American flying in Canada

[Gas Man]

I was wondering if someone could tell me if the pilot profession falls under the NAFTA agreement.
What does a FAA ATP pilot, aside from getting a Canadian medical and filling out the paperwork, need to do to work as a pilot in Canada?

 

[blade230]

Hi,

No pilots do NOT fall under NAFTA. But if you managed to secure Canadian citizenship...besides a Transport Canada medical, you would also need to convert your licenses.

Good luck

 

[wickedride]

Is the US the only country that lets foreign nationals fly here without alot of crap?? Every time I hear about trying to fly for a carrier in mexico, now canada or over in europe you must be a citizen or even as much as a natural born citizen.

 

[Dave Grohl]

Is the US the only country that lets foreign nationals fly here without alot of crap?? Every time I hear about trying to fly for a carrier in mexico, now canada or over in europe you must be a citizen or even as much as a natural born citizen.

What are you talking about? The US is no different than virtually every other country...you have to have the legal right to work here. ie. green card or citizenship as per INS rules...no different than any other country. (Hence the expression, illegal alien.)

 

[jayme]

I started my immigration process from Canada to the US with a NAFTA visa. First as a teacher at a university (flight instructed for UND), then as a meteorologist. I argued that to flight instruct for the FBO who wanted to sponsor me I would need a strong background in meteorology (which I had.) It worked until I went home from Christmas and upon return was interrogated by a border guard who must have taken a few flight lessons. They allowed me entry for 90 days to work on getting an H visa. I was successful because by then I had convinced the dept of labor that the position required a degree for the purposes of a green card. Since I had their blessing in writing I was able to add that to my H visa application and it was approved.

 

[Gas Man]

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[skyaddict]

I'm an expat Canadian and dual citizen with all my flying and certificates being US. Back when I was furloughed from a now defunct US carrier, I was looking for awhile into converting to Canadian certificates. Not that hard except that, as is the case in Europe, you have to do written exams for which there is no mickey mouse book of answers to practice/memorize- only books with similar sample questions that are not part of the actual pool. To convert an ATP I would have had to do the Canadian Instrument and ATP written exams, and nuttily, to even apply for those exams one has to get the Canadian medical first. Then last of all one would have to do the instrument/ multi-checkride itself (oral and flight). I think wading through the material for the written is the biggest barrier. There was no formal ground school requirement.

At least, unlike converting to a Euro JAA certificate, there are only two rather than 14 written exams. As far as citizenship goes, for landing a Canadian job- as has been stated, Canada is just like the US in the way it treats foreign job seekers. You don't need citizenship but you do need the right to work i.e. for practical purposes, permanent resident status (Canadian green card).

One difference is that if you are loaded, you can buy Canadian citizenship for around $500,000 as alot of wealthy Hong Kongers did when they were terrified of the mainland takeover. They have since mostly gone back to Hong Kong wheeling in dealing in the mainland wild west. A cheaper way would be to meet and marry a nice Canadian girl. Another cheap way would be to sneak into the country, destroy all documents, and say you are a political refugee from some Third World war zone (it would help to look and sound the part though, tough for a WASP). You will receive generous government handouts for about ten years while the immigration appeals process grinds at a glacial pace, and by that time you will have married a Canadian girl and have Canadian children. Granted, the timeline may be a bit slow for a job with Air Canada.

 

[Cpt. Underpants]

or...

You can apply to immigrate to Canada. From application to receipt of Landed Immigrant Visa is about a year.

 

[jetwash]

There was a change in the procedure for license conversion between Canada and the US about a year ago.

It is now a lot easier.

If you have an ATP

1. Get Canadian class 1 medical from a doctor
2. Get conversion application from Transport Canada web site
3. Mail in a copy of all your FAA licenses and ratings plus photo
4. Write a 20 question test on Canadian airspace differences
5. Pay $100
6. Wait 60 to 90 days for Transport Canada to confirm your license with the FAA
Your new license is valid for a year before you have to do a recurrent check ride with a Transport Canada inspector as long as you were FAA current when your license was converted.

7. Celebrate with a cup of Tim Hortons coffee and a Lap dance.



For more info try

http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/personnel/usconversion.htm


As for job situation in Canada try:

www.avcanada.ca

web site to ask Canadian pilots about the job situation there.

For immigration info try

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-instructions.asp#list