It’s Montrealers who have shown the most enthusiasm in wanting the job of next Canadian astronaut.
While the recruitment campaign ended Monday, the Canadian Space Agency released its final figures Friday, on its processes in place to find future astronauts.
Of the major metropolitan areas of Canada, Montreal ranks first with 441 candidates. Quebec’s major metropolis was ahead of Toronto, who had 391, even though the city is more populated. Vancouver was third with 256 candidates.
But the highest percentage of candidates is still in Ontario, where there is the biggest proportion of aspiring space explorers: 34 per cent. Quebec follows with 21.6 per cent and Alberta at 14.7 per cent.
Three residents of Nunavut have expressed their desire to go into space.
Of the total candidates. 24 per cent are women, and 69 per cent are men. Seven per cent chose not to declare their gender.
The agency revealed that 7,793 people began the process online, but only the 3,772 were completed.
Many other steps remain before the two astronauts will be selected.
Candidates must first submit to an online examination of judgment and reasoning. Then, the files will be reviewed by the space agency, who will reduce the number of candidates to 200.
After extensive medical questionnaires and interviews, only 40 candidates will be selected, who will then undergo physical tests.
The CSA expect to announce the two candidates chosen in the summer of 2017 to begin their training in August of the same year.
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