Great Lakes Helicopter

Great Lakes Helicopter Corp. (GLH) is a Canadian aviation company. It focuses on professional helicopter pilot training and on specialized commercial helicopter operations. Its work supports students, industries and operators across Ontario and beyond. The head office is in Cambridge, Ontario, and the school sits beside the Region of Waterloo International Airport.

GLH is registered as a career college under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005. Its training programs take students from their first flight through to full Transport Canada licensing. The school has an exclusive in-house ground school that guides students through the Transport Canada exams. Students train inside a Class C control zone, so they gain real experience with air traffic control communication.

GLH offers private financing for Commercial Pilot Program students. Students pay 25 percent upfront. The remaining 75 percent can be financed, up to $100,000. The school also supports graduates with opportunities to start building flight hours right after licensing. People who want to try flying first can book an introductory flight of 30 or 60 minutes with a certified flight instructor.

On the commercial side, GLH provides precision aerial application for growers across Southwestern Ontario and Canada. Services include agricultural spraying, frost control and aerial seeding. The company also lists aerial photography, cinematic filming, land surveying, LiDAR mapping, greenhouse shading, corn detasseling, forestry operations and forest fire support. Its clients include agricultural, commercial and government customers.

GLH also runs a drone services division. Drones handle precision spraying and seeding, invasive species control and multispectral analysis. Long range VTOL drones carry LiDAR, thermal, multispectral and high resolution sensors for mapping and inspections. The company also offers hybrid missions that combine helicopters and drones, such as deploying drones into remote places from a crewed aircraft. These can support search and rescue and specialized inspections.

GLH belongs to a group of companies that includes Rotor Services Ltd., heliSIX and Heli Theory. Rotor Services provides helicopter maintenance at the Region of Waterloo Airport. The website also mentions Maskwa Aviation, a partner Indigenous company that supports Indigenous communities. Other partners shown include Conestoga College, Forward Robotics, Hammond Pilot Shop, Guardian Mobility, PureHeli, Shell and Robinson Helicopter.

The website also lists charters and tours through its heliSIX link. The office is open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

Services

• Helicopter flight training
• Ground school
• Introductory flight
• Aerial spraying and frost control
• Aerial seeding
• Forestry and forest fire support
• LiDAR mapping and surveying
• Greenhouse shading
• Drone services
• Hybrid helicopter and drone missions