Canada's Top 100 Employers (2026) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 76
80
( 2026 )
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Careers can be a family affair at StandardAero
D
uring the pandemic,
Britney Janz was
working as a health
care aide. When that
job ended, she wasn’t
sure of her next move. “I hadn’t
been loving what I was doing,”
says Janz. “But I didn’t really know
where I wanted to go next.” Then
she heard about StandardAero
Ltd.
Her father Stephen, who works
for StandardAero as an engineer,
had an idea. He told her about
a program the Winnipeg-based
company was offering to train
people to inspect, repair and
maintain aircraft engines as GTRO
mechanics (for gas turbine repair
and overhaul). He encouraged her
to apply and give it a try. “So, I did,
and I just loved it!”
And with that, Janz went from
dreading work to looking forward
to going in each day.
“I love the work, I love working
with my hands and being busy,”
says the mechanic level II, who
works on CFM56 engines —
powering many Airbus and
Boeing narrow-body jets — at
one of StandardAero’s Winnipeg
locations.
Janz, too, represents a big part
of the culture of StandardAero,
which is to attract more women
into trades and fields normally
dominated by men (Janz is now
one of 73 women hired over the
last three years into aerospace
technician roles).
“It’s not just about supporting
a person, it’s about supporting a
whole family,” she says.
And the training available
to Janz didn’t stop when she
graduated from the GTRO
program. She says if she wanted
to get a degree in engineering
or business, she could apply
for StandardAero’s Education
Assistance Program.
“I know I can move up
into either engineering or
management or into HR,” she says.
“I feel like I can stay working at
this company for my whole life.”
That’s the path Andy
Wong, general manager at
StandardAero’s helicopter engine
repair and maintenance operation
in Richmond, B.C., has taken.
I know I can move up
into either engineering
or management or
into HR. I feel like I can
stay working at this
company for my whole
life.
— Britney Janz
Mechanic II
Andy Wong, general manager at StandardAero, has grown in his career directly alongside the organization.
“My business education
came from the shop floor, not a
classroom,” he says with a laugh.
Instead, Wong built his career
from the ground up — starting
31 years ago doing structural and
composite blade repairs, moving
on to managing engine piece part
repairs and eventually leading the
entire Richmond operation.
“It’s really a story of working
from the bottom up,” says Wong,
who credits his work ethic to his
parents. After immigrating to
Canada, they opened a Chinese
Canadian restaurant in a small
town in B.C.’s Interior. “It’s always
been instilled in me to treat
customers well — and to treat
employees just as well, if not
better, too.”
That philosophy clearly
shows. Many of the Richmond
facility’s employees have been
