Owen Sound Flight Services is registered under the Career Colleges Act 2005

Ready to start your Career in Aviation? Want to learn to fly from passionate Flight Instructors that care about your success? Want to save money and time by flying at a friendly airport with minimal wait times on the runway, beautiful scenery below and aircraft that have a proven track record for making exceptional pilots? That’s what we do here, you should join us!

Our training programs are custom tailored to each student, we start when you’re ready and we can move at your pace. Big schools in the major centers are over capacity with completion times dragging out over several years! Traditional College and University programs are adding in additional diploma courses creating 3 and 4 year completion times. We pulled out all the filler, just flying and groundschool so that we can move faster; how does Zero to Commercial Pilot Licence in 18 months sound? It’s possible if you put in the time and effort. If you like to work hard, we want to work with you to help you achieve your goals of becoming a professional pilot!

What is the Commercial Pilot Licence?

The Commercial Pilot Licence moves the Private Pilot from a recreational flyer to a professional pilot who is able to fly for a Canadian Air Carrier and collect remuneration for the services they provide as a pilot. As a licenced Career College with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, registered under the Career Colleges act 2005, Owen Sound Flight Services is proud to be able to offer this pathway to a career in aviation for aspiring students.

This is a big step that requires not only additional flying skills but also an appreciation for the paying passenger that was not as important in recreational flying. The commercial pilot licence is intended for a person entering into a career as a pilot but can also be an avenue for the private pilot who wishes to upgrade his/her skills to a higher level. The training will consist of a lot of the same flight exercises that you perform during the private pilot training except to a higher standard.

Because of the nature of commercial flying, and the greater demand of the pilot to fly when weather is marginal, your training will consist of bringing your present knowledge of meteorology to a higher level. Also, because of the inherent problems associated with weather, your training will include a considerable amount of instrument flying techniques that will ensure proficiency and confidence.

Pre-Requisites and Requirements

The Pre-Requisites to Start the Commercial Pilot Licence:

Already have a Private Pilot Licence (we do that!)
Be a minimum of 17 years old
Have a valid Category 1 Aviation Medical (you can actually start training with a Category 3 medical, but you will want to get a Category 1 as soon as possible in order to minimize delays in your training).

The Requirements to Complete the Commercial Pilot Licence:

Be a minimum of 18 years old
Have a valid Category 1 Aviation Medical
Complete the required Groundschool and Flight Training
Successfully complete a Written Exam and Flight Test

Link to the Canadian Aviation Regulations for the Commercial Pilot Licence.

Groundschool

Groundschool for the Commercial Pilot Licence can be In-Class or Online.

OSFS does not currently offer an inclass groundschool for the CPL program, however we do recommmend an online option from Canadian Flight Trainers.

CPL Groundschool involves a minimum of 80 hours of content including:

Canadian Aviation Regulations
Aerodynamics and Theory of Flight
Meteorology
Airframes, Engines and Systems
Flight Instruments
Radio and Electronic Theory
Navigation
Flight Operations
Licencing Requirements
Human Factors including Pilot Decision Making

Flight Training

The Flight Training and Experience Required for a Commercial Pilot Licence are as follows:

In order to obtain a Commercial Pilot Licence you need a total of 200 hours of flying, of which 100 hours shall be Pilot in Command Time including 20 hours of Cross Country flying as outlined in the Canadian Aviation Regulations. When you commence the CPL training, you may already have some of this flying experience, so we can work with you to determine exactly what you need to meet the standard.

Following the issuance of your Private Pilot Licence, the minimum flight training experience required for the Commercial Pilot Licence is 65 hours, outlined as follows:

- 35 Hours Dual which must include
  - 5 hours night (including 2 hours of night cross country)
  - 5 hours cross country (you can count the 2 hours from the night cross country)
  - 20 hours instrument flight time (you can do 10 of these hours in our simulator and save $$$)
- 30 Hours Solo which must include
  - 5 hours night (including 10 takeoffs and landings)
  - 300 nm cross country (this is a radius from the point of departure, and you have to stop at 3 other airports along this trip)

Students can expect more than 35 Hours of Dual to reach the standard for the Commercial Pilot Licence. You can see an out line of the training program hours below in the Hours and Cost Estimate.

Flight Tests and Written Exams

In order to complete the Commercial Pilot Licence you must also complete:

Commercial Pilot Written Exam (CPAER).
- The exam is a 3 ½ hour, multiple choice type exam with 100 questions.
- The pass mark is 60%.
- Currently these exams are available in Toronto and Hamilton.

Commercial Pilot Flight Test (With a designated Transport Canada Flight Test Examiner)
- The flight test is undertaken at the Owen Sound Airport

Hours and Cost Estimate

Hours and Cost Estimate based on the breakdown of hours as outlined in our program.

The total cost to complete the program is heavily dependent on student performance and the total hours it takes to reach the level of proficiency required to complete the program. The following breakdown assumes students complete the course in the projected timeline starting from zero and completing the entire course at OSFS. Students coming to us with various levels of flight experience can be given a custom estimate based on their hours and final costs will vary based on overall performance.

See this link for our latest Hours and Cost Estimate for the Commercial Pilot Licence Program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the Career College Admin fee?

In the cost estimate you will see a Career College Admin fee. This is not a simple money grab for aspiring Commercial Pilots, but rather an unfortunate necessity for us to viably offer the CPL Program. Did you know it costs us over $10,000 each year in administrative fees just to simply offer the CPL program? Historically, flight schools have always been able to offer CPL training under their Transport Canada operating certificate, however in 2005 the Ontario government decided they wanted to further regulate this industry Provincially, despite already being regulated Federally by T.C. As a result they introduced the requirement for Flight Schools to become a Career College in order to offer the CPL program, registered under the Career Colleges act 2005. With that accreditation comes annual fees and expenses that add up significantly, and in order to offset the cost of offering Commercial Pilot Training, we need everyone to help contribute to make this program viable.

Q. How long does it take to get a Commercial Pilot Licence?

There are a number of factors affecting the timeline to get a CPL, some of which have been addressed in the content on this page. If you are starting from scratch and have average or greater hands and feet skill in the airplane and a strong aptitude for the knowledge needed to pass the Written Exam, it’s not unreasonable to complete the CPL program in under 18 months.

Q. Do I need to be 18 in order to start the CPL course?

No, you need to be 18 in order to finish the course. You can get a Private Pilot Licence at 17, so you could start your CPL training as soon as you complete the Private Pilot Licence course.