The deficit is predicted to worsen by 2025
.jpg)
Canada’s aviation industry is struggling to fill jobs amid a severe labour shortage – a situation the industry cannot risk ignoring, a top government official said.
As Canada begins to double air travel, the shortage could only worsen without an industry-wide strategy in place.
“We’re flying more and more, and we will continue to fly more and more,” Transport Minister Marc Garneau explained at a forum. “We cannot afford to have labour shortages in the aviation industry.”
The sector currently enlists some 154,000 workers. By 2025, however, it is expected to see a deficit of 3,000 pilots and 55,000 aircraft workers, including maintenance technicians, avionics technicians, composite fabricators, and engineers.
Flight schools in Canada, which cost upwards of $75,000, lag behind in producing graduates to fill these crucial roles.
The global demand for highly skilled workers is also leading foreign competitors to recruit Canadian talent and attract them with better pay.
In the Middle East and Asia, for instance, pilots at midsize airline companies earn 12 to 14% higher wages than counterparts in the west, according to a discussion paper at the forum.
At the same time, jobs are “going offshore” as India and Asia begin to train more workers.
“If we don’t have the workers, the jobs are going offshore and we won’t get them back,” said Robert Donald, executive director of the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace.
