Table of contents
- 1. Overview of the program, operating context and environment
- 2. Considerations and drivers for oversight activities priorities
- 2. Oversight delivery in 2024-25
- 3. Organizational contact information
- Annex A: Definitions
1. Overview of the program, operating context and environment
Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Branch oversees everything connected with aeronautics. We support a safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally responsible air transportation system through our regulatory framework. The branch delivers the Aviation Safety Program and makes sure the aviation industry complies with Canadian regulations through the following core activities:
- regulatory authorizations through certification and licensing, making sure that people, organizations, and products comply with Canada’s regulations
- surveillance through risk-based, planned, and reactive oversight activities
- enforcement and investigations
- education, outreach, and awareness
- oversight of safety management systems
Operating context
The Civil Aviation Branch supports and promotes aviation safety through our national Aviation Safety Program. We’re responsible for overseeing:
- Air Navigation Services, operated by NAV CANADA, which is the largest single air navigation service provider in the world.
- 15,000,000 square kilometers of airspace, managed by NAV CANADA
- Canada’s aerospace design and manufacturing industry
- 37,290 Canadian registered aircraft
- 54,000 licensed pilots
- 17,260 aircraft maintenance engineers
- 375 approved check pilots
- 85 design approval representatives
- 2060 Active Enterprises
- 1,781 carriers (36.65% Canadian, 63% foreign)
- 861 approved maintenance organizations
- 554 certified aerodromes (airports and heliports)
- 114,444 Registered drones - RPAS (20% increase from last year)
In the last year, we also issued:
- 95,097 Basic Pilots Certificates for drones (23% increase from last year)
- 12,095 Advanced Pilots Certificates for drones (29% increase from last year)
Transportation 2030: A Strategic Plan for the Future of Transportation in Canada is our roadmap towards a safe, secure, green, innovative, and connected transportation system that supports:
- Trade corridors to global markets and Canada’s economic growth
- Green and innovative transportation
- Canada’s middle class and their well-being
Key changes in the external operating environment
Canada’s aviation industry has seen a significant increase in traffic compared to last year, both in domestic and international movements. Worldwide air travel has also seen an important rise from last year, stabilizing around pre-pandemic growth trends, and with demand expected to keep rising.
Due to the crucial role of the aviation industry in Canada’s economy, Transport Canada Civil Aviation is hard at work to keep adapting to it’s rapid growth. New trends in drone usage, space travel and spaceports, the effect of 5G in aviation communications, and the development of electric-hybrid passenger aircraft are reshaping the landscape that we need to regulate.
2. Considerations and drivers for oversight activities priorities
Considerations
The Canadian aviation sector experiences changes in its operating conditions throughout the year due to various factors. These fluctuations affect how businesses operate, and each year, some businesses lose their certificates for different reasons. Transport Canada may suspend or cancel certificates if businesses don't follow regulations or face enforcement actions. Sometimes, businesses voluntarily give up their certificates and stop operating. Other external factors can also play a role.
Because of these changes, there is usually a 10% difference between the number of planned and completed surveillance activities. To manage this, Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) has a flexible surveillance system that can adapt to these gaps. This system includes substitutions and reactive surveillance to effectively handle the variances.
Transport Canada is also adopting measures to improve its overview of the compliance landscape and better address growing trends. Continuing our active participation in global, multilateral and bilateral collaboration, TCCA keeps engaging with international partners and organizations to keep current in matters related to civil aviation and emerging technologies. Canada will also actively participate and contribute to the 42nd session of the ICAO Assembly in Fall 2025 and is pursuing re-election on the ICAO council for another 3-year term. Canada will remain an active partner with ICAO, member states, and other international aviation organizations in order to continue to drive collaboration and cooperation to improve aviation safety and security in Canada and around the world.
Risk-based priorities
Planned or reactive surveillance inspections are done to assess industry compliance with regulatory framework, which includes foreign air operators that fly to and from Canada. Surveillance covers all activities related to preparing, conducting, and reporting on inspection. It also includes any action taken in response to industry non-compliance like reviewing and following-up on Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), enforcement actions and certificate actions.
System risk will continue to be included as the key to an effective method of planning for FY 2025-26. We also use a dynamic risk-based planning methodology that looks at risk across the entire system using quantitative and qualitative data points in conjunction with certificate groups and or enterprise.
Operational priorities
Regulatory authorizations
We provide and manage permissions for individuals and organizations to operate within Canada's civil aviation system. Predicting regulatory authorizations is challenging because they are issued as needed.
To forecast future demand, we rely on historical data, calculating the numbers based on the average number of regulatory authorizations issued over the past three fiscal years.
Transportation Safety Board recommendations
The risks identified in the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) recommendations play a crucial role in shaping how we execute planned surveillance during a given year. By considering these risks, we can tailor our surveillance work to address specific vulnerabilities and prioritize areas that need attention.
These recommendations also influence our approach to reactive surveillance. Through targeted inspections, we respond to incidents or emerging safety concerns promptly. Integrating Transportation Safety Board insights ensures that our surveillance efforts remain effective and adaptive.
The risks listed in the Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations can inform how we deliver planned surveillance within a given year.
3. Oversight delivery in 2024-25
The delivery of oversight activities, such as planned risk-based inspections and reactive inspections, will be reported through the Canadian Center on Transportation Data (CCTD). CCTD
4. Organizational contact information
Transport Canada welcomes your comments on this report.
Email: TC.TPECDivision-DivisiondeTPEC.TC@tc.gc.ca
Annex A: Definitions
| Required field | Description |
|---|---|
| Oversight | How Transport Canada promotes, monitors or enforces compliance with our safety and security requirements. |
| Regulatory authorizations | Given when a regulated party (for example, a railway company or vehicle manufacturer) applies for permission to do a regulated activity, or be exempt from it. We may give permission in various forms, including a permit, licence or certification. Transport Canada does not control the number of regulatory authorizations per planning cycle. |
| Inspection |
A documented, formal examination of industry compliance with Canadian transportation safety and security rules, regulations and requirements. Authorized Transport Canada officials record the results of each inspection. For the purposes of this document, audits are a type of inspection. *Includes pre-site, onsite, and post-site inspection and oversight activities. Is complete when the inspector submits an approved inspection or oversight activities report. Does not include follow-up action, quality control checks or outreach activities. |
| Planned, risk-based inspections |
All inspections Transport Canada initially commits to doing in a given planning cycle. * Does not include:
|
| Follow-up activities |
Arise from findings of an initial inspection. May include an on-site inspection, requests for more information, or enhanced monitoring. *Do not include enforcement. |
| Other activities | Oversight activities that Transport Canada did not initially commit to in a planning cycle, and are not a follow-up to an inspection or audit. |
| Enforcement |
Measures we use to enforce requirements and compel compliance. For example:
|
| Education, outreach and awareness | How we educate the public, and encourage people and companies to comply with the law (for example: industry conferences, air shows, training, web portal) |
| Quality control |
How we ensure inspectors follow policies and procedures, and complete required documentation. Applies to an entire oversight activity, from inspection, to follow-up, to resolving non-compliance.Supervisors and managers are responsible for quality control. Each program must have:
|