Canadore College -- flight technician program is taking off.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: Top Post-secondary Programs

With a growing global emphasis on the use of flight in mining exploration and industrial development, Canadore College's aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) program is busier than ever.

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"Our graduates get scooped up all over the place," says Darrin Caron, dean, trades and technology.

"There was a bit of a downturn in the industry after 9/11, but that has since disappeared, and this year in particular, our phone hasn't stopped ringing. The demand is definitely outstripping the supply."

As part of the school's 83,000-square-foot aviation campus at North Bay's Jack Garland Airport, the two-year AMT program prepares students for life as an aircraft mechanic. While the school also offers separate programs for maintenance of the structure and the electronic components of an aircraft, the AMT program incorporates elements of the two. This allows students to put their hands to a variety of systems, from landing gear to engines to navigation and communications systems.

As a result graduates are not restricted to the maintenance of a single type of aircraft, and instead have the ability to work on anything from helicopters, large passenger planes to small Cessnas.

With various aviation firms in the region, graduates are given ample opportunity to find work locally, though Caron says much of the program's appeal is the ability to work anywhere in the world.

"For young people, it's quite appealing to know that you really can make of the industry what you want. If you want to stay in North Bay, we have Voyageur, Bombardier, Air Canada Jazz, Gateway Helicopters. If not, the world is your oyster, and you can go all over."

The AMT program is heavily regulated by Transport Canada, which allows graduates to reduce their 48-month apprenticeship by 19 months provided they've missed no more than five per cent of their classes. The school's avionics maintenance and aircraft structure repair programs are similarly certified, making Canadore one of the only schools in Canada to have three full programs with this level of regulation.

"In all my 24 years in the college system, I've never been in a program that's as heavily regulated by Transport Canada. We're audited on a regular basis, because you're talking about people's...