Future Students

Both programs have the same flight training process and the only real difference is the academic focus (What type of degree you will graduate with). Science & Aviation allows you to graduate with a Bachelor of Science with the courses you take during your time here being more of the core sciences (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, etc.) Geography & Aviation allows you to graduate with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies with your courses consisting of geography, environmental, geomatics, and cartography courses. For more information, please refer to the Science & Aviation or Geography & Aviation sections of the UW website

Geography & Aviation students begin their flight training in January while Science & Aviation students begin in May. While this may make it seem like Science & Aviation students will be "behind" in their training, this isn't the case due to the fact that Waterloo's winter weather severely restricts available flight time. The vast majority of the time, Science & Aviation students catch up to their Geography counterparts, if not surpassing them, in their flight training progression

This is due to the nature of Waterloo winters. Since the weather in the winter makes it hard to fly, we highly recommend being available for flight training in the summers as to not fall behind

All UW aviation programs require you to obtain a valid Transport Canada Category 1 Medical Certificate before starting flight training. It is highly recommended that you ensure you are eligible for the certificate before arriving, and potentially even before applying, as this process can take several months depending on current Transport Canada wait times. This usually costs between $200 - $400 though costs vary by examiner. To book your appointment, please refer to the following list of authorized Transport Canada medical practitioners.

No! The flight training portion of the program will teach you everything you need to know along the way to earning your licenses. However, it is strongly recommended that you complete an intro flight with your local flight school to make sure that you are physically comfortable with flying in the types of small aircraft you will be completing your training in as it is quite different than flying commercially.