca.ca

Corporate: www.navcanada.ca
click "Careers"

Canadian aviation forum: www.avcanada.ca
click "ATS Questions".

Who's that jerk-off "Jerricho" on AvCanada?

Who's that jerk-off "Jerricho" on PPRuNe?

Who's that jerk-off "B-L" :E :E

What's a jerk-off?

Look up AlanM in the dictionary.

(Sorry to EDDK-2001 for the outrageous hijacking of this thread.)

EDDK

I am probably the most recent foreigner to move to NAV Canada..well in Toronto at any rate.

PM me if you have any questions. There are afew Brits in Toronto, Jerricho is in Winnipeg along with others I believe.
Not sure how many there are in Vancouver..do you know if any Jerricho??

Plenty of folk can give you info.

There's another bl**dy Oztrayan in Vancouver. ;)

One lonely Brit left in Edmonton!!!!

He might also wonder why a LHR controller is butting in!!! (lol)

You don't have to be Canadian to provide information on Nav Canada rates of pay, conditions, etc - do you?

OK then, as LHR controllers know everything, let Gonzo enlighten us on his Nav Canada experience.

Is it me, or has it gone quiet.......

There were 2 there I knew of before I left the Uk nearly 3 years ago. Never heard anything more regarding checkouts.

I was one of 3 guys imported in January, I think we were the most recent. We all went VFR, me (a brit) to Thunder Bay, the other two (an Aussie & a Brit) to London, Ontario. The website keeps you at arms length but it is possible to get around the "high density control towers only" thing. I just sent an e-mail/CV to the right person asking for a shot at Nav Can. Worked for me. However that person has now left the company, don't know who's running the experienced controller program now.

One German working on Toronto terminal. She transferred from Berlin approach.. Apart from a bit of messing around with immigration she found the transfer OK.

One ex-Frankfurt controller currently training on Calgary Terminal.

I am a controller in Edmonton. there are at least 5 or 6 imports here from all over, kiwi or 2, an couple aussies, brit, etc. currently short staffed, and all working overtime. Housing prices in this area have gone up a ton in the last few years, but still cheaper than most of europe. cold winters good summers. ppm me for more info

Thanks for your infos. Actually I have contacted Navcanada already, they said they would be interested, BUT, they also said theres no way to get that f... security clearance. i took a few phone calls and a bit of luck to find the right person here at the embassy who is responsible to find out that it shouldn't be a problem to get that sec.clearance.

so now, knowing that on the one hand, navcanada would be interested and on the other being aware that the whole immigration thing would take a while but other than that shouldn't be a big problem, its now time to find out if working in Canada is really what I'm looking for.

That's why I was posting here. Is the job any better than in Germany? I mean, the DFS really sucks right now. They are getting prepared to be sold by the government etc.

So what are the working conditions like? What are you paid (ok, that depends - I'm working Tower (we only do the Tower business, they took away the Approach part from the Tower controllers unfortunatelly), in Germany we have a Tower rating with IFR seperation responsibilities within CTR, lots of VFR, i guess Cologne is not the busiest, but as well not the lasiest in the world).
How many hours do you work in the average?

Lots of questions before making that decision,
Christine

Welcome to Canada
 

Hi Christine,

I work at Montreal Center and I'm one of those Canucks who loves his country. We still have plenty of wide open spaces and we're, in general, a fairly easy going bunch.

To work in Montreal or any airport in the province of Quebec, you must be fluent in french AND english. At any other unit, the only requirement is english.

If you live away from a major urban area, expect to pay C$150,000 or so for a house. Closer to C$200,000 as you get nearer Montreal, for example, and right in the city, closer yet to C$300,000 on a much smaller lot however. You can PM me for more info on that.

We do make a decent wage although we all like to think we're underpaid and overworked. :}

Relations between the controllers and the company executives are fairly tense but one hopes things might calm down one day. Most towers are fairly small units with good morale and working conditions. Complex towers are the most fun though but are much bigger units with everything that that entails.

Good luck in your research,

S.A.O.

Ah yes, the good old security clearance. It seems (note, seems) that up till recently trainees could be taken on while the security clearance was being processed and had to be finalised before checkout. Now the clearance has to be obtained before you set foot in the door.

(Check you Private Messages :ok: )

You'd probably have to double that in Toronto

The F in security clearance is not a problem if you apply in time...infact mine was done in less than a month.

It is the F in immigration that takes F in ages!!

My German colleague in Toronto is still being messed around and it has been over 4 years now I think!

I am going for intiial testing with Navacanada soon (I am a Canadian and a Brit, but lived in Canada all my life), and I have spent a fair time poking around their websites as well as many sites such as this. I have also done a tower visit, and met with one of the main tower control trainers. Here is what I have taken from all these sources:

NavCanada is in a bit of a weird situation right now. When they were a government organization, they had a huge hiring binge between 1965 and 1975. As a result, out of the 2200 or so controllers, many of them are coming up on retirement. This is particularly true in the towers, somewhat less so in the IFR but still an issue. The percentage of employees over 55 is fairly high in some of the centers. Say again Over can surely comment on this.

At the tower I visited, they were looking at over 50% retirements in the next 5 years, and often sooner (because of an interesting buyout deal to get people to leave... which is sort of weird).

If you check the NavCanada business plan (2005-2008) they make a very VERY vague reference to this issue, but it was indicated to me to be a much bigger issue than they let on. Further, it was indicated to me that the ability to train is being outstripped by the demand. In the most recent labor contract, training of new IFR staff has been moved from Cornwall Ontario directly to the centers themselves. Some people suggest this is to open up more space so that more VFR controllers can be trained at that facility (more classes).

2005 saw 70 or so new IFR, and 2006 was set for over 200 IFR students. There was no indications for 2007, but it appeared to be on an up curve. Apparently the IFR centers in Winnipeg and Edmonton are still somewhat understaffed, and while NavCan states they are at 105% staffing, the reality in the field seems to be that overtime is there for the asking because of fairly clear shortages in some areas.

As Say Again Over mentioned, if you want to work in Quebec, well, you need to be at bare minimum spoken word bilingual (english french), with reading near the top as well. Montreal and Quebec City are both nice places to live and relatively cheap (when compared to Toronto, Vancouver, or the current stupid housing situation in Calgary), but that requirement makes it more difficult. It should be pointed out that because the requirement is to be fluent in english to work at NavCanada, they appear to have a harder time getting recruits out of Quebec.

If you are looking to cross over, check out their website and follow the deal. The timing will only get better in the next 24 months, as the retirement bump pushed NavCanada to take bigger steps to fill their gaps.

Alex