1. 1 TC’s Data Requirements for General Aviation: Implications for Flight Schools Air Transport Association of Canada 2010 Annual General Meeting Vancouver, British Columbia November 8 th, 2010

2. 2 Current Status of ECATS-GA  Participation in Transport Canada’s Electronic Collection of Air Transportation Statistics for General Aviation (ECATS-GA) has been low.  Transport Canada is working on improving flexibility of data submission and currently in the process of centralizing electronic data collection.  Submission options will include a business-to -business web service, uploading a file in an approved format and manually entering data into a web form directly on the website.  New website will be launched in the spring of 2011  Demand for statistics about the General Aviation community continues to grow.

3. 3 Updating of Data Regulations  Amendments to the Canada Transportation Act in 2007 have provided an opportunity to review existing regulations governing the information (data) that transportation undertakers report to the Minister of Transport;  New authority to collect data for security purposes and the environment and authority to impose fines for non reporting;  Current Carriers and Transportation and Grain Handling Undertakings Information Regulations have been in place since 1998. New priorities have emerged and this necessitated a review of the regulations.  The review of data regulations covers all four modes of transportation and 9 stakeholder classes, air carriers being one of them. Environnement Infrastructure Gateways & Cargo Security 12-year old regulations needed to be updated

4. 4 Engaging Stakeholders  Jan-Feb 09 : Internal consultations to determine TC’s data gaps;  Apr 09 : Feasibility survey conducted with industry to get industry’s feedback and the potential impacts. ATAC was one of the associations consulted;  Fall 09 – Winter 10 : Meetings with ATAC to discuss the particulars of the regulation amendment proposal;  Nov 10 : Presentation to ATAC Joint Flight Operations & Commuter Operations Committee at AGM

5. 5 Proposed Amendments that Impact General Aviation “(1) A general aviation operator must provide to the Minister, in respect of the aircraft that it operates for general aviation for purposes that are not exclusively recreational” (a) if at least one of the aircraft has a maximum certificated take-off weight of 5 670 kg or more, information about each flight, including… (b) if none of the aircraft has a maximum certificated take-off weight of 5 670 kg or more, information aggregated on a quarterly basis about each aircraft, including… (c) its expenses, including its expenses for maintenance and fuel, aerodrome fees, airport fees, air navigation fees and other fees; and (d) the number of the aircraft and the amount of fuel they consumed. “(2) A general aviation operator must provide the information required by subsection (1) electronically using Transport Canada’s Electronic Collection of Air Transportation Statistics program.”

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7. 7 Next steps  Data regulations proposal was ‘blue-stamped’ by Justice Canada on October 8 th 2010.  Once the proposed amendments are approved by the Minister, they will be sent to Governor-in-Council (GiC) for eventual publication in the Canada Gazette Part I;  Gazette publishing provides industry with an additional opportunity to comment on these proposed amendments;  Comments will be taken into account while crafting the final version of the regulatory amendments;  Once enacted, these changes will be –phased-in gradually. Care and effort will be giving to consult with industry on the most optimal way to implement them;  TC intends to provide air carriers with enough time and flexible technology options to implement these changes. TC is always open to discuss this project with stakeholders

8. 8 Conclusion  Transport Canada needs to collect data about GA to support the development of policies, programs and regulations. In particular: The importance of GA to Canada’s transportation network; its contribution to the local, provincial and national economy; and its general health, level of activity and outlook for General Aviation as a whole and its various components including flight training.

9. 9 Questions / Comments Andrew Carter Economic Analyst (613) 949-6589 andrew.carter@tc.gc.ca