How much do pilots make in Canada?

Someone asked me a few days ago..how much do pilots make in a year? To be honest, I didn't know the answer to this question as I'm not pursuing my PPL to become a pro. I did some research just out of curiosity. The results were a little daunting...

The range seems unreasonably wide...

18K to 265K a year!

So, what does it take to make 265K a year? You have to own the airline:)

Ok, I'm kidding, but I suspect there are a select few with all the right skills, ratings and experience to get to that level and I'm sure many pilots just never get there. The general trend suggests that if you make it to the 'majors' as a Captain with 10+ years of service you can expect an average of 135K plus a year. Not too bad. You appear to be out of luck as a part time instructor who just got their CPL and has barely hit 250+ hours:(

Here are a few reference pieces I thought to be good to review.

• Aviation.ca
• Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC)
• AC Pilot News Blog
  
• Some US data

Here I'm including a cool pay calculator. Be aware, his is based on individuals' self reported data meaning people could inflate these numbers. Take these results with a grain of salt.

PayScale Salary Calculator