Aviation personnel licensing statistics

The following tables display the Summary of Personnel Licences Statistics by year for the period 2000 to 2025:

Licensing statistics and COVID-19 impacts
Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued
Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued by Sex
Other Licences and Permits Issued by Category and Sex
Aeroplane Licences Issued by Citizenship
Helicopter Licences Issued by Citizenship
Student Pilot Permits Issued by Sex
Aeroplane Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age
Aeroplane Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age
Aeroplane Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age
Helicopter Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age
Helicopter Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age
Helicopter Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Transport Canada Pilot Licencing has updated the processes used in calculating the statistics regarding the issuance of aviation pilot licences, ratings and permits. There maybe discrepancies from previously issued statistics.

Pilot Licensing Statistics regarding licences, ratings and permits issued include statistics at the time of licence issuance and does not reflect the ongoing validity of pilot licences.

Licensing statistics and COVID-19 impacts

From 2020 to 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns caused temporary exemptions for pilot medical renewals. These exemptions allowed pilots to renew their aviation medicals in different ways than usual.

This changed how we recorded medical renewals. We also saved some of this information in different databases. These changes affected our data because we only consider a pilot’s licence valid when their medical is up to date.

This means our statistics may not show the true number of valid (in force) pilot licences in Canada between 2020 and 2023.

Statistics are updated every January with the previous year’s data.

Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued

Year	Private Pilot Licence - Aeroplane	Commercial Pilot Licence - Aeroplane	Airline Transport Pilot Licence - Aeroplane	Private Pilot Licence - Helicopter	Commercial Pilot Licence - Helicopter	Airline Transport Pilot Licence - Helicopter
2000	2965	1440	674	68	234	64
2001	3130	1428	553	51	254	53
2002	3071	1280	521	51	292	58
2003	2641	1164	467	49	273	52
2004	2332	1032	464	62	277	35
2005	2262	906	546	61	268	46
2006	2184	871	624	58	258	79
2007	2349	1085	717	67	333	92
2008	2692	1270	678	91	378	96
2009	2700	1390	554	56	286	36
2010	2420	1626	647	68	255	59
2011	2321	1373	586	56	244	55
2012	2468	1207	568	60	268	68
2013	2305	1098	504	63	228	69
2014	2568	1103	702	60	228	70
2015	2813	1310	595	98	227	68
2016	2705	1128	588	69	241	33
2017	2842	1345	641	85	204	39
2018	2749	1630	609	78	222	37
2019	3052	1747	906	65	258	60
2020	2191	1400	519	30	182	34
2021	2561	1513	475	62	215	32
2022	2251	1515	784	45	250	38
2023	2940	1800	935	66	289	28
2024	3363	1849	936	58	303	43
2025	3380	2039	985	75	335	65

Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued by Sex

Year	Private Pilot Licence - Aeroplane		Commercial Pilot Licence - Aeroplane		Airline Transport Pilot Licence - Aeroplane		Private Pilot Licence - Helicopter		Commercial Pilot Licence - Helicopter		Airline Transport Pilot Licence - Helicopter
Year	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
2000	2669	296	1297	143	629	45	67	1	226	8	63	1
2001	2843	287	1297	131	518	35	50	1	244	10	52	1
2002	2742	329	1153	127	473	48	50	1	273	19	57	1
2003	2361	280	1024	140	432	35	48	1	252	21	52	0
2004	2095	237	933	99	423	41	58	4	252	25	33	2
2005	2053	209	800	106	507	39	59	2	250	18	43	3
2006	1978	206	795	76	554	70	57	1	245	13	75	4
2007	2134	215	997	88	669	48	64	3	319	14	91	1
2008	2447	245	1187	83	627	51	84	7	354	24	92	4
2009	2486	214	1304	86	510	44	55	1	271	15	35	1
2010	2217	203	1510	116	593	54	65	3	232	23	58	1
2011	2111	210	1268	105	542	44	53	3	224	20	53	2
2012	2245	223	1086	121	530	38	58	2	253	15	66	2
2013	2107	198	1023	75	471	33	63	0	214	14	67	2
2014	2337	231	1015	88	652	50	55	5	215	13	68	2
2015	2607	206	1195	115	546	49	93	5	210	17	66	2
2016	2490	215	1044	84	529	59	67	2	223	18	32	1
2017	2594	248	1244	101	587	54	75	10	188	16	38	1
2018	2458	291	1495	135	570	39	77	1	205	17	34	3
2019	2710	342	1602	145	837	69	65	0	220	38	58	2
2020	1962	229	1245	155	466	53	28	2	160	22	33	1
2021	2226	335	1341	172	440	35	58	4	188	27	30	2
2022	1985	266	1321	194	724	60	43	2	219	31	34	4
2023	2562	378	1569	231	858	77	60	6	264	25	27	1
2024	2864	499	1588	261	864	72	56	2	282	21	43	0
2025	2846	534	1738	301	871	114	72	3	295	40	59	6

