He was selected in the initial round of four Canadian astronauts in 1992, along with Chris Hadfield, Julie Payette, and Dafydd Williams.
McKay was selected as an alternate after Robert Stewart left the Canadian Space Agency program to accept a position at the University of Calgary.
[7] Michael McKay joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1981 and attended Royal Military College in Kingston.
From 1986 to 1987, he worked as a Software Support Officer with Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta.
There he was responsible for the human resource and education development for the Canadian Armed Forces Military Space Programme.