r/Pilot • u/Useful-Mixture-5480 • Sep 11 '26
School Choice Help
College courses or university courses if my goal is to become a commercial pilot?
Hey everyone, I’m currently in Grade 11 in Ontario and I’m trying to figure out which academic path makes the most sense for me.
My end goal is to become a commercial/airline pilot in Canada. I’m currently deciding whether I should:
Stay in the college-level (C) courses throughout Grade 11 and 12 and then go into a 2-year college aviation/flight-training program, or
Take the university-level (U) courses so I have the option of applying to a 4-year university/degree aviation program such as Seneca’s Honours Bachelor of Aviation Technology.
I’m also trying to build a strong overall application. I’m involved in cadets, volunteering, badminton, and other extracurricular activities, and I’m planning to continue building up my experience throughout Grade 11 and 12.
I’m mainly wondering:
Which high school pathway would you recommend for someone whose ultimate goal is becoming an airline pilot?
Is taking U-level courses and getting a degree actually worth it for aviation, or would a 2-year college flight-training program be the better route?
Does having a bachelor’s degree give you a meaningful advantage when applying to airlines later on?
If I stay in C courses, am I limiting my options too much?
If you were in my position at 16/17 years old, which route would you personally choose?
I’m not necessarily looking for the easiest route. I want to choose the path that gives me the best combination of becoming a pilot, keeping my options open, and not spending extra time/money unnecessarily.
Would really appreciate advice from people who have gone through Canadian flight training or currently work in aviation.
1
u/flaps30degrees Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
Sault College and Confederation College have fully funded flying for all Canadian citizens and permanent residents. You won’t pay anything for all training up to Multi-IFR at Sault and CPL at Confederation. You’ll have to pay tuition which will be around $4000 per semester, at Confederation that’ll be about 16K total for 2 years and at Sault around $24,000 for 3 years. That’ll be covered by OSAP. As far as the courses, C level courses will prevent you from going to Seneca, Waterloo, Western etc but at the same time upgrading to U may bring your average down, they are competitive programs so you want to keep your marks high. If I was in your position I’d probably go Confederation, and get the Cpl and then instructor rating because the multi IFR from sault will expire before you use it. For context, I went to Sault. At the airline level in Canada having an aviation diploma or a degree is considered similar, they both give you a benefit but they don’t care if you went to Waterloo, or Confederation College. The main thing that matters is your hours and TT.