Major Catherine Blais was born in Montreal, Quebec. She attended École Polytechnique de Montreal where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering. She joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2003 after she was selected to become a pilot.
Major Blais completed her pilot training on the CT156 Harvard II and the CT155 Hawk and received her wings in May 2005. She was selected to become an instructor on the CT156 Harvard II and, upon completion of her instructor course, began her Qualified Flight Instructor career at 2CFFTS in October 2005 during which time she earned an A2 instructional category. Major Blais was posted to 430 ETAH to fly the CH146 Griffon after finishing her helicopter training in Portage-La-Prairie in Aug 2009. During her three years with 430 ETAH she was deployed to Afghanistan on OP Athena for a period of 9 months where she acted as a CH146 co-pilot and worked in the operations center as a Senior Duty Officer. In 2012, she applied to become a Test Pilot at the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment (AETE) in Cold Lake, Alberta. She was posted to NAS Patuxent River to attend the United States Naval Test Pilot School from which she graduated in December 2013.
Major Blais has been working as a Qualified Test Pilot at AETE since 2014 and has worked on test programs on multiple fleets to include the CH146 Griffon, CH147 Chinook, CH149 Cormorant and the CT156 Harvard II. She is currently qualified as an Aircraft Captain on both the CH146 Griffon and the CT114 Tutor and has flown 30 types of aircraft, both helicopter and aeroplanes.