Pilot Jobs in Canada 2026: Who Is Hiring at Jazz Aviation, Porter Airlines, WestJet and Air Canada

Our jobs board tracks 4 airlines based in Canada, Jazz Aviation (Air Canada Express), Porter Airlines, WestJet and Air Canada. At the last check 3 of them had the First Officer seat open and 1 the Captain seat, and the status of Air Canada was unconfirmed. The published First Officer minimums climb from 500 hours at Jazz Aviation, 750 at WestJet, 1,000 at Porter Airlines and 2,000 at Air Canada. None of the 4 says it sponsors a work permit; Jazz Aviation, WestJet and Air Canada ask for Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, and Porter Airlines’ record gives no visa terms. This page lists each one with its bases, seats, license and minimum, then the ladder of hours, the flows from the regional airlines to the mainline and the school pathways, and the traps in a Canadian vacancy: the exams and the license an airline names, hours that count only in command or on fixed-wing aircraft, the right to work and postings that close. How to get the license itself is on the how to become an airline pilot in Canada page.

The Canadian airlines (4)

Every Canadian airline on our board, by its status at the last check: 3 recruiting for at least one seat. The license and right-to-work columns are each record’s own summary; the hours are the published minimums, in the airline’s own measure.

Who is hiring, seat by seat

First Officer seat open at the last check: Jazz Aviation (Air Canada Express), Porter Airlines and WestJet. Captain seat open: Porter Airlines. Each Canadian airline as its record sums it up, with the date of the check:

• Jazz Aviation (Air Canada Express) F/O: Recruiting Capt: Unconfirmed
  At the last check, on 21 October 2026, Jazz’s pilot recruitment page, as search results showed it, set a 500-hour First Officer minimum, and job boards carried copies of its First Officer posting dated June and September 2026; the Captain posting seen in September could not be found again. (checked 21 October 2026) — careers page
• Porter Airlines F/O: Recruiting Capt: Recruiting
  At the last check, on 21 October 2026, Porter’s careers portal, as search results showed it, listed First Officer and Direct Entry Captain postings for the Dash 8-400 and the E195-E2 at Toronto, without dates; its pilot careers page sets a minimum of 1,000 total hours. (checked 21 October 2026) — careers page
• WestJet F/O: Recruiting Capt: Unconfirmed
  At the last check, on 15 October 2026, WestJet’s job boards showed a mainline B737 First Officer posting dated 14 October 2026 and a WestJet Encore Q400 First Officer posting at Calgary open until 1 December 2026, and WestJet’s pilot careers page set out the First Officer minimums for both. (checked 15 October 2026) — careers page
• Air Canada F/O: Unconfirmed Capt: Not offered
  At the last check, on 16 October 2026, Air Canada’s standing First Officer posting for pilots from outside Air Canada Express (listed at Toronto) read “no longer active” on its careers site, and we could not confirm whether another pilot posting was open. Air Canada says pilot applications far exceed its vacancies, and offers a Talent Network when no opening fits. (checked 16 October 2026) — careers page

For Captains: Porter lists Direct Entry Captain postings for the E195-E2 and the Dash 8-400 at Toronto, the E195-E2 one at 4,500 hours by a job board’s copy (checked 21 October 2026); Air Canada offers no direct entry Captain route (checked 16 October 2026); whether WestJet hires direct-entry Captains for its mainline is among the points we could not confirm (checked 15 October 2026); whether Jazz is recruiting Captains is among the points we could not confirm (checked 21 October 2026). Every airline that takes Captains from outside is on the direct entry Captain jobs page.

