Recently, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning signed an agreement with Great Lakes Helicopter Corporation of Kitchener to expand aviation education at Conestoga to include training on helicopters.

The new agreement will add another dimension to Conestoga’s diploma-level program in Aviation – General Arts and Science. Graduates of this two-year program earn an Ontario College Diploma, plus receive a commercial pilot’s licence training and a multi-engine instrument rating. The expanded training involving helicopters will be available to students who begin the aviation program next September.

The partnership agreement was signed by Great Lakes President Bill Leyburne and Conestoga Executive Dean of Academic Administration Bob Carley at a special ceremony held at the Region of Waterloo International Airport.

Aviation – General Arts and Science involves instruction at Conestoga’s Doon campus in Kitchener and at the Waterloo-Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC), located at the airport. Under the new arrangement, students will have the option of completing their commercial pilot’s licence training on fixed-wing aircraft through the WWFC or on helicopters through Great Lakes.

The aviation program combines instruction in appropriate science, technical, mathematics, communications and business skills with skills in flight training, flight management, and aircraft aerodynamics and performance.