Other Licences and Permits Issued by Category and Sex

Year	Recreational Pilot Permit - Aeroplane		Ultra-Light Pilot		Gyroplane Pilot		Balloon Pilot		Glider Pilot		Flight Engineer
Year	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
2000	203	17	191	9	6	0	7	2	355	67	16	1
2001	170	14	175	7	1	0	8	1	350	77	14	0
2002	140	12	227	12	4	0	9	0	315	84	3	0
2003	134	5	206	6	2	0	6	3	325	69	1	0
2004	152	11	192	6	2	0	4	1	274	80	3	0
2005	117	7	255	16	1	0	6	0	291	67	1	0
2006	125	4	165	5	2	0	8	0	306	77	3	0
2007	95	6	166	7	0	0	11	0	282	63	2	0
2008	117	5	189	5	2	0	11	0	296	73	1	0
2009	79	5	174	7	0	0	8	0	260	60	0	0
2010	98	4	191	7	4	1	8	0	299	62	3	0
2011	69	7	169	7	3	0	6	0	256	59	2	0
2012	125	9	203	12	10	2	5	4	269	57	3	0
2013	89	8	158	5	7	1	5	1	286	72	1	0
2014	122	7	156	3	7	0	4	1	270	57	2	0
2015	115	7	169	4	11	0	10	0	270	58	2	1
2016	100	6	135	4	5	0	4	0	224	56	1	0
2017	77	6	99	6	7	1	8	3	267	86	1	0
2018	99	7	142	5	3	0	3	2	226	70	0	0
2019	85	0	101	4	8	0	6	1	209	63	0	0
2020	59	2	97	0	5	0	2	1	50	6	0	0
2021	60	3	74	4	4	0	6	2	40	7	0	0
2022	49	6	85	5	4	0	3	2	29	3	0	0
2023	86	6	68	6	9	0	4	0	129	35	0	0
2024	62	3	95	4	5	1	5	3	134	38	0	0
2025	81	7	95	0	16	0	6	5	125	49	0	0

Aeroplane Licences Issued by Citizenship

Year	Private Pilot Licence (Canadian)	Commercial Pilot Licence (Canadian)	Airline Transport Pilot Licence (Canadian)	Private Pilot Licence (non-Canadian)	Commercial Pilot Licence (non-Canadian)	Airline Transport Pilot Licence (non-Canadian)
2000	2666	1302	626	299	138	48
2001	2819	1276	520	311	152	33
2002	2771	1170	490	300	110	31
2003	2390	1037	434	251	127	33
2004	2056	924	420	276	108	44
2005	1984	791	494	278	115	52
2006	1797	741	584	387	130	40
2007	1806	779	592	543	306	125
2008	1992	841	584	700	429	94
2009	1729	769	474	971	621	80
2010	1752	829	563	668	797	84
2011	1842	791	514	479	582	72
2012	1964	714	488	504	493	80
2013	1778	685	424	527	413	80
2014	1879	709	621	689	394	81
2015	1816	752	513	997	558	82
2016	1710	626	499	995	502	89
2017	1672	662	537	1170	683	104
2018	1816	804	499	933	826	110
2019	2061	929	742	991	818	164
2020	1422	769	425	769	631	94
2021	1925	946	377	636	567	98
2022	1598	948	610	653	567	174
2023	2181	1107	722	759	693	213
2024	2437	1157	666	926	692	270
2025	2569	1328	741	811	711	244

Helicopter Licences Issued by Citizenship

Year	Private Pilot Licence (Canadian)	Commercial Pilot Licence (Canadian)	Airline Transport Pilot Licence (Canadian)	Private Pilot Licence (non-Canadian)	Commercial Pilot Licence (non-Canadian)	Airline Transport Pilot Licence (non-Canadian)
2000	64	192	51	4	42	13
2001	44	212	45	7	42	8
2002	44	236	46	7	56	12
2003	39	211	46	10	62	6
2004	51	208	31	11	69	4
2005	55	194	36	6	74	10
2006	50	166	39	8	92	40
2007	55	226	44	12	107	48
2008	78	243	50	13	135	46
2009	49	206	28	7	80	8
2010	58	175	43	10	80	16
2011	47	175	39	9	69	16
2012	53	173	45	7	95	23
2013	54	141	44	9	87	25
2014	50	148	54	10	80	16
2015	85	142	51	13	85	17
2016	61	150	25	8	91	8
2017	65	129	33	20	75	6
2018	67	145	30	11	77	7
2019	55	177	48	10	81	12
2020	25	123	30	5	59	4
2021	55	159	26	7	56	6
2022	38	185	26	7	65	12
2023	55	195	17	11	94	11
2024	51	201	27	7	102	16
2025	64	213	52	11	122	13

