FAQ

Online ground school is a self paced program used in conjunction with flight training. Our comprehensive and thorough presentations, videos, and questions will adequately prepare you for your Transport Canada exams.
Our online ground school gives you access to Flight Instructors and allows you to communicate with other students using our interactive forum. This lets you get the answers to your questions that much faster.

All of our ground school videos are conducted by Daniel Gustin, M. Ed. Daniel is an active Class 1 Flight Instructor, active aviation curriculum developer, and former Class 1 Aerobatic Instructor. We also have a team of experienced and practical flight instructors, commercial pilots, and airline pilots who have created course content and continue to offer support to students when required.
All of the ground school is conducted in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and is allowed to be credited towards the appropriate permit or license.

Your flight school actually has no say in the matter of where and how you conduct your own ground school training. ​That being said, flight schools and flight instructors are recommending us to their students because of our efficiency and results.
Flight schools may only run a ground school once every few months, only when enough students register, and they tend to overprice their ground school due to the staffing required to teach it.
By doing your ground school online, you will be able to progress through your flight training faster and more efficiently. I’m sure the flight school will love that. Remember, all of our content meets the requirements as laid out by the Canadian Aviation Regulations. If you have any issues, please contact us.​ 

Student pilots can record the amount of time they have spent on their ground school in their pilot training record.
In any case, all students will be provided with a record of ground school at the end of their course, upon request. 
Students who fully complete the course will receive a certificate with the actual time spent in their course.

Yes. We are an approved educational institution with Employment and Social Development Canada and will provide a T2202 form for income tax purposes.

These income tax forms will be sent directly to the CRA at the beginning of the new year. In order for us to do this, you must provide your Social Insurance Number to one of our trained Tax Specialists.

Our online ground school has been created in this century, not in the 1990s. Our content is presented using the best online learning technology available and includes a multitude of features like videos, PDF document libraries, access to instructors, and more. 

Our cost is unmatched in the industry for the quality we deliver to you. Using Canadian Flight Trainers in your training is a no-brainer.

Yes, it is pretty public knowledge that we are not fans of multiple choice questions.

The negatives include:
Encourage superficial learning
Validity is poor
Usually only provides evidence if you can pass an exam
Nearly always inauthentic
Difficult to get meaningful feedback.

We try and encourage deep learning by incorporating different types of assessment tasks in our course. They include:
Short Answer Questions
Portfolio Assignments
PGI presentations for Instructor Candidates
Orals and Simulated Interviews
Some Essays

Potter, M. (2014). Course Design for Constructive Alignment. 

All of our content was designed by active commercial and airline pilots in the industry. We are not just flight school instructors with no experience. Our Commercial Pilot Course will incorporate practical stories from our careers.

We have experience at all levels of Commercial Air Services including:
Flying “up-north”
Flying in South America and Africa
Flying for 702, 703, 704 and 705 operators
Instructing in flight training units
Teaching aerobatics

You want to know how to deal with crew scheduling at an airline? Or how about an unruly passenger on your flight? Are you afraid to file an SMS? We teach you how to deal with all of these issues.

To write a Transport Canada exam, students may need a letter of recommendation from their flight instructor. 

Upon course completion and upon passing a minimum of 3 exams to a 75%, we may provide students with a letter of recommendation which is valid for 60 days.

Only one letter is valid per student. 

Ground School Course extensions are available to students on a monthly basis. Please consult the respective ground school page for up-to-date rates.

There are some pilot supplies you can purchase from our pilot shop that would help you in your course. Some of the supplies may not be of use to you immediately. 

If in doubt, we offer a comprehensive ground school kit which has all of the books and basic supplies you need to get started in your pilot training journey.

As of 2025, the average cost for a PPL in Canada is between $20,000 to $23,000 plus tax.

Of course! There are a variety of ways that our students can get in touch with us, including phone call, email, or via our interactive forums.

Students enrolled with Canadian Flight Trainers have access to industry experts and support during normal business hours. Our team consists of flight instructors across Canada to ensure that students have support from coast to coast.

