Canada’s Air Force is hiring foreign pilots to fly its front-line transport aircraft, maritime patrol planes and fighter jets, saying it can’t recruit enough Canadians, Ottawa Citizen journalist Bruce Campion-Smith reported on Monday (June 23).
According to Campion-Smith the military has been recruiting pilots from foreign countries to work in Canada and train Canadian pilots and also to fly operational missions around the globe.
Major James Simiana, a spokesperson for the air force, told the Toronto Star the air force has hired 24 former foreign military pilots since 2012, including 19 from the United Kingdom, two from Hungary, and one each from Germany, France and South Africa,
“Those hires are complementary . . . to the hiring and training of Canadian pilots that is also taking place,” said Simiana,
The Star quotes Gilles Hudicourt, a pilot with Air Transat who obtained government labour market opinions, saying the air force has gone abroad to find experienced pilots to avoid the cost of training Canadians.
“They pretend . . . that they’re actually going after some new skill,” Hudicourt told the Star. “They’re doing it to save on training money.”
This report comes at a time that the Canadian government has been questioned for allowing the increased use of foreign temporary workers in the service sector for low-paying jobs at a time that Canadians are looking for work.
More information:
Toronto Star/Bruce Campion-Smith – Royal Canadian Air Force cites a “labour shortage” for why it has hired former military pilots – here
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