Student Pilot Permits Issued by Sex

Year	Student Pilot Permit - Aeroplane		Student Pilot Permit - Helicopter		Student Pilot Permit - Glider		Student Pilot Permit - Balloon		Student Pilot Permit - Ultra-Light		Student Pilot Permit - Gyroplane
Year	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
2003	1902	228	136	19	267	49	1	1	204	9	0	0
2004	2627	277	244	21	237	69	4	1	312	11	1	0
2005	2475	281	234	14	252	57	3	0	344	26	2	0
2006	2599	293	246	17	235	62	7	2	226	11	0	0
2007	3065	314	312	21	252	58	7	0	298	13	2	0
2008	3551	350	356	19	248	60	8	0	249	9	1	0
2009	3182	314	264	23	280	81	9	0	283	14	2	0
2010	2926	323	215	31	307	67	7	2	307	16	1	0
2011	2695	254	216	11	277	70	8	1	295	17	4	1
2012	2686	315	241	22	288	66	2	1	259	11	8	1
2013	2703	280	220	11	249	86	4	0	231	11	4	0
2014	2609	253	218	17	282	63	2	0	186	10	4	0
2015	2838	310	213	21	239	52	5	0	189	13	5	0
2016	2920	314	191	21	237	79	4	1	191	7	4	0
2017	2837	354	190	25	245	84	6	1	194	12	4	1
2018	3297	413	181	30	244	88	4	4	214	13	3	0
2019	3732	527	205	29	204	73	2	0	145	6	7	0

Transport Canada is unable to provide personnel licensing statistics for Student Pilot Permits after 2019 until further notice.

Aeroplane Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Year	Age 17 to 19	Age 20 to 29	Age 30 to 39	Age 40 to 49	Age 50 to 59	Age 60 to 69
2000	632	1138	598	382	141	52
2001	664	1212	627	392	159	58
2002	642	1159	615	411	168	59
2003	612	920	487	385	147	72
2004	538	767	411	369	181	44
2005	538	727	400	363	159	59
2006	562	723	320	322	172	62
2007	579	912	364	289	138	51
2008	657	1171	375	285	136	54
2009	504	1400	296	280	142	55
2010	527	1119	284	240	163	67
2011	573	963	336	241	138	57
2012	553	1068	333	234	185	72
2013	518	1003	301	229	146	78
2014	568	1107	351	262	174	74
2015	540	1145	373	431	219	80
2016	504	1164	409	317	198	84
2017	503	1270	481	310	160	79
2018	500	1378	459	200	117	66
2019	586	1640	452	186	97	65
2020	253	1232	363	186	94	34
2021	354	1379	415	211	127	56
2022	364	1169	363	178	105	57
2023	573	1419	503	232	128	60
2024	605	1770	490	231	131	97
2025	532	1841	515	226	128	85

Aeroplane Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Year	Age 18 to 19	Age 20 to 29	Age 30 to 39	Age 40 to 49	Age 50 to 59	Age 60 to 69
2000	66	937	283	112	35	7
2001	79	918	256	133	38	3
2002	72	787	266	105	44	6
2003	65	774	202	77	36	9
2004	65	673	159	97	31	5
2005	48	647	123	50	26	11
2006	67	562	125	80	28	9
2007	73	707	172	70	46	15
2008	103	823	189	74	54	23
2009	89	1034	153	66	40	4
2010	78	1293	165	49	35	4
2011	65	1074	148	50	30	4
2012	45	950	145	37	25	4
2013	41	853	130	45	22	7
2014	47	846	136	47	22	5
2015	46	1046	134	47	22	13
2016	47	889	132	38	20	2
2017	29	1089	167	34	17	6
2018	40	1305	200	52	27	5
2019	46	1294	283	78	33	12
2020	40	1029	234	65	26	6
2021	33	1158	238	53	22	7
2022	26	1091	274	86	27	11
2023	43	1312	331	72	34	8
2024	56	1328	327	95	34	9
2025	35	1485	351	112	46	8

