Questions about Nav Canada Atc job

[jobin3632@gmail.com]

Hi Iam a 20 year old uni student majoring in Finance. I recently found out about Nav Canada and the positions they are offering. I have always had a passion of working in the airline industry and the pay here seems good too. I have passed the first online assessment, and Iam waiting for the FEAST invite email. I am confused that if it is a great decision on dropping out of my college for this career that only has a 30-40% success rate " if" I get selected for training. So Iam seeking for advice from people who have been on the same boat as me. Also I have read in some forums that you get interviewed for where you get posted( such as YYZ, YUL , YVR) , Iam still confused about the part that if this interview happens before training and they tell you where you will be posted after 20- 27 weeks of training or does this interview take place after your training. Also if it take place before your training starts, then are you certain about getting posted in that said location?. Ps: I live in Ontario and like to get posted in YYZ or somewhere near.

[nvcatc]

Continue on with FEAST and the in person assessment/interview and wait to get offered a training seat before making any decisions. By the time everything is said and done and an offer does come, you may be able to finish your degree.

Whether the risk of dropping out of school for a chance to be a controller is worth it, that's a personal choice. If you make it, of course the decision was worth it. If you don't, maybe you'll regret it. Would you regret passing up an offer and not knowing? You have to be OK with whatever the possible outcomes are. If you do accept an offer without finishing your degree and don't end up passing training, could you go back to school and finish your degree? Or are you in a niche program that would be hard to go back to?

Personally, I was willing to take the risk as I was unhappy with my current job, and it all worked out. So for me, it was worth it. Even if I hadn't licensed, I think I would have regretted not knowing if I could have made it or not, and ultimately didn't have much to lose by trying.

The interview is before training. You could potentially be offered a training seat in YYZ, or you could be sent to CAE in Montreal for basic. If you get an offer for IFR, you'll stay in YYZ after basic unless your offer is for a different FIR. If you're given a VFR offer, you won't know until after basic what tower you end up going to. It could be within the YYZ FIR, it could be elsewhere. The fine print on all offers is that they could send you anywhere in the country depending on need, so you have to be OK with relocating when applying to this job. But there is a chance you stay within the GTA.

[jobin3632@gmail.com]

Thank you somuch for that insightfull reply. I have decided on taking my chances with the feast training and face whatever my future holds for me.

May I ask that if you are in IFR or VFR?, and have you been posted to non remote locations or only remote locations? how was your experience with the most remote location you have been ( if you have ever been posted to remote locations). Also how does a day in your life look like from your perspective .

[DHC-1 Jockey]

I'm on the ATC side of things so I can't comment on FSS hiring and posting practices, but I'll give my 2 cents.

I don't believe anyone (recently) that has done VFR basic in YYZ has been sent out-of-province for their first posting. I know that for National Courses that are run in YOW and the new CAE program that you could be sent anywhere in the country. If you got through the hiring process and were offered a training position, it would be important to know which type of course you are on (National vs FIR specific)

For towers, The Toronto FIR (Flight Information Region) consists of Sault Ste Marie, Oshawa, Toronto Pearson, Toronto Island, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton and Windsor.

So, based on past history, if you were selected for IFR, you'd be posted to the YYZ ACC at Pearson. If you went VFR tower you'd most likely be posted to one of the locations I listed above.

In Ontario, FSS locations are more remote (aside from St. Catharines and Kingston), but since those are the most desirable places to live, I don't believe new hires are sent there. You'd more likely end up in Timmins, Sudbury or North Bay. But as the previous poster said, you could theoretically be sent anywhere where there is a need.

Hope that helps.

[jobin3632@gmail.com]

@DHC - 1 Jockey thanks for all that information. So would I be able to know which FIR I will be trained for?, and if I get the Toronto FIR does it mean that I won't be asked to go to any other provinces? Also do you know if FSS follow this same FIR system while posting you.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

@DHC - 1 Jockey thanks for all that information. So would I be able to know which FIR I will be trained for?, and if I get the Toronto FIR does it mean that I won't be asked to go to any other provinces? Also do you know if FSS follow this same FIR system while posting you.

If you have applied in the Toronto FIR, and do all of your testing and interviews in the Toronto FIR, it's highly likely you'll stay in the Toronto FIR for training and first posting once completed training. I'm not sure how FSS works, so I'm not sure if you are kept in the same FIR or if you can be sent nation-wide. Your job offer will state your training location.

If you are placed on a "national course" or are sent to CAE in Montreal for training, it's a safe bet that you could be sent anywhere, not necessarily back to the FIR you did all of your interviews and testing in.

I say this with the caveat that there is the footnote that they can send you anywhere across the country after you finish training. I'm just speaking from recent experience of what you might expect. There is always the chance that you do all of your training in YYZ and then they send you out to BC or the east coast or anywhere in between. It seems more recently that they try to send trainees to their first posting in the same FIR that they did their training in. No guarantees though.