OTTAWA — A group of 30 laid-off pilots was left perplexed following last week’s federal budget, after the government introduced a job training grant and a commitment to Canadian workers over temporary foreign hires less than a month after rejecting a similar proposal from the pilots.
Pilots are now cautiously optimistic the budget measures will resolve their long-running complaint that companies like Sunwing and CanJet shouldn’t be allowed to hire European pilots for the busy sun destination season when Canadians are available and qualified — if only they could get routine training on the airline’s particular brand of passenger jet. Most airlines consider the training, called a “type-rating,” a cost of doing business, but the charters argue they’re prohibitive from a seasonal hiring perspective.
For a number of years, the airlines have successfully applied to the government through a couple of different programs for permission to hire foreign pilots, saying they’ve advertised for the position in Canada but could find few qualified candidates. Hundreds of foreign pilots have benefited from the deals as a result while Air Transat pilots lost their jobs.
The laid-off Air Transat pilots sent Human Resources and Skills Development Canada a detailed, 16-page proposal in November calling on the federal government to pay for their “type-rating” training. They said it would be more cost effective than having them all go on employment insurance.
While the training could run anywhere from $25,000-$30,000 per pilot, they pegged the EI cost to taxpayers at $580,000, noting that doesn’t take into account the tax revenues the government would make if they were working.
“The government will be able to save employment benefits. The government will collect more taxes through more Canadian taxpayers. The government will be able to demonstrate it is working in the best interests of Canadians,” they argued in the proposal obtained by Postmedia News.
“In the medium and long-term, the Canadian airline industry will remain competitive on the global stage without relying on foreign labour and last but not least, Canadian pilots will be able to work at home in Canada.”
The department finally responded in late February with a curt thanks but no thanks, noting the provinces get millions in federal dollars through labour market agreements to fund training and that the pilots should contact their provincial governments. The long-delayed response also appeared to be slapped together in haste. For example, a reference to the CAE, the civil aviation training centre in Montreal that offers type-rating courses, is mistakenly identified as the “Centre Agricole Emploi.”
Fast forward a month, a highlight of last week’s budget was the new Canada Job Grant. It’s to be the centrepiece of new labour market agreements that have yet to be negotiated with the provinces and is an attempt to redesign the way short-term job training money is dished out. Recognizing a disconnect between training and actual employment, the federal government is making the grants a three-way partnership. The federal government will fork out up to $5,000 for retraining so long as the provinces and employers agree to at least match it.
The budget also promised to reform the temporary foreign worker program to ensure non-residents are only considered when “Canadians genuinely cannot fill those jobs” and that employers that rely on temporary foreign workers make efforts to “transition to a Canadian workforce over time.”
The former Air Transat pilots are generally afraid to speak publicly since they’re still trying to find gainful permanent employment. One of the ringleaders of the HRSDC proposal, however, said he hopes the new grant is a solution to the ongoing battle with charter airlines, but remains wary given the government’s disappointing response to his initial proposal.
Another organizer argued getting government money to pay for type-rating shouldn’t “become systematic” for companies as “training pilots is just part of the operating cost of business.”
Neither CanJet nor Sunwing responded to a request for comment on whether they would welcome the new grant as a means of sharing the cost to type-rate Canadian pilots.
CanJet president Stephen Rowe has said in the past that he would gladly hire Canadians if they had the proper type-rating but that his company couldn’t afford to train temporary employees, only to lay them off months later so they could find work elsewhere and maybe not be available to him again the following year.
Sunwing president Mark Williams has said his company is trying to reduce its reliance on foreign workers and last year forked out about $800,000 to get 20 seasonal Canadian pilots type-rated.
That said, it’s still not entirely clear whether pilots will be eligible for the new grant for type-rating training.
“The detailed design of the grant will be negotiated with provinces and territories over the next year, in consultation with stakeholder groups including employer associations, educational institutions and labour organizations,” said Alyson Queen, a spokeswoman for Human Resources Minister Diane Finley.
It seems plausible, however, since the grants are open to those who need “short-duration training” through a community college, career college or trade union training centre. Type-rating training requires about 60 hours of simulator time per two-person crew and can be completed in about six weeks.
Jaren Belrose, a Manitoba pilot who was not among the laid-off Air Transat employees, said he was in a similar situation and managed to convince his province to cover his type-rating costs. Unfortunately, approval came too late as the sun destination flying season was already well underway, but he’s optimistic the new grant program will remedy the situation.
“When I proposed the training to Manitoba, it seemed that they did not have any framework or guidance and were working with their best instinct. I believe that this is why it took them so long to make the decision,” he said.
“We remain optimistic that the airlines that have gone to HRSDC looking to bring in European pilots will now be able to go and apply for training grants instead. I look forward to the time when we won’t have to worry about our jobs going overseas because companies see training as too expensive.”
tcohen@postmedia.com
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