Airworthiness Notices - A010, Edition 1, 8 December 1997

Amendment to the Canadian Aviation Regulations (Part I), 
Subpart 104 - Charges

This notification summarizes the major changes in aviation regulatory fees that come into effect on 1 January, 1998.  Under the revised schedule, many existing fees have been increased while new fees are being imposed on services for which there has not been a charge in the past.  These charges are a result of the federal government's Program Review exercise (Revenue Targets) and are intended to shift a greater portion of the costs of regulatory services from the taxpayer to those who directly benefit from them.  These changes are expected to generate an additional $6.2 million annually.  The level of cost recovery for Transport Canada's Civil Aviation Program will rise by 10 percentage points to 25% of recoverable costs, equivalent to 12% of total program costs.  The nature and magnitude of the changes resulted from extensive consultation with the aviation community, primarily through the Fees Technical Committee of the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC).  The main changes are as follows:

  1. Instead of a single fee being charged for some aeronautical product approval services, the charge will be based on a hourly rate (of $40) for each assigned technical specialist, up to a maximum cap.
  2. Entry level examination fees have been set at a level that should not be a deterrent to applicants wanting to become licensed pilots or aircraft maintenance engineers.
  3. Some services have a graduated scale of fees related to the size of the operation, so as to more accurately reflect the workload associated with smaller operations.
  4. For any service provided outside Canada, all transportation, lodging, meal incidental and overtime expenses will be charged in addition to the established fee.
  5. With 3 exceptions, fees are payable at the time the service commences.  The exceptions are: 
  1. fees for the processing of medical certificates; 
  2. fees for some aeronautical product approvals; and 
  3. additional costs incurred from processing applications outside Canada.  In these three cases, fees are payable within 30 days of the invoice date.

6. Charges will be imposed even if the service does not result in the issuance, renewal, amendment or endorsement of a Canadian aviation document.  The one exception is in the processing of medical certificates, where an applicant is found to be unfit.

7. To alleviate the confusion over the appropriate fee for processing medical certificates, a billing process has been established.  Effective 1 January 1998, Civil Aviation Medical Examiners will no longer accept fees for Transport Canada; instead, pilots will receive a bill attached to their renewed Medical Certificate.

For addition information, please contact the Civil Aviation Information Line at 1-800-305-2059 or the Civil Aviation Internet Site at https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation or write to the Director, Civil Aviation Program Services, Transport Canada, (AARA), 5th Floor, Tower C, Place de Ville, Ottawa, K1A 0N8.

For Minister of Transport

K.J. Mansfield
Director, Aircraft Certification