7 jobs lost at Moncton area control centre, says Nav Canada

Nav Canada has announced layoffs that will include positions at the company's Riverview location.

In an email to CBC News, company spokesperson Brian Boudreau said that seven positions at the Monctonarea control centre were "declared surplus."

In a press release sent out earlier this week, Nav Canada, which operates Canada's civil air navigation system, announced 180 job losses across the country.

"A detailed review of historical air traffic, the current environment and longer term traffic forecasts informed these changes," said Nav Canada.

"Altogether, NAV CANADA has eliminated around 900 jobs, or 17.5 per cent of its workforce since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic."

CBC News has reached out to Nav Canada for more information on the Riverview layoffs.

In November, a CBC News investigation uncovered internal Nav Canada memos to employees that indicated more layoffs were coming, and attributing those layoffs to the ongoing pandemic.

"We anticipate that until air traffic returns to higher levels, which will not occur until the end of this fiscal year, we will continue to operate in a daily cash negative position and this will be made worse as funding from the [Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy] program is ratcheted back," Ben Girard, Nav Canada's vice-president and chief of operations, saidin a memo.

The Monctonair control centre covers air traffic control in the airspace over the Maritimes.