Canadore College is exporting its expertise in aviation repair to India.
The North Bay college announced Feb. 4 that it has struck an agreement with the Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) to open a fully accredited aviation training facility in that country.
Beginning in the city of Bengaluru, the centre will offer training in aviation maintenance, avionics, aircraft structural repair and aircraft maintenance engineering.
Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore) is considered the high-tech capital of India and is headquarters to state-owned aerospace companies and institutions, including the National Aerospace Laboratories and Indian Space Research Organization.
Burton said Bengaluru is only the “beginning point” to eventually roll out training to other centres across the country.
“It is their Silicon Valley and the core of their aerospace industry that is expanding rapidly. It is a large market that is going to continue to develop as the country develops.”
India is ranked by that country’s department of industrial policy and promotion as the world’s ninth largest civil aviation market. By 2020, it’s projected to jump up to third, moving more than 60 million international passengers a year.
Canadore will help with curriculum development, training the trainers, and assist with the design of these training centres. “We’ll assist them in developing a quality assurance framework, which they’re lacking.”
The whole intent of the partnership is to increase the level of competency in both graduates and faculty to a higher international standard, said Burton.
“We’ve been in this business for over 40 years. We have an international reputation for excellence.”
The announcement was made in concert with Premier Kathleen Wynne’s trade mission to New Delhi during the first week of February where $98 million in deals between Ontario and Indian partners was announced. The establishment of the facility was done with the aid of the National Skills Development Corporation of India.
Training locations are being scouted out, said Burton, who said there will not be any Canadore-branded facilities but rather will operate under the NTTF banner, which is a nationally recognized provider of technical training in India.
“We’re trying to move as aggressively as we can on this. This is a national effort,” said Burton, who is targeting the fall of 2017 as the start date to deliver the programming.
The majority of training will be done in India; however, during the initial stages Burton said it’s likely that NTTF faculty will come to North Bay for training.
“I see us delivering cohorts of between 20 and 40 as a starting point for a number of years. But frankly, I see thousands being trained in India over the next decade.”
Down the road, Burton believes this arrangement could springboard into something bigger.
“You never know where these things lead to. We expect partnerships to develop as we have more of a presence in India. We do know there are vast opportunities in India for us, in both in that country and for us, to do training for professionals in Canada.”
