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Hello, my name is Robert Piché, I am a Canadian airline pilot with more than 40 years of experience
flying in Canada. I am honoured to join the Coalition of Canadian Pilots Against Foreign
Pilots Working in Canada to make this short video in order to share our concerns with
you.
Over the last few years, some Canadian carriers that operate flights mainly to southern sun
destinations have been hiring foreign pilots to operate a large number of these flights
during the winter season. This allows them to reduce their training costs since foreign
pilots are already qualified on the aircraft type they use, but this comes at the expense
of hundreds of Canadian pilots who are unemployed and who are denied these jobs.
Normally, these carriers should address their increased need for pilots by hiring additional
Canadian pilots, which is the common practice among Canadian airlines. The hiring of a pilot
involves a significant investment for an airline as the pilot must receive training specific
to the type of aircraft flown by the airline. Training can cost several tens of thousands
of dollars. This training is what we call a type rating. For example, an airline pilot
qualified on the Boeing 747 along with several thousand hours of flight time in his logbook,
is not allowed to fly a Boeing 737 unless he has completed the necessary training. The
established practice in the industry regarding pilot training is that pilots obtain their
commercial licences thru private or public training and once they are hired it is the
airlines that provides and pays for the type rating required for the operation of their
aircrafts.
Over the last few years some companies in Canada have found a way to avoid paying for
the type rating. Instead of hiring Canadian pilots and training them, they simply contract
European pilots already qualified on the type of aircraft they operate. They have no problems
recruiting these foreign pilots since winter is the slower season in Europe and a large
number of pilots are available there. This practice is made possible thanks to the complicity
of several levels of the federal government that validate licenses and grant work permits
to foreigners even though there are Canadian airline pilots who could fill those positions
who are currently unemployed.
Under this scheme, more than 200 foreign pilots were flying Canadian registered aircraft on
flights between Canada and southern vacation destinations during the past winters of 2011-2012
and 2012-2013. It is important to know that, according to our information, during their
temporary assignment here in Canada, these foreign pilots do not pay taxes in Canada,
do not contribute to employment insurance, nor to the Canada Pension Plan. Regardless
of the fact that Canadian rules require that these workers contribute to these programs
and file a Canadian tax return. Meanwhile, Canadian pilots who were unable to get hired
by these companies for simply not having the type rating, are collecting unemployment insurance
at the expense of you, the Canadian Tax payer.
You may be wondering why the federal government, who governs the airline industry, accepts
such a practice? So are we.
Lets now look at the issue of how the Canadian Aviation regulations deal with the subject
of pilot licensing.
According the Canadian Aviation Regulations all pilots flying a commercial Canadian registered
aircraft must hold a Canadian licence. Obtaining this license requires a lot of study and time
since the pilot must pass several written exams on subjects as diverse as navigation,
weather and air regulations. The foreign pilots who come to Canada for the winter do not have
Canadian licenses. Transport Canada issues them a Foreign License Validation Certificate
valid for one year. However, the regulations clearly state that holders of a Foreign Licence
Validation Certificate may only fly for limited purposes such as recreational flying, ferry
flights, flight training or firefighting and the rules do not permit the holder to operate
scheduled commercial flights. We reported this to Transport Canada in November 2012
by means of the Civil Aviation Issues Reporting System and didn't receive any responses to
our concerns. It seems that Transport Canada, the government agency responsible for enforcing
the law, ignores its own regulations and lets these companies operate commercial flights
flown by foreign pilots who do not hold a Canadian license. These flights carry you
and your fellow Canadians to your winter holiday destinations!
Another aspect of the case is the principle of reciprocity.
The company employing the highest number of foreign pilots also takes advantage of a program
administered by Immigration Canada, called the reciprocal work permit program. This is
a program under which foreigners are allowed to work in Canada if the Canadian company
hiring them has an agreement with a foreign company to employ an equal number of Canadians
to work abroad for an equivalent time period.
The airline that is abusing this program led Immigration Canada to believe some of their
Canadian pilots go fly in Europe for European carriers every year when it is not actually
the case. While it does send some pilots to Europe, they are not employed by a foreign
company as required by the regulations. They remain employees of the Canadian carrier since
they are operating a Canadian registered aircraft on lease to the European carrier. As a result
of being misled Immigration Canada has permitted hundreds of foreign pilots to come to Canada
and fly the planes of this Canadian airline. It is against the rules and we notified all
parties concerned, but the practice continues today unabated.
The Coalition is asking federal authorities to put an immediate end to this practice.
A petition singed by 2,500 pilots working across the country was delivered to the Minister
of Immigration in Spring 2012. Various pilot Associations have also lobbied federal authorities
but so far there is little to show for all the efforts.
We decided to produce this video so that the Canadian public would be aware of the situation
and informed about the problem. The next time you book a ticket for your southern getaway,
please ask your travel agent to make sure that if you are flying with a Canadian carrier,
that you are flying with one that employs only Canadian pilots. If you are booking directly
with the airline, don't hesitate to ask them the same question. Their answer will allow
you to make an informed choice and possibly to make alternative plans for your travels.
Thank you for your time, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or
comments.