Executive summary
This is the Sustainable Aviation Task Force’s first report under Canada’s renewed Aviation Climate Action Plan (2022-2030). Aviation plays a crucial role in the domestic and global, but air transportation also produces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mostly through the use of fossil fuels. Stakeholders need to work together to address this challenge.
Canada’s aviation sector, in partnership with the Government of Canada, has had an action plan in place since 2012. In 2022, in order to align with Canada’s Emissions Reduction Plan, the government and stakeholders came together again to develop a renewed Aviation Climate Action Plan for 2022-2030. This updated Action Plan includes a vision for net-zero aircraft emissions by 2050.
Due to the importance of using sustainable aviation fuels to decarbonize the aviation sector the Aviation Climate Action Plan also sets a goal for the aviation sector of 10% sustainable aviation fuels use by 2030. We expanded scope including the entire aviation system, from aircraft emissions to airport operations.
To oversee and guide the implementation of this plan, Transport Canada created a Sustainable Aviation Task Force in 2023, which is co-led by Transport Canada and the National Airlines Council of Canada.
This report outlines early progress against the commitments in the updated plan, and covers the 2022 and 2023 calendar years. For the first time, it includes information on airport emissions and on the use of sustainable aviation fuels among Canadian carriers.
Our key findings include:
- In general, traffic has recovered to pre-pandemic levels
- In 2023, total operator emissions increased to 20.3 Mt, the fourth highest level since tracking began in 2005
- The Canadian aviation industry is becoming increasingly fuel-efficient
- In 2022, Canadian airport’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions amounted to 221,040 tonnes of CO2, about 15% fewer emissions than in 2012
- More airlines are using sustainable aviation fuels, using 5 million litres in 2023
Over the last 2 years, the organizations who signed the action plan have continued to show their commitment to pursuing net-zero emissions across the aviation ecosystem. Their work is detailed in this report across the following decarbonization pathways:
- New Green Aerospace Technology
- Improved Operations
- Sustainable Aviation Fuels
- Out of Sector Reductions
- Non-Aircraft Emissions Reductions, and
- Non-CO2 Impacts of Aviation on Climate
Aviation Climate Action Plan 2022 and 2023 report
(PDF, 2.84 MB)