In Quebec, there is only one public pilot program, that of the Centre québécois de formation aéronautique in Chicoutimi. Out of 500 annual applications, only 40 candidates are admitted. Roxanne Granger came in 42nd. "Before my mother told me about this program, I thought that becoming a pilot was almost as complex as becoming an astronaut, that you had to do very advanced studies," she recalls.

After her refusal, she turned to private flight schools. A much more expensive choice – the training costs about $65,000, which largely explains the current pilot shortage. “I was lucky that my parents remortgaged the house and financed my training at ALM Par Avion in one go.”

After a year and a half, she obtained her private license, then her commercial license, before obtaining the instructor qualification. Today, she trains future instructors. The seed of a pilot? It had probably germinated in Saint-Michel-des-Saints on the land of her uncle and aunt. "Although I was handy, I always liked motorized gadgets, riding in the woods on four-wheelers or on a ski-doo."

His wings at Air Inuit

After having honored contracts at SOPFEU and SOPFIM for Grondair in the summer of 2017, she finally obtained her wings at Air Inuit. Her life is now a constant back and forth between the North and the mobile homes (staff houses) of the villages of Radisson and the family home in the “South”. The majority of her flying time is spent as a first officer on a Dash 8 – 300, a cargo plane based in La Grande that transports food to the communities.

“The Great North is an adventure! I didn’t know it at all before. Our province is so vast, so beautiful, but we are all stuck on the river for obvious historical reasons. Here, nature wins over everything. I love it, even if it’s arid. We can’t help but respect our environment.”

But what she likes best is flying the Twin Otter to bring Inuit and Cree hunters and fishermen to the camps. “I’m with Air Inuit largely for this plane that I had the chance to co-pilot last summer. Automated planes aren’t the ones that thrill me the most. I like being 500 feet above the fir trees and doing bush operations.”

To endure the climate

Roxanne Granger never leaves the ground without her parka, even if she never sets foot outside. “You have to be prepared for anything in an environment where it’s -40 degrees Celsius. In the tundra, your chances of survival would be zero. Especially for off-piste operations where you also bring a sleeping bag, a shovel, an axe and food for a few days.”

When the plane's wheels leave the ground, the young pilot enters a parallel world every time. "What happened under the clouds stays under the clouds. I forget everything to concentrate on what I have to do. On board the Twin Otter, it's the unknown. You have to approach each runway, each situation as if it were the first time."

His five years as a pilot taught him one thing: aviation requires a lot of willpower, determination, time and sacrifice. "It's like a staircase. You can climb the steps two or three at a time if you're in a hurry, but in my opinion, each step is worth living."