Thank you for visiting the Langley Flying School website. We appreciate your interest in our School, and we hope be able to welcome you one day as one of our International Students.
One of the great pleasures we have as Flight Instructors is the opportunity to teach students from all over the world who come to Canada to learn to fly; some of them—perhaps yourself—land at our School, and it is with great pride that we get to send them back to their homes and families and as fully qualified professional pilots.
Canada's pilot licences and ratings—and especially the Canadian Commercial Licence—are top ranked throughout the world, owing to its reputation of the licence holders for solid pilot skills, thorough yet practical pilot knowledge and safe and effective pilot decision-making. The history of international flight training in Canada goes back to the 1940s with the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and it is pride and conviction that we—like many other private flying schools located thoughout Canada—are able to continue with the tradition of providing effective and proven pilot training programs for international students.
Policy of Non-affiliation—Equal treatment of all International Students
Time Required for Pilot Training
Policy of Non-affiliation—Equal treatment of All International Students
Langley Flying School is committed to the fair and equitable treatment of all of its International Student and does not maintain affiliation with any business/recruiting agents or special interest groups in other countries that could lead to unfair recruitment fees levied against students, and preferential access to flight training resources. All International Students are treated fairly and equally, and Langley Flying School seeks to minimize the cost of training in all cases. International Students are fully integrated with Langley Flying School's domestic students.
Time Required for Pilot Training
With respect to time-line, you should know that the Private Pilot Licence—pursued on a full-time basis—normally requires four weeks to six weeks to complete, and the Commercial Pilot Licence requires an additional six to eight months. To complete these licences along these time-lines, International Students will have to fly daily. The same programs will take a year or more if the training pace is less then full-time.
While completion of the Commercial Pilot Licence requires the longest time, the Multi-engine Rating and the Instrument Rating are the shortest—the Multi-engine Rating requires only about three weeks, and the Instrument Rating is just a little longer—about four weeks. In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization, all pilots must demonstrate English language proficiency.
Students can pursue their ground studies as independent students (moving through the training one-on-one with a Flight Instructor), or they can join the full-time 8-Month Professional Pilot Program where, upon completion, student are qualified as Commercial Pilots with Multi-engine and Instrument Ratings. The 8-month course is based on flight training in the morning and groundschool in the afternoon, and students are going at it 5 days a week.
It would be great if we could predict with accuracy just how long (and therefore how much money) the Private Pilot Licence will take, but unfortunately, student performance varies considerably, and we cannot recommend students for flight tests until they meet the standards established by Transport Canada. Full-time students, however, usually complete their Private Pilot Licence at or near the minimum hours required—they are at it daily, and they get good really fast. Please read the Private Pilot Licence course outline carefully regarding this. In contrast, the Commercial Pilot Licence, Multi-engine Rating, and IInstrument Rating are reasonably predictable with respect to costs, as student proficiency, at this higher level, does not vary greatly.
All student are advised to keep "cash in reserve" just in case of need for additional pilot proficiency training, especially for the Private Pilot Program. Becoming a pilot is a process of reaching the standards of profiency and knowledge required by Transport Canada and the ICAO, and is not a matter of simply "accumulating flight time." Please check the cost section of the individual Pilot Trainig Pprograms for additional informaton and our recommendations regarding this. Student pilots do not need the additional pressure of financial worries as they complete their training.
For setting up a Canadian bank account, information is available from the Royal Bank of Canada.
It goes without saying that all costs are quoted by us in Canadian Dollars, and you can visit the following link to calculate your currency's conversion: Bank of Canada
Estimated Cost Summary for International Students (Based on training in Cessna aircraft and effective from July 1, 2010 ) |
|
$8206 |
|
$9965 |
|
$5485 |
|
$3110 |
|
$9234 |
|
Approximate Housing Costs ($300 per month for 8 months) |
$2400 |
Letter of Acceptance courier fee |
$175 |
Medical Insurance ($85 per month for 8 months) |
$680 |
Approximate Harmonized Sales Tax (12%) |
$4696 |
Total |
$43951 |
For International students, our admissions process requires that you send a $175 processing fee, payable to the School, which will be used to pay our administrative and courier costs. This money is non-refundable, and may be paid via credit card, bank transfer, or by cheque or money order. Students should contact me (dparry@langleyflyingschool.com) and notify me of the payment method before the transaction is initiated, whatever the method of payment.
Once this $175 processing fee is paid, we begin by sending you a Letter of Acceptance, and this, in turn, is presented to the Canadian Consulate or Embassy in support of an application for the student visa.
How to Begin the Application Process
If you wish to train with us, first begin an e-mail exchange with us to find out if we are the right school for you. If you wish to pursue full-time studies, you may have to wait until the next cycle begins (they usually start the first week in January and July). We will discuss your starting day during the e-mail exchange. Once we begin to process your Letter of Acceptance, we require the following information:
This information is submitted in support of your visa, so all must be accurate.
The volume of international e-mail inquiries is considerably high at the present, and we are unfortunately unable to respond to general questions concerning learning to fly, program costs, etc. To expedite the application process, review the information carefully on this website and follow the suggestions contained on this page. Students who are able to make an independent decision to begin training at Langley Flying School will be processed with little delay.
All information related to Canadian student visas can be accessed from a link found on our website (first page under "foreign students") or by visiting the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website:
It is very important that you become familiar with student visa requirements, and you should know that many students are turned down in their applications owing to insufficient funds. The following information related to student qualfication appears on the CIC website:
To be eligible to study in CanadaSource: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/study-who.asp
Canada has a government health plan and all medical services are provided to Canadians by the government. Students coming to Canada to study must therefore have private insurance, which must be in place prior to arriving in Canada. We suggest Langley Flying School students purchase medical insurance from David Cummings Insurance Services Ltd.—this company provides private medical insurance to international students who attend public universities in British Columbia, and they are therefore a reputable firm.
Langley Flying School’s contact person for David Cummings Insurance Services Ltd. is Raymond Kow (Raymond@david-cummings.com). The cost of medical insurance for student pilots is quoted by Mr. Kow is $85 per month (see Medical Insurance for International Students). To initiate medical insurance, Mr. Kow requires the following information for each student to trigger coverage:
General information regarding the medical insurance requirements can be obtained the following government website: www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/msp/.
No, of course not. The dress code of Langley Flying School students and staff are just like any modern Western university or college--casual and comfortable. Our focus as Flight Instructors is teaching student pilots how to fly—we are not interested in in teaching student pilots how to wear a tie—we'll leave that to Mums and Dads. All students are encouraged to wear functional flight suits during flight operations, which can be purchased locally for approximately $200 (contact Flight Line)
Questions regarding Pilot Training
After you have reviewed the information on this website concerning the training program and facilities, please contact me with any questions you may have—if I can't personally respond, I will pass your message on to one of our Flight Instructors.
Best Regards,
David Parry, Chief Flying Instructor
