Asking for a friend -

Are there any places where one can go in the US to get one's Canadian Commercial licence?

There's the obvious attraction of heading south and blasting through a program in good weather conditions, especially for someone whose career leaves the dead of winter as the only time they feel they can devote to the program.

I have no idea how that would work within the regs for Flight Training Units, and whether rules for the Commercial would be any different than for ab-initio training.

Or is there a facility that can train as per US standards for the US licence, but also test to the Canadian standard?

The fall back option of course is to do the full US licence, then come back here to write the CPAER and do the flight test here, as part of the US to Canadian conversion process.

I still have to research the whole issue of foreign students in the US, which presumably has changed since Sept 2001.

The conversion process is now VERY simple.

Assuming that you hold a FAA CPL all you need to convert to a TC CPL is a Canadian Cat 1 Medical and a simple FAA/TC "Differences" exam. You no longer need to write the CAPER and complete a Canadian Flight Test to "convert".

Re: "the conversion process is now very simple"

Thanks.
The appropriate reference I now see to be:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/gener ... ersion.htm

To again follow up my own post, I found a thread on a Cdn school with a US subsidiary training camp, Vital Aviation, mentioned in a thread labelled "Flight Training in Florida".

You may need to obtain a Training Visa from the Homeland Security... that's what I was told earlier this year by an Orlando outfit. Look into the matter early, it may take up to 90 days to get the paperwork done.
joco

Off the top of my head:

Yes there is the big Homeland Security thing for the Alien Flight Student Program. Photo, fingerprints, etc; probably a whole lot of lead time. Most training in the US requires it. There are a few exceptions, mainly the Commercial certificate, and recurrency type flying, and very minor stuff like balloon certificates I think.

Then there's also the visa issue. I'm getting the impression one needs an M-1; that visa is for vocational training. It is needed whether or not one goes thru the Homeland Security program. I haven't figured out all the details myself yet. (J-1 is for school and work together) (No visa needed if one is in the US in vacation primarily and only doing some part time training.)

As for Vital Aviation, I talked to them, they are small and take just a few students down each year, usually their own, for a combination of hour building for the commercial, and doing the commercial.

At the moment for my friend it looks more practical to just get the US commercial in the US. To do a US commercial one needs to have a US Private, so one can get a restricted US Private, based on one's Canadian certificate. It is done easily enough by sending info to the FAA in Oklahoma for validation, then going to a FSDO with one's documents to get a US Private. (Only for the full unrestricted Private does one need to do written and flight test; the one I'm talking about is only valid based on the restrictions and medical of the canadian certificate.) The process is said to take 90 days minimum, that's what they promise, but on the phone they said it may take only a couple weeks for Canadians. (The FAA checks with the original countries' equivalent to confirm the details of whatever licence copies one faxed or mailed in to them.) To get the US Commercial in the end a US medical would be needed too.

The written exam could be prepared for in the US or Canada. To do the test, major schools down there have the test facilities. I noticed there are a few out-of-US airman knowledge test facilities too -- Eg, there's one in Mississauga, administered thru the Canadian Business College.

After doing the US Commercial, converting to the Canadian is easier now with just the 40 question differences exam, not the full exam and flight test. Also interesting is how many fewer hours the US Commercial involves, 20 dual, 10 solo, compared to the Canadian 35 and 30. (And in Canada there's a requirement for 80 hours of ground school, while in the US I'm not sure -- I think one just has to be able to pass the exam.) It is kind of a cheap way out though, to train under a less rigorous regime and then convert back...

**** Remember that all this is a complex topic and I'm new to it all too, so I could always have missed something or gotten something wrong.

Also keep in mind, converting back to a Cdn licence seems to take the FULL 90 days that are advertised on the TC site. I converted an FAA ATP to cdn ATPL and they couldn't tell me when it would come in. My licence was finally processed around the 85th day after the application. During the process, I was told that it was the FAA that was holding it up as they wouldn't/didn't verify the US ratings for a long time.

Just my own experience. But that is probably the best way to do it if you're thinking of training south of the border. Or, just go south and do your flight time there by renting a plane, and come back to Canada to do the tests.

If you're REALLY that determined to train in the US for a Canadian license, then bring your CDN registered aircraft to the US midwest and I'll instruct you myself. I have lots of free time on my hands during day time hours.

Hey

Forget the midwest - come to California!

Actually, I have been kinda thinking something along the lines of offering Canadian Training in California. Using a Canadian Registered airplane has a few advantages:
Gets the student out of the cold/snow for a while
Interesting training enviornment
Gets around the TSA rule

A little late to do anything this year, but I am going to think more of it...

Gord

alti2d wrote:Also keep in mind, converting back to a Cdn licence seems to take the FULL 90 days that are advertised on the TC site. I converted an FAA ATP to cdn ATPL and they couldn't tell me when it would come in. My licence was finally processed around the 85th day after the application. During the process, I was told that it was the FAA that was holding it up as they wouldn't/didn't verify the US ratings for a long time.
].

I'm in the middle of the process right now, and it seems like they're catching up. The FAA verified my certificate info within a week or two, but there will still be some delays on the Canadian side of the border.

Big sticking points right now are:
1) If you hold only an FAA "English Proficient" certificate, you're only certified to ICAO level 4 (Operational) English, meaning you need to do a TC language exam to prove level 6 proficiency. ($50)
2) The conversion to the new passport-style licenses requires an additional application form with photo. This wasn't mentioned in the original documentation.
3) Even once everything is approved, there's still a 4-6 week wait for the license to arrive in the mail.
4) Still no way to bring over your FAA rotorcraft certificate.