Exemption from subsection 400.03(1) of the Canadian Aviation Regulations

NCR-057-2020

Pursuant to subsection 5.9(2) of the Aeronautics Act, and after having taken into account that this exemption is in the public interest and is not likely to adversely affect aviation safety or security, I hereby exempt all licensing applicants who received successful results after completing the Transport Canada written licensing examinations between March 11, 2018 and March 11, 2020, from the requirements of subsection 400.03(1) of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs), subject to the conditions set out below.

Subsection 400.03(1) of the CARs states that subject to subsection (3), written examinations, including all sections of a sectionalized examination, that are required for the issuance of a permit or licence or for the endorsement of a permit or licence with a rating shall be completed during the 24-month period preceding the date of the application for the permit, licence or rating.

As a consequence, written examinations required for the issuance of permit or licence or for the endorsement of a permit of licence with a rating are not valid 24 months after they were written.

Subsection 400.03(1) of the CARs is reproduced in in Appendix A.

Purpose

The purpose of this exemption is to adopt temporary measures in the public interest to reduce the potential of person to person transmission following the declaration of a pandemic outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020.

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and the closing of all non-essential businesses and social distancing has been ordered by Provincial and Municipal governments, this exemption will allow all licensing applicants who received successful results after completing the Transport Canada written licensing examinations between March 11, 2018 and March 11, 2020 to enjoy an extension of the validity of the written examination results until August the 31st, 2020, due to the temporary closure of flight schools.

As such, the present exemption will allow the licencing applicants whose written examinations results will expire while flight schools are closed to benefit from an extension of about 6 months to be able to submit an application for a permit, licence or rating without having to re-write the Transport Canada licensing examinations.

Application

This exemption applies only to licensing applicants who received successful results after completing the Transport Canada written licensing examinations between March 11, 2018 and March 11, 2020.

This exemption ceases to apply to a licensing applicant that does not respect a condition of this exemption.

Conditions

This exemption is subject to the following condition(s):

1. The extension of the validity of the written examination results shall apply to licensing applicants who received successful results after completing the Transport Canada written licensing examinations between March 11, 2018 and March 11, 2020
2. Applicants with outstanding applications, pursuant to the terms and conditions of this exemption, shall comply with the CARs in all respects other than with subsection 400.03(1) of the CARs as specified in this exemption and any other applicable exemption issued by the Minister of Transport.

Validity

This exemption is in effect until the earliest of the following:

• (a) August 31, 2020, at 23:59 (EDT); or
• (b) The date on which the exemption is cancelled in writing by the Minister where he is of the opinion that it is no longer in the public interest or is likely to adversely affect aviation safety or security.

Dated at Ottawa, Ontario, this 11th day of May, 2020, on behalf of the Minister of Transport.

“Original signed by”

Nicholas Robinson
Director General, Civil Aviation, Transport Canada

Appendix A

Pertinent provisions of the Canadian Aviation Regulations

Time Limits

• 400.03 (1) Subject to subsection (3), written examinations, including all sections of a sectionalized examination, that are required for the issuance of a permit or licence or for the endorsement of a permit or licence with a rating shall be completed during the 24-month period preceding the date of the application for the permit, licence or rating.
• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of examinations that are required for the issuance of
  • (a) a student pilot permit; or
  • (b) an airline transport pilot licence if examinations were previously written
    • (i) for the endorsement of a type rating, a mark of 70 per cent or higher was obtained on the examination and the type rating was issued;
    • (ii) for the issuance of the former senior commercial pilot licence, a mark of 70 per cent or higher was obtained on the examination and the senior commercial pilot licence was issued; or
    • (iii) for the issuance of an airline transport pilot licence — aeroplane, an airline transport pilot licence — aeroplane integrated course was successfully completed during the 5-year period preceding the date of the application for the licence and a course completion certificate was issued.
• (3) The regulatory requirements examination referred to in subsection 566.03(5) of Standard 566 — Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Licensing and Training that is required for the issuance of an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) licence shall be completed during the 12-month period immediately following the date on which the application for the licence is accepted by the Minister.