What is an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer apprenticeship program? Where is it available?

At present, apprentice aircraft maintenance engineers from across Canada receive  federally regulated training that is run by the Department of Transport.

All the in-school training for this 7200 hour apprenticeship program (on the job and in-school combined) is done at Stevenson Aviation and Aerospace Training Centre in Portage La Prairie in southern Manitoba. Students spend nine weeks a year in the classroom in each year of their four year program taking instruction on subjects ranging from rotary wing to composites.  Required tasks are recorded in Transport Canada log books (students must purchase these).

Apprentices must register in Ontario as well as Manitoba in order to receive the Ontario Certificate of Apprenticeship upon completion of the apprenticeship requirement. Transport Canada will issue the license after the individual has been in the trade for 48 months. Further licensing is required in order to work on different classifications of aircraft.

Some people who have enrolled in the program have done so with federal sponsorship as Feepayers, and are able to collect, or continue to collect, their EI benefits while enrolled in the program.

For more information about the program, contact the Manitoba Apprenticeship Branch at 1-800-282-8069.