From pilots to air traffic controllers, the aviation industry is facing a global shortage of skilled labour. In response, at least one airline flying out of Ottawa is finding ways to make itself and the city more competitive to attract and retain talent.
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From pilots to air traffic controllers, the aviation industry is facing a global shortage of skilled labour. In response, at least one airline flying out of Ottawa is finding ways to make itself and the city more competitive to attract and retain talent.
For Dax Mistry, a line maintenance manager for Porter Airlines at YOW, finding and training aircraft maintenance technicians is a challenge.
“The whole industry is feeling it,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of retirements out of aircraft maintenance. So we’re looking to acquire more staff to come in. One hundred per cent, it’s competitive.”
According to a 2025 report from CAE Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of aviation training technologies, North America will need 132,000 new aircraft maintenance technicians by 2034 to keep pace with growing passenger demand.
The report found that, globally, dropout and failure rates are high among trainees. It said that maintenance technician programs present several challenges for candidates, including training duration, financial barriers, technical and academic complexity and high emotional demands.
With those issues in mind, Mistry said Porter is focused on building out its own talent pipeline.
In 2024, Porter opened a 150,000-square-foot maintenance facility near the Ottawa International Airport. Mistry said the facility, which contains two aircraft hangars and represents a $125-million investment, was built to accommodate the company’s existing De Havilland Dash 8-400s and its growing fleet of Embraer E195-E2s.
Nearly 100 employees across a variety of roles currently work in the Porter facility, according to Mistry. Over time, the company intends to grow the team to 200, including aircraft maintenance engineers, shop technicians, store clerks and administrative staff.
“Our goal is always to have as many employees as we can,” said Mistry. “These aircraft are going to need maintenance.”
Mistry said increased competition in the industry has drastically changed the hiring process for young workers.
“When I was coming into the industry, my professors told us that you’re gonna have to go up and work out North, get your licence. Then you can come on to the line. Any old-timer in this industry will tell you they had to work up North and freeze their hands off before coming down around this area to do line maintenance.”
Given the new dynamics, when Porter opened its facility it announced a partnership with Algonquin College to provide training and financial aid to students working toward careers in aviation. The following year, Porter increased its support for the aircraft maintenance technician program with a $25,000 contribution toward scholarships and other financial awards for students.
At the time, Algonquin program coordinator Daniel Maslow said in a news release that the aviation industry’s growth in Canada has created “exceptional opportunities” for aircraft maintenance professionals, with thousands of positions expected to open in the coming years.
“Our partnership with Porter shows that we understand the urgency of this issue and that we are working together to address the industry’s pressing need for skilled talent,” said Maslow.
Overall, Porter’s initiatives will support 10 second-year students in the program each year. Through the partnership, Porter has begun bringing on co-op students to give them hands-on training within the facility.
Though the program is still in its early stages, Mistry said he’s encouraged by early results.
“We have apprentices who just got out of school, who are working towards their licence (working alongside) licensed mechanics who can help them learn,” he said. “That’s the great thing about this partnership: it allows those apprentices to come right into the industry.”
The challenge, he said, is keeping talent in the city long-term. “As much as we would like to say that working here is the same as working in Toronto or Billy Bishop (Toronto City Airport), sometimes it’s not,” he said. “If you want to gain experience in the Toronto market, you can work at our Toronto bases. And we promote that.”
Still, Mistry said the partnership is the first step toward keeping talent in Ottawa, connecting students to training opportunities that can lead to jobs and allowing them to make local industry connections.
From there, Porter’s job is to make the local facility attractive to talent.
“We try to be as competitive as we can, and that includes pay and everything,” he said. “We want to make them stay here and make it a wonderful place to work. I stayed here. I did my whole career here. I think it’s a fantastic place to work. And we’re the fastest-growing airline in Canada, so there’s tons of opportunity.”
For some employees, Ottawa itself has become part of the appeal. “It’s a fantastic place to live,” he said. “I did Toronto to Kitchener for seven-and-a-half years, and an hour-and-a-half drive in traffic both ways. Here, I live 30 minutes away. It’s a great drive in. You don’t get that in Toronto.”
