Somebody give me some advice

[mmrassi]

Hi,

I'm a CPL/IR holder, I got the license in South Africa and want to know about the market to start as a low timer in Canada, I would like to know if it worths to make make a travel to Canada, mostly cold and bad weather area to see if there is a job or not?

[bigoil]

go to Avcanada and look around at some of the posts there

you'd need the right to work in Canada but as you know tons of S Africans are making the move to Canada and not for the weather.

the flight schools are churning out fresh guys at a great rate but things are picking up so you never know

And BBC has great weather, wine country you know.

[+TSRA]

Things are very slowly picking up. By that I mean companies are not laying off like they were a year or two ago and the majors are starting to hire again, but this will consist of mainly high time guys getting back into the seat for the next couple of months, rather than the normal flow on from the minors - so don't make a hasty decision when people tell you that Air Canada is hiring so things must be good all over.

With a straight CPL/IR it is highly unlikely at this stage that you would get a flying job - unless you have up to 2,000 hours on beavers or caravans. You will probably end up working the ramp or a desk job for up to 2 years waiting to fly; however, note that I said unlikely, not impossible.

Like the last poster said, check AvCanada. That will indicate to you the type of jobs that are currently open and the time they are looking for. A lot of companies want higher time guys for insurance purposes so I normally advise not to apply for a gig if the hours seem out of proportion to the aircraft type (e.g. 3,000 TT, 1,500 PIC for a Navajo.) You only end up wasting your time and theirs.

Good luck.

[bigoil]

you'll notice some low time guys asking about going to Africa to get a job

[mmrassi]

I forgot to mention that I'm an Iranian and currently I'm busy with my license conversion in Iran. But I'm just figuring out the market in Canada.

Thanks for tips and hints and AvCanada!

[J.O.]

I hate to say this, but having worked with some of your fellow countrymen in the past, I speak from experience. If you plan to work over here and you join a company that flies transborder, be prepared to have your life turned upside down every time you head south. My F/O was once in Immigration for 3 hours after arriving as crew on a Canadian registered aircraft, and he holds a Canadian passport and his record is as clean as it gets..

[mmrassi]

I don't mind if they even don't let me out of airport, I'm suffering joblessness and I'm ready to do everything, The problem is for coming to Canada I need a job offer and taking a job offer for low level jobs seems to be hard as lots of people are qualified to do them inside Canada.

[jamiepilot77]

There are thousands of unemployed pilots in Canada, many with significant time and experience. No company is going to apply for a work visa for a foreign pilot. And I doubt the gouvernment would grant it anyways. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it would be stupid for the average company to hire a guy from the other side of the world instead of the guy down the streat (especially cause there are dozens of guys down the street).