>>1596876canadian bush pilot here. the states and the great white north are pretty similar in terms of time to train so long as you're in a region with good climate (fastest/biggest flight training areas are Arizona + Florida I think). My understanding is that training in the U.S is cheaper. Up here there are a lot more "bush" oriented jobs and they are much easier to get. I did my CPL (commercial pilots license) on a floatplane, which made me very employable at seasonal floatplane operations in central and eastern canada, and with a season or two working out there, you can get a job out west flying floats year round. Float flying in canada can be 80% /out/ shit to start depending on the type of operator you work for - most jobs are for fishing/hunting lodges. tasks incluce camp checks (flying the plane into a fly in only lake with propane, outboard motors, beer, whatever the american tourists want and fixing the odd thing after dropping the load off), landscaping, cooking shore lunches, etc. usually accommodations provided (trailer or pilot cabin), and if you bring a rod you can catch all your food for the 5-6 months you're working. you do that stuff your first season, then move up to passenger ops in a slightly bigger plane with that other stuff thrown on top, then by your third or fourth season, you might be flying a turboprop floatplane doing mostly passenger work with the odd backbreaking huge load to deliver. in the states, Alaska is a great place to work in the bush, however I think a lot of places need you to have "alaska time", meaning you either do your training there or get a low time job instructing until you get 500-700 hours to start doing the same shit we do here with a fresh license. winter is here so some operations put the floatplane on skis, but most shut their doors and come back next april. I'm currently teaching at a flight school which is aware of my seasonal work and it's pretty good.
