Hi Captains,I often post here to share some videos that i put together from time to time but today i need the opinions of people who know the best aviation colleges in Canada. I want to choose a good College that offers a flight Program with a degree at the end. Generally those are a 3-4 years program in aviation technology or science + the Commercial pilot Licence. I'm looking for the most deemed, those who are recognized by companies to offer very good knowledge.Im targettingSeneca collegeUniversity of western Ontario Moncton Flight CollegeSault collegeThe ideal answer would be to say a word for each of them.Thanks for helping guys . I know this is a sim forum and that this is not the spot to talk serious subject like this but since i dont know anything about the North american system .... (i only know how things go here in Europe) and that a lot of people come here read PMDG forum....So please be serious on this one (adressed to non serious posters), it means a lot for meRyan, RSR, and all PMDG tech and support team your help is more than welcome.Thank you ALLKaman BA

Hi Captains,I often post here to share some videos that i put together from time to time but today i need the opinions of people who know the best aviation colleges in Canada. I want to choose a good College that offers a flight Program with a degree at the end. Generally those are a 3-4 years program in aviation technology or science + the Commercial pilot Licence. I'm looking for the most deemed, those who are recognized by companies to offer very good knowledge.Im targettingSeneca collegeUniversity of western Ontario Moncton Flight CollegeSault collegeThe ideal answer would be to say a word for each of them.Thanks for helping guys . I know this is a sim forum and that this is not the spot to talk serious subject like this but since i dont know anything about the North american system .... (i only know how things go here in Europe) and that a lot of people come here read PMDG forum....So please be serious on this one (adressed to non serious posters), it means a lot for meRyan, RSR, and all PMDG tech and support team your help is more than welcome.Thank you ALLKaman BA

One piece of wisdom I've heard from others over the years: DON'T get an "aviation technology" or "aviation science" degree. When (usually not if) you encounter a furlough during your career, having skills outside of aviation will be helpful. Major in accounting, or engineering, or something like that.

Hi . . . most are excellent choices. Seneca would be my first choice. They fly out of Buttonville airport, a busy GA field in north Toronto. It's a controlled airfield with a tower. Lots of training traffic with occasional corporate jet. Good exposure to ATC since you have to contact terminal for any flights in the region. Only downside is flight time to training area away from the control area.Moncton and Sault both have excellent reputations. Both are based at controlled airfields as well though these airports and surrounding airspace is much quieter than Toronto. Depending at which point you are starting in your training, you early training might go faster here. One asset to Moncton is that there are lots of places to fly to in Atlantic Canada for your cross-country training. Ditto for Seneca. Sault is a bit more isolated although the United States is a stone's throw away. I don't know much about University of Western Ontario program though London, Ont. is a beautiful city. Nice airport with a tower. I learned to fly in that area. Great opportunities for cross-country flying, including Niagara Falls.Good luck with your choice.

Hey Kaman. To comment on your decision of getting a degree. Good choice. But first off, I dont believe the "colleges" offer degrees. Just universities. The colleges may offer a continuation program into a university. Be aware of tat. Some univerities do not give you credit for some colleges courses. To tell you the truth, I would just go to a university and get a degree. Do you pilots licenses on the side. In the long run, airlines (f thats where you want to go), wont care too much which college you attended. The thing is though, if you ever lose your medical and all you have is a diploma in aviation, then you dont really have a pot to pee in. On the other hand if you have an aeronautical engineering degree you might have another job waiting for you. Are you a resident of Ontario?JackColwill

Hi Captains,I often post here to share some videos that i put together from time to time but today i need the opinions of people who know the best aviation colleges in Canada. I want to choose a good College that offers a flight Program with a degree at the end. Generally those are a 3-4 years program in aviation technology or science + the Commercial pilot Licence. I'm looking for the most deemed, those who are recognized by companies to offer very good knowledge.Im targettingSeneca collegeUniversity of western Ontario Moncton Flight CollegeSault collegeThe ideal answer would be to say a word for each of them.Thanks for helping guys . I know this is a sim forum and that this is not the spot to talk serious subject like this but since i dont know anything about the North american system .... (i only know how things go here in Europe) and that a lot of people come here read PMDG forum....So please be serious on this one (adressed to non serious posters), it means a lot for meRyan, RSR, and all PMDG tech and support team your help is more than welcome.Thank you ALLKaman BA