Aeroplane Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Year	Age 21 to 29	Age 30 to 39	Age 40 to 49	Age 50 to 59	Age 60 to 69
2000	341	245	63	22	2
2001	258	207	69	18	1
2002	234	204	57	23	3
2003	222	163	61	18	3
2004	220	169	52	22	1
2005	247	215	66	15	3
2006	274	255	74	14	7
2007	282	247	89	31	68
2008	260	266	108	31	12
2009	239	213	77	14	11
2010	299	221	89	32	6
2011	281	214	69	19	3
2012	256	200	76	26	9
2013	229	190	60	21	3
2014	356	250	70	20	6
2015	283	223	60	26	3
2016	304	198	62	17	6
2017	333	223	56	24	4
2018	290	208	82	22	6
2019	419	336	102	46	2
2020	262	183	55	16	3
2021	219	177	53	23	3
2022	369	302	77	28	8
2023	430	371	86	43	5
2024	401	374	116	40	4
2025	420	384	121	50	9

Helicopter Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Year	Age 17 to 19	Age 20 to 29	Age 30 to 39	Age 40 to 49	Age 50 to 59	Age 60 to 69
2000	0	7	21	28	7	2
2001	1	9	14	13	11	3
2002	0	6	7	20	12	6
2003	0	5	13	14	9	7
2004	0	8	8	21	17	7
2005	3	7	11	17	15	6
2006	2	8	10	26	9	3
2007	1	6	13	21	15	9
2008	3	10	20	31	20	5
2009	1	6	9	19	15	3
2010	1	7	16	14	20	8
2011	0	8	10	14	15	8
2012	0	7	11	14	15	12
2013	0	5	11	16	20	8
2014	2	3	8	11	20	10
2015	0	6	16	21	29	17
2016	1	7	6	16	28	9
2017	2	9	18	25	17	8
2018	1	14	19	14	15	11
2019	1	7	13	14	13	11
2020	0	7	8	3	8	2
2021	1	9	7	17	15	11
2022	0	1	7	7	19	10
2023	3	5	17	18	15	7
2024	0	9	14	6	21	3
2025	1	3	16	13	14	24

Helicopter Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Year	Age 18 to 19	Age 20 to 29	Age 30 to 39	Age 40 to 49	Age 50 to 59	Age 60 to 69
2000	6	132	66	24	5	0
2001	13	135	74	26	5	1
2002	13	152	100	25	2	0
2003	19	135	86	29	4	0
2004	9	153	82	24	8	1
2005	14	125	94	26	8	1
2006	7	124	79	31	15	2
2007	13	164	98	43	15	0
2008	22	195	97	51	10	3
2009	19	144	79	31	11	2
2010	16	125	72	28	10	3
2011	17	134	57	24	8	3
2012	10	145	70	29	12	2
2013	16	117	62	26	6	1
2014	12	113	68	21	12	2
2015	14	112	64	24	12	1
2016	10	116	80	19	14	2
2017	11	107	49	21	12	2
2018	10	114	57	29	9	3
2019	11	120	80	32	15	0
2020	7	101	40	28	6	0
2021	14	117	53	17	7	7
2022	9	121	76	19	20	5
2023	18	129	86	35	13	8
2024	12	152	97	27	14	1
2025	12	160	100	39	22	2

Helicopter Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Year	Age 21 to 29	Age 30 to 39	Age 40 to 49	Age 50 to 59	Age 60 to 69
2000	9	32	17	6	0
2001	8	24	20	1	0
2002	6	42	10	0	0
2003	9	21	14	8	0
2004	5	20	10	0	0
2005	3	17	19	5	2
2006	4	36	30	9	0
2007	2	30	42	18	0
2008	4	41	40	9	2
2009	8	14	8	6	0
2010	3	31	19	5	1
2011	1	22	25	3	4
2012	5	23	33	7	0
2013	1	30	27	9	2
2014	3	32	29	6	0
2015	6	28	24	9	1
2016	3	14	15	1	0
2017	1	22	13	3	0
2018	0	21	10	5	1
2019	1	31	22	6	0
2020	2	17	11	4	0
2021	2	18	10	2	0
2022	4	23	8	3	0
2023	2	10	12	4	0
2024	3	24	12	4	0
2025	3	26	25	9	2

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Aviation personnel licensing statistics

Licensing statistics and COVID-19 impacts

Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued

Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued by Sex

Other Licences and Permits Issued by Category and Sex

Aeroplane Licences Issued by Citizenship

Helicopter Licences Issued by Citizenship

Student Pilot Permits Issued by Sex

Aeroplane Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Aeroplane Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Aeroplane Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Helicopter Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Helicopter Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Helicopter Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Aviation personnel licensing statistics

Licensing statistics and COVID-19 impacts

Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued

Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licences Issued by Sex

Other Licences and Permits Issued by Category and Sex

Aeroplane Licences Issued by Citizenship

Helicopter Licences Issued by Citizenship

Student Pilot Permits Issued by Sex

Aeroplane Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Aeroplane Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Aeroplane Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Helicopter Private Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Helicopter Commercial Pilot Licences Issued by Age

Helicopter Airline Transport Pilot Licences Issued by Age

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