Girls Can Fly lands back at Region of Waterloo Airport
An annual event aimed at encouraging girls and women to get involved in aviation landed back at the Region of Waterloo International Airport.
Hundreds were out at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre Saturday for the ninth annual Girls Can Fly event.
"It's for ages eight to 18 and the goal is to get them interested and see if they want to become a pilot," said Julie Mudry of the flight centre. "Let them know it's something they can do."
Several airlines were present, airplanes were on display, and flight simulators were available for girls and young women to check out.
"I was surprised by the amount of universities that are offering aviation programs," said grade 10 student Abigail Macdonald. "I'm at the stage in my high school career when I'm looking at universities, so it's cool to see that they offer things like that."
Both Abigail and her younger sister Lilliana found themselves at the flight simulator, but hope to one day be flying real planes.
"I think it's great that there's an event like this for women, because it's so empowering," said Abigail. "It's so great to meet all these different women that are all interested in this and to have this opportunity."
Mudry says part of the goal for the event is to also bump up the number of female pilots.
"Right now, about six per cent of pilots in Canada are females," said Mudry. "We're trying to raise that number, and I think we're succeeding slowly, but we still have a long way to go."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6929040.1718564077!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
16-year-old boy fatally shot outside Scarborough plaza identified
Police have identified a teenage boy who was fatally shot in Scarborough’s L’Amoreaux neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon.
Joe Alwyn says breakup with Taylor Swift was 'a hard thing to navigate'
Joe Alwyn is speaking publicly for the first time about the end of his years-long relationship with Taylor Swift.
Ottawa Food Bank receives largest donation in its 40-year history
210,000 pounds of food was delivered to the Ottawa Food Bank on Saturday, the largest donation in its 40-year history.
Ontario Northland bus fire closes part of Highway 400
Part of Highway 400 was closed on Sunday after an Ontario Northland bus caught on fire.
Your father’s diet before you were born could have affected your health, a new study suggests
Your father's diet before you were born could have played a role in your health, a new study has found.
Prince William shares childhood photo of him and King Charles III for Father's Day
Prince William on Sunday shared a photograph showing him as a child with his father, King Charles III, to mark Father’s Day in the United Kingdom this year.
Singh 'more alarmed' after reading report, but won't break from Liberal-NDP agreement
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he is 'even more alarmed than before' after reading the un-redacted report alleging there are MPs and senators who are participating to some degree in foreign interference efforts.
Global study ranks two Canadian cities high on list of most expensive places to buy a home
As Canadians continue to struggle with the extremely high cost of buying a home in some of the country’s major urban centres, a new global report is underscoring just how expensive some of those markets are.
'We're in pretty good shape': Calgary goes low in water consumption after state of local emergency declared
On a day that a local state of emergency was declared in Calgary, city residents answered a request from the mayor and emergency officials to use less water.