I'd highly recommend focusing on getting a degree OUTSIDE of the aviation field. For example and an engineering degree is an outstanding degree to get if you can handle the mathematics. I could't but graduated in Microbiology. After college you can go to a local FBO or a good commerical school like ATP to get your ratings, etc. If your flying career doesn't financially pan out as it does to alot of people, myself included you have a fall back stable profession you can support a family with and not be on foodstamps and welfare paying off a $100k+ (USD) expesive aviation school program and flight trainging. I knew several instructors that graduated from the renown "Embry Riddle" university, they were not any better pilots and any other serious pilot. They were still making $15/hour USD instructing. The big difference was they had around a $100,000 in student and flight training loans to pay on a non-stable and irregular $15/hour CFI position that could be eliminated without warrant at any time.Anyway, you get my point.Best of luck.Cheers,Billybob

Haha...Seneca....okay.Post your question at Avcanada.ca - tonnes of info there.I did a History degree with the intention of doing my commercial at a later time...ended up doing AME stuff after uni...the whole commercial thing is still too expensive now.If you want to do the thing at a college go for it. People whine and cry about 250 hour wonders getting jobs like its a bad thing but whatever, good on em for having those deep pockets and just doing the license. All the people I did my Private's with that went to an "aviation college" have jobs flying now, so it does work.Although I'd still recommend doing a degree/flying on the side thing.Or look into becoming an AME like I did! Still good fun.

Hi . . . most are excellent choices. Seneca would be my first choice. They fly out of Buttonville airport, a busy GA field in north Toronto. It's a controlled airfield with a tower. Lots of training traffic with occasional corporate jet. Good exposure to ATC since you have to contact terminal for any flights in the region. Only downside is flight time to training area away from the control area.Moncton and Sault both have excellent reputations. Both are based at controlled airfields as well though these airports and surrounding airspace is much quieter than Toronto. Depending at which point you are starting in your training, you early training might go faster here. One asset to Moncton is that there are lots of places to fly to in Atlantic Canada for your cross-country training. Ditto for Seneca. Sault is a bit more isolated although the United States is a stone's throw away. I don't know much about University of Western Ontario program though London, Ont. is a beautiful city. Nice airport with a tower. I learned to fly in that area. Great opportunities for cross-country flying, including Niagara Falls.Good luck with your choice.

Thanks a lot for your time! very instructive

I'd highly recommend focusing on getting a degree OUTSIDE of the aviation field. For example and an engineering degree is an outstanding degree to get if you can handle the mathematics. I could't but graduated in Microbiology. After college you can go to a local FBO or a good commerical school like ATP to get your ratings, etc. If your flying career doesn't financially pan out as it does to alot of people, myself included you have a fall back stable profession you can support a family with and not be on foodstamps and welfare paying off a $100k+ (USD) expesive aviation school program and flight trainging. I knew several instructors that graduated from the renown "Embry Riddle" university, they were not any better pilots and any other serious pilot. They were still making $15/hour USD instructing. The big difference was they had around a $100,000 in student and flight training loans to pay on a non-stable and irregular $15/hour CFI position that could be eliminated without warrant at any time.Anyway, you get my point.Best of luck.Cheers,Billybob

your point is very inetresting : getting a degree outside of the aviation field!i'll think about itthaks for your time. appreciate it

Hey Kaman. To comment on your decision of getting a degree. Good choice. But first off, I dont believe the "colleges" offer degrees. Just universities. The colleges may offer a continuation program into a university. Be aware of tat. Some univerities do not give you credit for some colleges courses. To tell you the truth, I would just go to a university and get a degree. Do you pilots licenses on the side. In the long run, airlines (f thats where you want to go), wont care too much which college you attended. The thing is though, if you ever lose your medical and all you have is a diploma in aviation, then you dont really have a pot to pee in. On the other hand if you have an aeronautical engineering degree you might have another job waiting for you. Are you a resident of Ontario?JackColwill

Thank you sir, I just PM'ed you can you check your pmdg forum mailbox.

