Frequently Asked Questions

Webster’s defines a College as “an organized body of persons engaged in a common pursuit or having common interests or duties”. A profession is defined as “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation”. The College of Professional Pilots intends to oversee, maintain, and promote the calibre of Professional Pilots in Canada.

Doctors have Colleges, Lawyers have the Bar, and Societies and Engineers have Associations. These organizations are all similar to the proposed College of Professional Pilots.

Currently piloting is missing certain elements to be truly recognized as a profession. A Code of Ethics or Conduct and a Professional Society to oversee, maintain and promote the calibre of pilots are essential elements to achieve this recognition.

The College is for the benefit of public safety and also for the benefit of all professional pilots in Canada – both rotary and fixed wing.

The College was first registered as a not-for-profit corporation with Industry Canada in the spring of 2009. Since then a group of volunteers have been working to get to this point – to attract you to join us to continue building the organization. Currently the College’s operations have been limited to developing policy and defining the vision and goals of the College.

The College’s present mandate is to shape the vision, share that vision with all the stakeholders and have pilots join in the development of the College.

The College intends to ensure public safety and in collaboration with all stakeholders, will oversee, maintain and promote the calibre of professional pilots in Canada. We intend to maintain the high standards of professionalism we already enjoy here in Canada by creating an environment of continuous learning and the sharing of “best practices” in areas of training, mentoring and support in the face of industry changes and challenges in the profession.

No. The College will oversee, maintain and promote the calibre of professional pilots in Canada. The College has no interest to represent pilots in labour disputes or industrial affairs, set pay rates, or develop a national seniority list. The College does intend to develop relationships and collaborate with unions, government, professional associations, industry, and other stakeholder groups related to aviation to act as a vehicle to facilitate professionalism and best practices industry wide.

Canadian commercial and airline transport licenced pilots can join, both fixed and rotary wing, as well as pilots in training for their commercial licence.

Currently there is a Board of Directors made up of a group of professional pilots from various facets of the industry and from all corners of the country. This group is working to determine the scope of the College’s operations and is working to attract pilots to join the College. At the end of the first year of offering membership, national elections will be held and the current Board will resign to make way for the first, truly elected Board.

The College headquarters are located in Ottawa, but ideally it will be found in every flight deck or cockpit occupied by professional pilots with Canadian licences. Our bylaws also ensure representation from all geographic areas of Canada and all facets of the industry. You are eligible to join if you hold a Canadian commercial or airline transport licence, regardless of your nationality.

Click here and follow the steps.

Help your profession to build something that would be a first in the world – an organization where professional pilots oversee, maintain and promote the calibre of themselves through peer-based review, excellence in training techniques, mentoring, and support.

Peer review is a process of self-regulation or evaluation involving qualified individuals within a profession. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility.

Being a professional pilot is much different than other professions as we can practice our work in multiple jurisdictions and countries on a single flight. The College has no interest in issuing licenses or developing regulations, and consequently views Transport Canada and ICAO as key partners. The College does however aspire to maintain the standards and calibre of professional pilots on behalf of, or in conjunction with, Transport Canada. This is indeed a complex endeavour and many details remain to be finalized.
For example: as pilot progression increases in pace, the outdated training curricula and standards are presenting challengers to operators, but also pilots who are thrust into positions with much less experience and preparation than is ideal. CPPC intends to work with the regulator, and flight schools, to help bridge this potential threat to safety and the profession.

Currently, membership fees are set at $80 for all individuals, irrespective of license, fixed or rotary wing. Organizations, flight schools, wishing to access our relevant content are subject to annual fees, as determined by the board.

• All members get access to our mentoring network.
• All members get access to our industry explainers, newsletters with analysis, editorials, and community events to help you keep a pulse on industry trends and career moves.
• In partnership with TD Insurance, our members get access to very advantageously discounted home and auto rates.
• We intend to add additional insurance products such as Accidental Death & dismemberment, loss of license, income protection, etc. to project pilots who may not have it available through their employers/labour union.
• We will also add other support resources as our membership grows – watch this space!
• Finally, you get to help build an organization that would be the first of its kind in the aviation world – a truly peer-based system to oversee, maintain and promote the calibre of professional pilots in Canada. Join now!

No. If anything, many of the products, services, and programs that the College envisions are already accessible to airline pilots. The College intends to bring this level of engagement and access to resources to all levels and facets of the industry, nationwide. This is a way for all of us to learn and support each other and be the best we can be – una nos altivolus – together we soar!

Your application fee will go to the following:

• To maintain this website and associated databases.
• To cover the cost of meetings of the Board of Directors or any special committees the College may develop.
• To cover the expenses of any members conducting business on behalf of the College.
• Accounting and legal fees that may arise in the course of the College’s business.
• To pay any outside consultants or contractors that are completing work on behalf of the College.
• Other items that the general membership agrees the College should pursue.

The College’s finances are open and transparent. Quarterly reports will be available in the “Members Only” portion of this site.

All board members are volunteers. No salaries shall be paid and only reasonable expenses shall be reimbursed.

Any professional pilot in good standing that is a voting member of the College. Student members will be eligble for election once they have been issued a Commercial Licence.

The geographical regions have been set up to largely coincide with Transport Canada’s regions and are devised to ensure there is representation on the Board from each part of the Country.

The regions are Pacific, West / Northern, Central, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.

Each region will elect two representatives to the Board for a total of ten Board Members.

The Government will also appoint two representatives for a total of twelve Board Members.

Most professional bodies have provision for Government appointees to the Board. The College is no exception. The interim Board has suggested that there should be two Government appointees; one a fixed wing pilot and the other a rotary wing pilot.

At the time of appointment each should hold a valid licence.

The first elected Board should validate this decision and work with Government to entrench this provision in the legislation.

This will need to be ratified by the first elected Board.

The interim Board is suggesting two years but consideration should be given to staggering member validity periods in order to ensure continuity at the Board rather than potentially having a whole change of the Board every 2 years.