UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Hi Everyone!

Apologies if i've needlessly started a new thread here but i really could do with some rather job specific advice and i am hoping there may be one or two Canadian aviation employees registered who can help!!

My wife and i are very interested in emigrating to Canada and have recently started to look into the process required. I realise that my job is not on the "magic list" and that pilot recruitment is very much slowed everywhere right now. My wife is in customer services which is also not in high demand, however she is quite interested in training to become a registered nurse, which may help eventually.

My question is this, would we be better submitting visa application forms and then sitting it out for four years until they are processed (assuming they will be processed at all if not on the required skills list) Or do i go down the route of converting my license to a canadian one (incurring costs for medicals and conversion etc) and try desperately to get a job. My guess is no one will even consider me without the converted license and i am not brave enough to leave my relatively secure full time job in the UK without at least a job offer in Canada.

We plan to visit Canada in May this year for a proper look around. My wife has relatives all over Canada, but sadly they are all second cousins and therefore classed as too distant to be of help. We feel as though we are very much in a catch twenty two situation but are determined to try and secure a new and better life for our future family.

Sorry for the long post, we would appreciate any assistance that anyone can give (or even if you know a friend of a friend who can help that would be a start)

Thanks Very Much

Icecats

PS- We're Hockey mad, so that should help us fit in when we eventually get there!!

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Seems to me you have no choice but to try and get a job here somehow before you are in a position to be able to apply for a PR visa, but maybe I missed something...

You cant apply based on what might happen, you can only fill in the forms based on where you are now.

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Skilled Worker applications no longer take that long, since they introduced the new rules in 2008, applications only take 6-12 months.

But, as Iaink said, you need to be eligible when you apply, not afterwards, so at the moment it doesn't appear you can apply without a job offer.

Grab a cuppa and start reading the Job Hunting section of the Wiki (on blue bar at top of page) for info.

And welcome to the forum. :)

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Pretty much of what you need on licensing is in here. The big thing coming with a foreign license is learning the CARS, which you can study for anywhere, they are online and a riveting read as is the AIM.

Getting a job may not be so easy. A lot depends on what you have to offer as to where you may end up. A lot of new pilots and low-time guys end up bush flying up north and work their way up. The majors are not hiring right now and when they do most of it is coming up through the regionals.

What license & endorsements do you have
What type ratings do you have
How many hours
Background, Mil or civi
Turbine time

Unfortunately there is little (next to none) of getting an employer to sponsor you or offer you a job without PR. Once you have PR then it is a matter of pounding the pavement. Pointless getting the license until you get or are sure you are going to be able to get PR.

You could of course always come over and enjoy our scenery, network with a few guys, get in some some mountain time, always exhilarating at 500'.

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Hey, It's Mrs "Icecats" here!

Just wanted to say Thank you so much for the quick responses to our questions and also for the welcome to the forum.

Hubby is away until friday, so i will get him to post all of the relevant info on his current license for "The Aviator" to have a look at, just as soon as he gets home.

Thanks again

Icecats

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Has he looked at www.pprune.org? They have a Canada forum where other pilots might be able to help out.

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for the messages and advice.

In response to The Aviator's questions; I currently hold a JAR ATPL, Falcon 20 Type Rating, 2,700hrs Total time with 1,500hrs jet time.
I am a civilian pilot with no military time (Although i do work on an M.O.D contract as a civilian)

Not sure if my experience would set me up for regional airline vacancies in Canada, it certainly does here in the UK (if there were any) It appears from the responses so far that submitting PR applications now would be the way to go and then sort out jobs when we know if we are accepted?

Thanks very much

Icecats

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

It doesn't work like that. If you don't have a a job on the list, don't have arranged employment, or don't have Canadian experience, your PR application will be rejected.

You need to read and digest the information in the wiki. Start here http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:Canada.

If a direct application to the federal government will not work you need to look at provincial options. Unfortunately most of these (with the exception of Nova Scotia) are linked to employment. If the ability to get a job without PR is limited (and The Aviator is/was in the business) then you are stuck. Maybe you at alternate routes like the investor or entrepreneur programs.

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

The hiring situation is pretty much the same here as in the UK, jobs are few and far between and tend to be who you know. A JAR license is respected here and would not be hard to convert to Canadian.

This is what you'd have to do:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Ge...onnel/fore.htm

Conversion could possibly be done on a student permit.

You have a decent amount of experience for regionals and turbine time is a plus. The biggest problem though would be getting a residency permit. There is no shortage of pilots in Canada and most companies I know of are not hiring right now. However, as I am sure you know it is cyclical, so who knows what the future holds.

If you have the opportunity to come out on a scouting trip and meet some potential employers, that will give you a better idea of the situation. Right now I would not give up a secure job unless financially secure, have a high risk threshold and are desperate to live in Canada.

Flying is a tough way to earn a living (it's a lot of fun though)!

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

What about Buffalo Airways Yellow knife NWT? They seem to be on the lookout for some Ice Pilots :D

PS it might not be as mad as it sounds

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

If you would at all be interested in working 6 months on/6 months off as a bush pilot, a friend's husband is chief pilot at a company in NW Ontario - I know they have struggled to find pilots.
PM me if interested.

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

My OH is a rotary pilot like yourself. This last 18 months has been a huge slap in the face to the aviation world here in Canada. If you want to drop me a private message I will ask him what you need if you give me a little background. He was 22years Lynx and Gazelle and QHI and walked in to a job here. Let me know what and where you are looking for and what kind of machine you fly, he'll be able to point you in the right direction, I'm sure.

Mrs M x

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

My OH did his conversion in a school in Abbotsford. You don't need a study permit to do it. I on the other hand got us our permanency here by coming in on a study permit which gave him an open work permit and the kids free schooling too. Then, he was offered a permanent job and from the back of that we got our PR. That was all from 2007 and we landed in 2008.

Be prepared for lots of time away from home and no work permit off the back of your job, you aren't on the skilled list I believe at the moment so there are few ways you could come in quickly. Like the Aviator said, if you have a good job you would be mad to give it up at the moment, our income took a drop of 40% thanks to the recession, so think carefully!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrs M x

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Chinook?

Re: UK Pilot Needing Advice!
 

Nope. Astar.