Im 18 years old and starting a 2 year program at Conestoga college in Kitchener Ont this sept. I looked at seneca but i found it more school oriented than flight. Im a more hands on kind of person and the 2 year program at Conestoga college gets you IFR, Mulit eng type rating, night type the whole deal all in 2 years. Youll graduate with about 250 hrs. and gets you into the aviation business early. Which is key in canada. Its a long way to the top so getting your hours and experience early is definitely good. I found Conestoga gives you what you need to get in the industry and pushes you into it as early as possible. Make connections quickly with people etc in the aviation business. Hope this helps! goodluck!Duco

Im 18 years old and starting a 2 year program at Conestoga college in Kitchener Ont this sept. I looked at seneca but i found it more school oriented than flight. Im a more hands on kind of person and the 2 year program at Conestoga college gets you IFR, Mulit eng type rating, night type the whole deal all in 2 years. Youll graduate with about 250 hrs. and gets you into the aviation business early. Which is key in canada. Its a long way to the top so getting your hours and experience early is definitely good. I found Conestoga gives you what you need to get in the industry and pushes you into it as early as possible. Make connections quickly with people etc in the aviation business. Hope this helps! goodluck!Duco

Thanks Duco

For the people advocating to get a degree outside of aviation - consider this.When you get furloughed and have to use that degree in accounting/business/whatever there are going to be fresh graduates that will have the upper hand in getting hired. Unless you keep using the degree on the side as a "part time" job or the likes, it's about as worthless as an aviation degree. By the time you will get to use it, things will have changed in the degree field and the hiring companies are looking for people who are up to date with the changes and have the most recent training.A topic about experienced pilots (3000-25000 TT) not being able to find work came up on a professional pilot web forum recently. Many of these guys who were out of work from corporate operators applied and interviewed for several positions in businesses and they wouldn't hire them. The reason? They're pilots. The first flying gig that comes along they're going to pack their bags and leave. Companies don't want to hire someone that's only going to be there for 2 months or whatever. One guy couldn't even get a job at Starbucks.The surefire way to avoid not being able to find work when you're a furloughed pilot - don't be a pilot. Aviation is very universal and cyclical. When it's good, it's good everywhere and every flight is just a ride to the next party. When it's bad, it's bad everywhere and there are a lot of people out of work. Fortunately, right now it looks like hiring and the demand for pilots is on the upswing. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while, but nobody knows how long it will last.One thing that irks me is the people that suggest to get a degree in something else beside aviation likely haven't followed that career path themselves. Some may not even be professional pilots. I followed the advice of these people and it is quite possibly the worst decision I have made in my career to date. I chose to go to a local college and major in Business Adminstration. Way wrong decision. I spent a year and about $10000 to figure out that Business wasn't for me and then I started focusing on what I wanted. I let other people tell me what I should do with my life, when deep down inside I knew that I only wanted to do one thing - to fly. I took a semester off from school, and then enrolled in an online program to get my Bachelor's in Aviation Science. So far it has worked out great. Classes run about $180/credit hour, and I shopped around for the best deals on flight training. I ended up still saving a bunch of money but in the end I'm just happy that I'm not slaving away trying to finish up my degree in something I'm not even interested in.The bottom line is this: You have to make the decision for yourself whether you want to get a degree and fly at college or get a degree in something else and fly on the side. Know that the option is there, but make the decision for yourself.

No problem Kaman, feel free to pm me or anything if youve got anymore questions down the road. Are you applying next year?

