NPA 2023-005 Proposes GA Rule Changes

Summary of the issue

• Transport Canada proposed changes to night VFR, VFR meteorological conditions, training, recency and currency requirements amongst other subject matters that affect pilots via NPA 2023-005 that was circulated by Transport Canada as part of the CARAC process.
• COPA reviewed the proposal and felt that this NPA as drafted (July 2023) posed a risk that would make unacceptable changes to future regulations, and would impact the ability to fly VFR in Canada, including placing additional training and currency requirements on pilots. 
• In response to the NPA 2023-005, COPA identified the major points of concern in the NPA and encouraged members to submit individual responses to Transport Canada. COPA also submitted the following letter to Transport Canada on July 5, 2023, on behalf of the membership.
• Following the many responses received, Transport Canada determined that further consultation was required regarding the proposed changes, and removed them from their current priorities, pending future discussion.
• Overall, this NPA as drafted, is concerning to GA pilots in Canada, and COPA encourages all GA pilots in Canada to familiarize themselves with this NPA.

What is COPA doing?

COPA Aviation Operations identified the following concerns in the NPA, and provided detailed feedback on each issue in the association's response to the NPA. 

• Redefining VFR: Transport Canada proposed changing the definition of what constitutes legal VFR for both day and night and proposed a decoupling of VFR flight conditions from a set of defined meteorological conditions and instead coupling it to flight conditions using criteria such as discernible horizon, cultural lighting, and celestial lighting. The term VMC would be removed from the CARs and replaced with a term “VFC” (Visual Flight Conditions) which has yet to be defined. COPA’s concern was that a new definition of VFC may become excessively restrictive and affect what we now consider normal VFR operations.
• Training: The NPA suggested the addition of multiple new training elements for airplane, helicopter, instructor, and pilot. These additional training requirements would affect how Flight Training Units operate and would likely to increase the cost of obtaining a licence or rating. It remained unclear whether the new training requirements would preserve current VFR privileges. 
• Night Rating Recency and Currency: The NPA suggested that changes will be made to both the Night Rating Recency requirements, and the means of compliance with the Biannual Pilot Currency.
• Night Recency: The NPA proposed to increase night landings and takeoffs in a 12-month period to 10 and introduce an annual 1 hour of instrument time requirement. The details of instrument time requirements were not included in the NPA. Supervised instrument was inferred in the document, in which case, the 12-month criteria would become both restrictive and costly. For IFR pilots this requirement exceeded the current 24-month IPC (Instrument Proficiency Check).
• 24-month Currency: The NPA as drafted proposed to change the existing currency requirements for all licence and permit holders excluding Flight Engineers. The NPA proposed to eliminate the use of Transport Canada Safety Seminars, recurrent training programs, self-paced study programs, and written examinations and add an additional option to include 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training. This would effectively eliminate all ground-based methods of retaining currency leaving only the in-flight training or a full flight review as being acceptable. This change was extremely concerning considering the widespread use of specialty aircraft and the diverse locations in which our members operate. 

As noted, in response to COPA submissions, supported by other industry partners, Transport Canada has paused any further work on this content pending future consultation with industry. COPA continues to monitor the CARAC process and will update membership on any further developments regarding the content of this NPA.