Royal Canadian Air Force members and aircraft maintenance engineering students at BCIT's Aerospace Technology Campus in Richmond, B.C.Jennifer Gauthier/JOBFlocks
The Royal Canadian Air Force is outsourcing its aircraft technician training for the first time, as demand for the professionals who certify whether an aircraft is fit to fly surges amid modernization efforts.
Nearly 200 RCAF members are learning how to be aircraft technicians at civilian schools while the air force’s own academy in Borden, Ont., runs at full capacity. The inaugural students under this initiative began classes in July.
It’s a first for the air force, after the Canadian Forces, more broadly, has been outsourcing training for decades with professions such as construction engineers.
“We have a number of new and extremely modern and complex aircraft coming online, and we need to stand ready and have our technicians ready when these platforms arrive at the operational units,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Meagan McGrath, a staff officer who leads the outsourced training initiative for the RCAF’s Air Maintenance Branch. “There’s no time to waste here.”
The air force has secured standing offers from 10 civilian schools across the country to train aircraft technicians, allowing it to increase its pace of graduation as it experiences a growth in enrolment. Not all 10 currently have RCAF members studying at them. One of the busier schools is the British Columbia Institute for Technology (BCIT), where 84 of the approximately 190 RCAF members in the Force’s program are enrolled.
RCAF member and aircraft maintenance engineering student Ivan Magsakay during an electrical fundamentals course at BCIT. There are three main categories that aircraft technicians can specialize in at BCIT: structures, electronics – also called avionics – and maintenance.Jennifer Gauthier/JOBFlocks
On a Monday afternoon in early September, students in uniform stood attentively, listening to their professor talk about aircraft wiring at BCIT’s aerospace campus near the Vancouver International Airport. In a classroom close by, their civilian colleagues did much the same, learning everything from how to repair fuselages made with composite materials to what the inside of an airplane wheel looks like.
The two cohorts will study the same Transport Canada-certified curriculum over the next several months, but with two very different outcomes. One will finish their program and enter the job market, likely looking for work in the commercial aviation sector. The other will either finish and travel to their posted unit to learn more about the military aircraft fleets they’ve been assigned to or return to base for further training.
The air force began looking into outsourcing training for these technicians in the fall of 2024, shortly after publishing its training modernization strategy in the spring.
This was also around the time when the military branch decided it would aim to train its aircraft technicians to national standards, such as Transport Canada’s, and work with schools whose curriculum abides by these standards, Lt.-Col. McGrath said.
“It’s part of the modernization effort. There’s a standard that exists. Let’s reach towards it,” she said.
The air force has secured standing offers from 10 civilian schools across the country to train aircraft technicians, allowing it to increase its pace of graduation as it experiences a growth in enrolment.Jennifer Gauthier/JOBFlocks
Aircraft technicians are critical to an aircraft being deemed safe to fly. It’s their name on the line if anything goes wrong, said Gerry Egan, associate dean of aerospace at BCIT.
“The buck stops with that individual and the team of individuals making that aircraft safe for flight, and then they hand it off to the flight crew and say, ‘Here’s your aircraft,’” said Mr. Egan, a former aircraft maintenance engineer himself.
There are three main categories that aircraft technicians can specialize in at BCIT: structures, electronics – also called avionics – and maintenance. Those specializing in structures are responsible for maintaining and repairing parts of the aircraft such as the fuselage, wings and tail. Those specializing in avionics are responsible for all of the electrical systems, including navigation and communication. And those specializing in maintenance are the “jack or jill of all trades,” said Mr. Egan, meaning they’re the ones responsible for the certification of an aircraft after it has undergone any type of repair or routine maintenance. Thus, they have to know a little bit of everything.
While the RCAF has different professional titles for each of the three aforementioned technician categories, they’re consistent with what the military employs.
The maintenance, repair and overhaul work these technicians perform is highlighted as a key capability by Ottawa’s new Defence Industrial Strategy, which was released earlier this year, as well as the Department of National Defence’s 2026-27 departmental plan. In this plan, Ottawa highlights the modernization of aerospace maintenance technician training as one of the air force’s priorities for the current fiscal year.
Nearly 200 RCAF members are learning how to be aircraft technicians at civilian schools.Jennifer Gauthier/JOBFlocks
Across the country from BCIT, Nova Scotia Community College has a heavy military presence on its campus too. The school has been working with the Forces for decades, including on its outsourced training for construction-related courses.
The college is also training aircraft technicians for the RCAF, but this time through a different military education program called the Non-Commissioned Member Subsidized Training and Education Plan. This program offers full-time paid education at certain Canadian schools to either civilians looking to join the Forces, or non-commissioned members who are already enrolled but want to become experts in their field.
Andrew Lafford, vice-president of academics at the college, said he’s noticed an increase recently in the number of students in uniform on campus in tandem with an increase in the number of training contracts the school is working with the Forces on.
Back at BCIT, the school is preparing to launch its first 18-week full-time program in May dedicated to teaching people how to build, repair, fly and collect data with drones. Through informal discussions, Mr. Egan said he’s gleaned the military is keen to learn more about it, as they, too, are having to navigate new training for autonomous systems.
The scope of the modernization effort that the air force is currently undertaking is the greatest since the Second World War, said Lt.-Col. McGrath.
“It’s really a moment in time, and I think we’ve grasped very quickly that we need to adjust to accommodate this moment and to find solutions.”
Jennifer Gauthier/JOBFlocks