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For Release
March 3, 2006
New Canadian Air Traffic Control School Opens
Richmond, British Columbia – The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) will establish Western Canada’s first air traffic controller training centre with an investment of $2 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada. The centre will provide advanced air traffic management training and produce highly qualified personnel.
The new Air Traffic Management and Integrated Security Simulation
Laboratory (ATM Laboratory) will provide benchmark training and
future accreditation programs necessary for air traffic management
across Western Canada. The new ATM Laboratory will also be used
to develop new applications that will enhance pilot training, airport
operations and perimeter security. Students will be trained using
the latest in Canadian-based simulation technology developed for
the Government of Canada.
"This Laboratory provides a vital link between academia and
industry allowing BCIT to build on its strong aviation training
program,” said the Honourable David Emerson, Minister of International
Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and Vancouver-Whistler
Olympics on behalf of the Honourable Carol Skelton, Minister of
National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification.
“It is vital that Canada has a highly-skilled air traffic
workforce that can keep up with the increasing demands of safety
and security in our airports.”
"The addition of the FIRSTplus tower simulator at BCIT will provide students and industry partners with access to one of the most advanced air traffic management simulation tools available today," said Lane Trotter Dean BCIT School of Transportation. "This sophisticated simulator will give students a sense of real world situations in a tower, terminal radar and enroute environments; situations that will be critical to the new programs being developed at BCIT."
The ATM Laboratory will be located in BCIT’s new state of the art 300,000 square foot Aerospace Technology Campus at Vancouver’s International Airport. It will be the showcase laboratory in the new campus as part of the campus’s new Security Transportation and Research Initiative. The ATM Laboratory will advance the aerospace technology development and skills training objectives identified by the Canadian Aerospace Partnership.
Western Economic Diversification Canada is the federal department mandated to support economic diversification in communities across Western Canada through activities that advance Sustainable Communities, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.
For additional information, contact:
| Jinny Wu |
Paul McCullough |
WD Toll-Free Number:
1 888 338-WEST (9378) |