Foreign Pilots in Canada
In recent years, concerns have been raised that some airlines are excluding Canadian pilots from seasonal jobs by requiring job applicants to already be trained on specific types of planes (type‑rating) before they are hired, which is counter to general industry standards of airlines paying for and ensuring pilots obtain their training on the specific airline’s planes after they have been hired.

The Government of Canada consulted widely on this issue, and most stakeholders agreed that seasonal variations in fleet capacity should not stop airlines from training pilots for specific aircraft. It was noted that many airlines successfully contract flight time, pilot training and other training elements, such as flight simulator time, with other airlines or with aircraft manufacturers in order to meet their training requirements. There was a consensus that there is no shortage of Canadian commercial pilots who could be trained to fly specific types of aircraft.

Based on stakeholder consultations, the following changes are being made for airlines requesting foreign pilots through the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process.

Effective July 1, 2014, airlines must:

meet the minimum advertising requirements for high-wage occupations;
specify the following criteria in their job postings:
no more than a maximum of 4,000 flight hours for a First Officer and 5,000 hours for a Captain as required experience;
possess a valid commercial pilots' licence;
require English and/or French language proficiency;
include industry standard medical testing requirements for commercial flight;
state both the legal and common names of the airline operating in Canada;
not include as an essential or asset requirement the necessity of holding a type rating for a specific type of aircraft. However, requiring applicants to have experience flying equipment that is similar in configuration and complexity to the airline’s fleet is considered acceptable;
indicate when training bonds will be applied and they must cover a minimum of two years employment;
negotiate a transition plan with ESDC documenting the airline’s future efforts and commitment to decrease the reliance on foreign pilots while increasing its complement of Canadian/permanent resident pilots. The transition plan will be reviewed by ESDC for progress and can affect the outcome of future LMIA applications; and
submit LMIA applications a minimum of three months before the first day of work to ensure Service Canada officers can thoroughly review the application. Any exception to this timeline must be requested prior to the LMIA being submitted.

However, requiring applicants to have experience flying equipment that is similar in configuration and complexity to the airline’s fleet is considered acceptable;

ahramin wrote:Are you sure Gilles? Are there really 200 Canadian pilots with 4000+ hours and jet experience who want to work for Sunwing wages currently? Aren't we throwing perfectly qualified Canadian pilots under the bus in order to declare victory on this one? This allows a foreign pilot with 4000 hours co-pilot time and a B737 type rating to be hired instead of a Canadian pilot with 4000 hours and 1000 multi turbine PIC on a Dash-8.

I think we will continue to see qualified Canadians denied in favour of experienced TFWs until this loophole gets shut.

ahramin wrote:Are you sure Gilles? Are there really 200 Canadian pilots with 4000+ hours and jet experience who want to work for Sunwing wages currently?

no more than a maximum of 4,000 flight hours for a First Officer and 5,000 hours for a Captain as required experience;

newcomer wrote:That's a great step,but does it mean that Sunwing will get away with it once again this winter, if they submit their application for TFW before July 01st?