The hours ladder

Each airline’s lowest published First Officer entry for a pilot without a type rating, lowest first, in the airline’s own measure of hours:

1. 500 hours at Jazz Aviation (Air Canada Express), of total flight time; graduates of Jazz-affiliated schools from 250 (checked 21 October 2026)
2. 750 hours at WestJet, on WestJet Encore’s Dash 8-400, with 100 in command of fixed-wing aircraft; WestJet’s mainline asks 2,000 with a Transport Canada ATPL (checked 15 October 2026)
3. 1,000 hours at Porter Airlines, of total flight time, which job boards’ copies of its postings give for the Dash 8-400, and 1,500 with an ATPL for the E195-E2 (checked 21 October 2026)
4. 2,000 hours at Air Canada, of fixed-wing flying, with a Canadian ATPL and a Group 1 instrument rating (checked 16 October 2026)

Below the minimum. Porter interviews pilots on its Destination Porter pathway from 500 hours and confirms the conditional offer once they reach 1,000 hours and pass the IATRA or ATPL exams (checked 21 October 2026); it also invites commercial pilots with 200 to 1,000 hours to make an early connection (checked 21 October 2026). The doors at 500 hours or less, in Canada and beyond, are on the low-hour pilot jobs page, and every published minimum on the hours requirements page.

Flows and school pathways

The mainline seats are filled largely from below: Jazz, which flies as Air Canada Express, is Air Canada’s preferential source of pilots, and Jazz pilots apply to Air Canada through a posting of their own (checked 16 October 2026); WestJet Encore pilots move to WestJet’s mainline by seniority, with no second pilot interview (checked 15 October 2026); the terms of that flow beyond seniority are among the points we could not confirm (checked 15 October 2026); the Chartright Pilot Development Program, run with Air Canada and announced on 17 March 2026, gives eligible pilots a facilitated Air Canada interview after at least three years in the program, two of them as Captain (checked 16 October 2026).

The school and cadet routes the Canadian airlines’ records name, worded as recorded:

• Jazz Aviation (Air Canada Express) Intake: Not stated
  Jazz Approach — Jazz’s pilot training pathway to a First Officer seat (checked 21 October 2026)
• Porter Airlines Intake: Not stated
  Destination Porter — mentorship pathway for graduates of Porter’s partner schools: interview from 500 h, conditional offer confirmed on reaching 1,000 h and passing the IATRA/ATPL exams; next cohort planned for 2026 (checked 21 October 2026)

Points we could not confirm: Jazz Approach’s entry requirements and cost (checked 21 October 2026); which schools count as Jazz-affiliated for its 250-hour route (checked 21 October 2026); the WestJet Encore Flightpath program that partner flight schools describe (checked 15 October 2026). Who pays, and what each scheme leads to, is compared on the cadet programs page.

How to read a Canadian pilot vacancy

• The license and the exams. Every airline here flies on a Transport Canada license, so a license from abroad has to be converted first, as the Canada country page sets out; then read which exams the posting names. Air Canada asks for a Canadian ATPL with a current Group 1 instrument rating (checked 16 October 2026); WestJet’s mainline for a Transport Canada ATPL with a Group 1 instrument rating, and WestJet Encore for a Transport Canada CPL with a Group 1 instrument rating and the IATRA exam or the ATPL’s SAMRA and SARON, an ATPL preferred (checked 15 October 2026); Jazz for a Group 1 instrument rating and at least 80% on the Transport Canada CPL, IFR, IATRA or SARON and SAMRA exams (checked 21 October 2026); Porter makes the IATRA or ATPL exams a condition of its offer (checked 21 October 2026).
• Hours with a qualifier. Air Canada counts fixed-wing flying time (checked 16 October 2026); WestJet Encore wants 100 of its 750 hours in command of fixed-wing aircraft, and prefers more than 1,000 (checked 15 October 2026); whether the 500 multi-engine hours in WestJet’s mainline posting are required or preferred is among the points we could not confirm (checked 15 October 2026); WestJet Encore runs a pilot-in-command-under-supervision program toward the ATPL for First Officers with a CPL, whose credit figures are among the points we could not confirm (checked 15 October 2026). Total your logbook by the posting’s own categories: time in command, on fixed-wing aircraft or on multi-engine aircraft is counted separately.
• The right to work is yours to bring. None of the 4 airlines here says it sponsors a work permit, so a pilot who needs one does not meet their published conditions. Air Canada asks that you can hold a Restricted Area Identity Card and travel without restriction across its network (checked 16 October 2026); WestJet takes a Canadian passport, or a permanent resident card with a valid passport, and leaves the visas for its destinations to you (checked 15 October 2026); Jazz asks that you can legally enter the United States, and its permanent residents must obtain and keep the crew visa documents to fly into the USA (checked 21 October 2026); Porter’s wording comes only from a job board’s profile, which asks for the legal right to work in Canada (checked 21 October 2026). The airlines that do sponsor are on the visa sponsorship page.
• The type rating. All 4 publish a First Officer entry that needs no type rating to apply: Air Canada assigns your fleet (checked 16 October 2026); WestJet’s postings ask for none, and job-board copies describe the rating as part of new-hire training (checked 15 October 2026); Jazz’s, as job boards copy them, say training is provided (checked 21 October 2026); Porter’s own pages, as search results showed them, name no rating, while a job board’s copy of its E-Jet First Officer listing says none is required and training is provided (checked 21 October 2026); Porter’s bond terms are among the points we could not confirm (checked 21 October 2026). Ask who pays for the rating and whether it is bonded before you sign. The airlines that train you on type worldwide are on the non-type-rated First Officer jobs page.
• Postings open and close. Air Canada’s standing First Officer posting read “no longer active”, and a candidate who is not selected may reapply to the same position after six months (checked 16 October 2026); Air Canada says it endorses no agency that prepares candidates for its interviews (checked 16 October 2026); WestJet Encore’s Q400 First Officer posting at Calgary was listed to close on 1 December 2026 (checked 15 October 2026); one Jazz First Officer application covers every base (checked 21 October 2026); Porter’s postings showed no dates in search results (checked 21 October 2026). Apply on the airline’s own site and watch the closing dates.
• The selection. Jazz describes an interview, a simulator evaluation and then its initial pilot training (checked 21 October 2026); WestJet calls its pilot interview your first and final one in the Group (checked 15 October 2026); whether Air Canada’s mainline selection includes a simulator evaluation is among the points we could not confirm (checked 16 October 2026).

