Education · 1 of 5

The path

You pay for the licence, then you earn the hours slowly.

1. 1

   Finish high school and pass a medical

   Grade 12

   Get a Transport Canada Category 1 medical exam before spending money on training. Math, physics and English all help.

2. 2

   Private helicopter licence

   3 to 6 months

   Minimum age 17. Ground school plus dual and solo flying at a helicopter flight school.

3. 3

   Commercial helicopter licence

   6 to 12 months

   Minimum age 18. About 100 hours of flight time, far fewer than the 200 an aeroplane commercial licence needs, but each hour costs much more.

4. 4

   First job, usually on the ground

   1 to 2 years

   Most new pilots are hired as ground crew or junior pilots at a bush operator and fly the trips nobody else wants.

5. 5

   Build hours and specialize

   3 to 5 years

   At 1,000 to 2,000 hours you can move to fire work, longline, survey, air ambulance or offshore.