Alberta's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 36
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS
De Havilland Canada flies high with passion and leading tech
W
hen Iurii
Shakuda,
an aircraft
structural
assembler
at De Havilland Aircraft of
Canada Ltd., arrived in Canada
in 2023 after more than a decade
working in IT in his wife’s native
Kazakhstan, he spent a year
unsuccessfully searching for
work in his field. When a friend
told him about opportunities at
De Havilland Canada, Shakuda’s
first reaction was, “I have zero
experience in aviation, they’re not
going to take me.”
We’re looking for folks
who have the passion
to want to be part of
the next generation
of the De Havilland
Canada story, the
passion to be part of
something special.
— Robert Mobilio
Vice-President, Aftermarket
Happily, he was wrong.
“I applied anyway, which was
the best decision I’ve made in
Canada,” says Ukrainian-born
Shakuda. “The interviewers told
me they wanted people with the
curiosity to learn new things, who
were good communicators and
good team workers. And I was so
very, very curious to learn here
because, you know, it’s airplanes!”
The allure of aviation is
something Robert Mobilio, the
Calgary-based company’s vice
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada has partnerships with other educational institutions to train new engineers
and mechanics from the ground up.
president, aftermarket understands very well. He grew up close
to Downsview Airport in Toronto,
De Havilland‘s first real home in
Canada.
“We used to ride our bikes
around there all the time, just to
watch airplanes, and I thought it
was so incredible — I wanted to be
part of that. I went to high school
downtown, at the only school in
Ontario with an aerospace program,” says Mobilio. “We actually
learned how to fly Cessnas.”
The aviation bug may have bit
Mobilio in childhood, long before
it caught Shakuda, but it’s no
accident the two men are both at
De Havilland Canada. The historic aerospace firm has recently
gathered all its iconic brands —
from the Dash 8 to the Twin
Otter — back under its wing. It’s
expanding like “a 100-year-old
start-up,” in Mobilio’s words,
growing from 900 employees a
few years ago to 2,500 now (and
a projected 5,000 or more in the
near future).
“We can’t find all the engineers
and mechanics we need readymade,” says Mobilio. Hence De
Havilland Canada’s partnerships
with educational institutions and
its own wide-ranging training.
The company offers solid benefits,
including robust wellness and
health support, and is deeply committed to maintaining a supportive
and inclusive workplace culture.
One crucial initiative, Mobilio
adds, is PropelHER, the company’s
leadership development program.
“We are on our fourth cohort, with
25 to 30 women a year coming
through this fantastic program,
which has mentorship, training
and different development opportunities,” says the vice-president.
“We were recently talking about
this internally, how not long ago
you’d be at a meeting with one female and eight men. Now it’s four
men and three, four, five women
in specific key roles, and it’s really
supporting us in our growth,”
Mobilio says.
“Overall, we’re looking for folks
who have the passion to want to
be part of the next generation
