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Canadian Flyers flight school on pause at Kawartha Lakes Municipal

Canadian Flyers, a Flight Training Unit operating from the Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport (CNF4), recently announced that its operations will be put on pause after more than 30 years of operations. In November 2023, CF moved its base of operations from the Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport (CYKZ), with the closing of the airport.

The City of Lindsay enthusiastically welcomed CF to the airport, which is roughly a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Toronto. CF had planned on investing capital to build out a facility to allow the flight school to operate a state-of-the-art training environment.

In January 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that it had made changes to the foreign student program, reducing the number of Student Permits (also known as Student Visas) to a maximum of 360,000, a decrease of 35 per cent from 2023. Further, starting September 1, 2024, international students who begin a study program that is part of a curriculum licensing arrangement will no longer be eligible for a post graduation work permit upon graduation. In other words, they will have to leave Canada at the conclusion of their program.

Interestingly, international students who graduate with a Master’s or PHD degree are able to stay in Canada for three years and work. This is an issue for the Canadian FTUs, as they rely on foreign students who have obtained their Instructors Rating, to stay in Canada, ideally working in their FTU and training the next generation of pilots. Canadian citizens who acquire a frozen ATPL will quickly move on to charter companies and later the airlines, as they gain more hours. This leaves a gap at the FTU, which based upon the North American pilot shortage, will only get worse over time.

CF, as part of Ontario’s College and University organization, has a robust international ATPL program with many foreign students being trained. Their current pipeline included 40 registered international students. Combined with the disruption to Canadian students living in the Greater Toronto Area caused by the move from Buttonville to Lindsay, these factors impacted the long-term goals of CF.

Dario Matrundola, President of Canadian Flyers, reports: “I want to make it clear that placing our operations on hold was not caused by any financial difficulties. Canadian Flyers has no debt, owns all of its aircraft, simulators and other assets. The cancellation of our international student’s visas has put a hold on both the construction of new facilities at the Kawartha Lakes Airport and our flight training program.” CF currently has 30 students enrolled in their flight training program, down from 150 students when they operated out of Buttonville.

Flight training in the Greater Toronto Area has been under attack with lease cancellations, training restrictions, local political constraints and airport closures. The recent announcement of the City of Oshawa and Canadian Flight Academy (CFA) settlement of their legal dispute resulting in CFA’s agreement to cease flight operations at CYOO by December 31, 2025, is another example of Canadian flight training impacted by “Not in My Back Yard” syndrome.

Andy Nureddin, Chair of the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) fully understands the political environment which Flight Training Units operate under. He sees many if not most Canadian flight schools fixated on training student pilots with the goal of acquiring frozen ATPLs and then sending them off to the airlines. For an individual focused on the Business and General Aviation side of our industry, there is a lack of flight training capacity, especially in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Nureddin reports: “the City of Oshawa/CFA legal disputes, the recent closures of the Buttonville and Downsview airports and the cancellation of international student VISAs by the Federal Government are more examples of all levels of Canadian governments’ lack of support and vision to the aviation industry. At the end of the day, no one is better served by these impacts. This results in a lose/lose outcome lessening Canada’s aviation industry, not unlike the impact of the Luxury Tax to Canadian Business Aviation. The Federal Government needs to strategically fix its immigration policies but not tactically cancel all international aviation student visas.”

The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship reports: “International students are vital to Canada and enrich our communities. As such, we have an obligation to ensure that they have access to the resources they need for an enriching academic experience. In Canada, today, this isn’t always the case. Today, we are announcing additional measures to protect a system that has become so lucrative that it has opened a path for its abuse. Enough is enough. Through the decisive measures announced today, we are striking the right balance for Canada and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system while setting students up for the success they hope for.”

The obstacles which FTUs face every day, such as flight instructor shortages and retention, impacts of weather to flight operations, skyrocketing aircraft acquisition costs, 100LL fuel costs now exceeding CAD $3.00 (at some airports), aircraft mechanics shortages, airport restrictions caused by noise concerns from neighbours, supply chain issues, lack of support from all levels of government, travel time to the airport, the list can seem like it is endless. While the GTA is a microcosm of issues, airports like Pitt Meadows have created an environment where the issues are not as overwhelming as other airport environments.

Historically we have found support from all levels of government changes on a dime based upon bad things happening, like a world war. World War II is a great example, where government and private sector came together to build airports in Canada and train copious amounts of young men who for many, gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country, protecting our freedoms. It’s unfortunate that the Canadian aviation industry is under attack from domestic threats.