Aviation Centre of Excellence
Welcome to the Aviation Centre of Excellence (ACE), Confederation’s state-of-the-art Aviation facility located at the Thunder Bay International Airport, the fifth-busiest airport in the province of Ontario. ACE is located on the north side of runway 25 and has its own apron and taxiway to the runway.
Opened in 2003, this 59,000 square feet facility was built to help meet the growing demand for qualified aviation professionals needed across the country and worldwide. The facility comprises two large hangers, classrooms, shops and labs, and is home to two full-time aviation programs:
NOTE: as of Fall, 2018, our Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering Technician & Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering Technology programs have moved to the new TEC Hub, which is part of the McIntyre building.
ACE has a fleet of 13 aircraft used for flight training consisting of Cessna 172 aircraft. Included in our fleet are 5 G1000 NXis model year 2022, 2 G1000s and 6 S-Models. The school also has three advanced flight training devices (or non-motion simulators) including 2 from model year 2023.
These flight training devices provide pilots with flight training tools that are safe and economical. The high degree of realism is fully customizable to simulate weather, wind, turbulence, and mechanical failures. The detailed real-world database also models over 200 specific airports.
ACE also has a sizeable fleet of non-flying aircraft used by the Aviation Technician — Aircraft Maintenance program which includes:
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9
- Bell 206 Helicopter
- OH-58 Kiowa
- Bell 47 Helicopter
- 4 Cessna 180
- Piper Apache
- Cessna 172
Many graduates have gone on to successful and often notable careers with the Canadian Forces, Air Canada, Boeing, and Airbus. Among a long list of graduates is one of the designers on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Aviation Centre of Excellence
Thunder Bay International Airport
2003 Derek Burney Drive
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Phone: (807) 474-2013
Contact Aviation Centre Administrative Staff
Matt Bunn
Associate Dean, School of Aviation, Engineering Technology and Trades
E-mail: [email protected]
Virtual Tour
Take a virtual tour of our state-of-the-art Aviation Centre of Excellence. Explore our facilities and get a feel for the world of aviation right from your screen.