This is a very subjective question and we feel the answer is no. Most flight schools have one set of outdated PowerPoint presentations which are taught by a rotating door of flight instructors. This causes inconsistencies with ground school instruction which can negatively impact student training.

Canadian Flight Trainer’s ground school is taught in a consistent manner which empowers you to learn in a better and more effective way. With the amount of ways our instructors can support you, it can be better and more cost effective than an in-person ground school.

Canadian Flight Trainers is widely regarded as the best online ground school in Canada for aspiring pilots. Canadian Flight Trainers offers an industry leading online learning system with high-quality pilot training courses and expert guidance and support to students. Courses prepare students for their exams through flexible and focused online training.

While doing the Canadian Flight Trainers online ground school course, students should be making notes and studying topics and lessons. At the end of each topic, students should be completing their formative assessments to solidify their aviation knowledge before moving on in the ground school. Students can then practice their summative assessments at the end of each lesson and course to earn their letter of recommendation for their Transport Canada examinations.

Students can start their online ground school with Canadian Flight Trainers before they start flight training or at the same time as their flight training. Before students write their written examinations with Transport Canada, they need to have completed at least 5 hours of flight training. This means students must plan some time of overlap so they can take advantage of our realistic samples examinations.

Canadian Flight Trainers strives to maintain up-to-date course content on a continuous basis. As the aviation industry updates and changes, Canadian Flight Trainers will change content to match those best practices. In fact, Canadian Flight Trainers will often be ahead of the game as we often consult with Transport Canada and the industry to offer best practices.

Each ground school course consists of at least 7 practice exams which allow students to earn their letter of recommendation for their Transport Canada exam. This means at least over 700 questions in each course to practice for your exam.

Ground school can be done on its own but we strongly recommend students purchase a ground school kit. The ground school kit contains all books and supplies to study ground school and begin flight training.

Canadian Flight Trainers has a radio operator’s certificate – aeronautical course to prepare students for their ROC-A Exam (which can be done remotely with Canadian Flight Trainers). This course was designed by Daniel Gustin, M. Ed, an ISED examiner.

Canadian Flight Trainers has been recognized by several flight schools across Canada as an industry leader in online ground school. Our main partnerships are with Durham Flight Centre (Toronto), Calgary Flying Club, Owen Sound Flight Services, and Canadian Aviation College (British Colombia).

Once you’re done your ground school, you will need to continue or start your flight training at a local flying school and then study for your written examination. Canadian Flight Trainers will provide a letter of recommendation to all successful students who are able to pass our exams.

Canadian Flight Trainers consults with Transport Canada to ensure our practice exams are up-to-date and reflect what is being tested on our students.

Students can prepare for their PSTAR exam using our free PSTAR prep course. On sign-up, students can donate to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health as part of our yearly donation program. Although the course is free, students have the option of paying a small amount for the PSTAR course and all fees will be donated to CAMH at the end of the year. This is our way of supporting mental health in aviation.

When you cancel your ground school subscription, you will still have access to your course until the end of your current paid billing period. Your cancellation only stops future charges. No refunds are provided for early cancellations or unused time.

We do not offer refunds for non-usage. When you purchase a subscription, you are paying for access to the course for a set amount of time — not for the amount of time you personally choose to use it.

The monthly extension is available only to students who have already completed a full 4-month course with us. If a new user who is not a current student signs up for the monthly plan, they will be automatically transferred to the standard 4-month subscription.

No. Each student is eligible for only one free trial per course type. If you’ve already used your free trial, registering again will result in immediate billing with no additional free trial.

No — absolutely not. Our online ground school is designed to fully prepare you for Transport Canada exams without requiring any additional resources.
We include hundreds of high-quality, Transport Canada-style practice questions, embedded throughout each lesson and available in dedicated review sections. These questions are curated, regularly updated, and aligned with the exact knowledge requirements for the PPL, CPL, and ROC-A exams.
Unlike other platforms that offer generic or outdated material, our integrated approach ensures that you’re learning the right material, at the right time, in the right context — with questions that are tied directly to the lessons you’re working on.
By the time you complete our program, you’ll be confident, exam-ready, and fully equipped to pass — no add-ons required.