The US airlines, with the FAA’s rules, are on the pilot jobs in the USA and Canada page.

For the selection, the interview guide for Air Canada, the complete interview guide, and the Library’s airline pilot recruitment and selection and airline simulator assessment articles.

Common questions

Which Canadian airlines are hiring pilots? At the last check the First Officer seat was open at Jazz Aviation, Porter Airlines and WestJet and the Captain seat at Porter Airlines; the status of Air Canada was unconfirmed. The tables on this page give the date each airline was checked. Confirm the vacancy on the airline’s own careers site before applying.

How many hours do I need to fly for a Canadian airline? Each airline’s published minimums, in its own measure: Jazz Aviation: 500 h (checked 21 October 2026); Porter Airlines: 1,000 h (E195-E2: 1,500 h, job-board copy) · Destination Porter interview from 500 h (checked 21 October 2026); WestJet: 2,000 h mainline · 750 h / 100 h PIC Encore (checked 15 October 2026); Air Canada: 2,000 h fixed-wing (checked 16 October 2026). Some count only time in command or on fixed-wing aircraft, so read the posting’s categories before you total your logbook.

Do Canadian airlines sponsor work permits for pilots? Not on our board: none of the 4 airlines here says it does; Jazz Aviation, WestJet and Air Canada ask for Canadian citizenship or permanent residence; for Porter Airlines the visa terms are not published. A converted Canadian license does not give you the right to work in Canada.

Can I join a Canadian airline without a type rating? Yes, at Jazz Aviation, Porter Airlines, WestJet and Air Canada, which publish a First Officer entry that needs no type rating to apply; the lowest such entry is 500 hours at Jazz Aviation. Where the airline trains you on type, ask about the bond.

How do pilots get from a regional airline to Air Canada or WestJet? Jazz, which flies as Air Canada Express, is Air Canada’s preferential source of pilots, and Jazz pilots apply to Air Canada through a posting of their own; WestJet Encore pilots move to WestJet’s mainline by seniority, with no second pilot interview; the Chartright Pilot Development Program, run with Air Canada and announced on 17 March 2026, gives eligible pilots a facilitated Air Canada interview after at least three years in the program, two of them as Captain. Direct entry is the other door: Air Canada hires direct entry First Officers from 2,000 hours of fixed-wing flying; WestJet’s mainline from 2,000 hours with a Transport Canada ATPL.