Aviation Science VS Aviation technology diploma?the Best choice for a someone who wants to hit the top?Kaman BA

One thing that irks me is the people that suggest to get a degree in something else beside aviation likely haven't followed that career path themselves. Some may not even be professional pilots. I followed the advice of these people and it is quite possibly the worst decision I have made in my career to date. I chose to go to a local college and major in Business Adminstration. Way wrong decision. I spent a year and about $10000 to figure out that Business wasn't for me and then I started focusing on what I wanted. I let other people tell me what I should do with my life, when deep down inside I knew that I only wanted to do one thing - to fly. I took a semester off from school, and then enrolled in an online program to get my Bachelor's in Aviation Science. So far it has worked out great. Classes run about $180/credit hour, and I shopped around for the best deals on flight training. I ended up still saving a bunch of money but in the end I'm just happy that I'm not slaving away trying to finish up my degree in something I'm not even interested in.The bottom line is this: You have to make the decision for yourself whether you want to get a degree and fly at college or get a degree in something else and fly on the side. Know that the option is there, but make the decision for yourself.

Exactly.People BS and whine (like I posted above) about how going to "aviation college is garbage...you'll never find a job..."The reality is those people still find a way to make it...I listened to that crowd, even from my own family...who had spent their entire lives flying airplanes.It only cost me the $$$ I spent on a degree, and now my AME $$$ too just to get back in the aviation fold. Prolly could of been well set for a decent F/O job on King Airs by now.Now I'm forced to service my currency (PPL) with the occasional rental every 3 months or so,Am I unhappy? No. Get to play with airplanes, get to live on both sides of the aviation coin (AME vs. Pilots haha), and i'm on my way to a decent aviation career hopefully.But my advice has changed since those days 6-7 years ago. If you're passionate about it, willing to make both monetary and other sacrifices...go for it. Go to the college, all of them are good really. You get to fly, learn, network, meet great friends, bs, get drunk,...everything. Work hard and you'll find a job. It won't be right seat on the CRJ right away, but heck...who learns much from flying those things anyways :).

I've been flying for a living for 35+ years and the last couple of years it has been 90% office and 10% cockpit. I picked up a comm fixed wing on my own while working in the parts dept of a rotary wing company then was fortunate enough to get into Canadore College for the Rotary wing flight training program in the late 70's. Had a job on a turbine helicopter (Bell 206) within a week of graduating with a comm rotary wing licence. In the mid 80's during the recession I went back to school at Georgian College for an aviation diploma program. Finished it, the economy came back and I was back in the cockpit. Got a fixed wing multi/IFR and my first fixed wing job at age 41 in the right seat of a CAR704 aircraft (19 pass) and a year later had the left seat - did a few hours short of 1200 in that year. 5 years later I had the left seat of a SAAB340. For me the aviation eduacation has helped greatly especially for my current position.....still need spellcheck though!I would reccomend a community college aviation program that has a strong academic requirement in addition to the flying part. But it all gets down to what you want to do long term. If you have a long term goal that requires a graduate degree then that BA is required. Decisions, decisions. But you have to continue your education in some way after you beging to fly whether it is becoming company safety officer (and taking it seriously - good on a resume), accident investigation, becoming a training pilot doing the classroom stuff too, whatever.Some thoughts for what they are worth. There are a lot of pilots in my age group going to retire in the next 5 years so now is a good time to get started. For me it has been a wonderful career so far.

Eh...don't do aviation sciences. A few are saying this for a reason. Get a pilots cert. on the side. Now you want to get into planes and stuff? Go become an a&p. You want to design them? Engineering. Trust us on this. Don't do aviation sciences. Cause it's not worth being a degree. Sorry, but I'm very harsh with things like that and anyone can do it. Do something that's worthwhile that will make you a productive member of society and give you want you want to do. I've seen so many liberal arts students end up working in a mcdonalds because they can't find a job in "english"...same goes for aviation science. So yeah they're saying you will find a way to make it, but will you want to make it in a mcdonalds? or a company like boeing/bombardier/whatever with an engineering degree?