Aeronautics Act
- Although Canadian aviation legislation dates back to 1919, modern aviation legislation was enacted in 1985 with the passage of An Act to amend the Aeronautics Act. The main purpose of the Act is to provide authority for the regulation of civil aviation in Canada. The Minister of Transport is responsible for administering the Act through the federal department, Transport Canada.
- Current regulations, known as the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs), were established in 1996 by Transport Canada. This was the result of a complete revision of Canada's previous civil aviation regulations. In undertaking this extensive regulatory revision, Transport Canada relied on recommendations from several commissions and other departments, including the Canadian Transportation Safety Board. The current CARs set forth mandatory standards and advisory material regarding all aspects of civil aviation, including such things as aircraft identification and registration, airports, personnel licensing and training, and flight rules.
- New and revised regulations under CARs are promulgated through a committee of senior managers of Transport Canada called the Civil Aviation Regulatory Committee. This is the sole decision-making body for these regulations. However, in conjunction with the civil aviation industry, Transport Canada established a public consultative body--the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council. The role of the council is to provide advice and recommendations on creating and amending CARs. All council meeting are open to the public and several business associations related to the Canadian aviation industry regularly participate in these meetings.
- Some controversy surrounds the effort by Transport Canada to implement what is known in the aviation industry as "safety management systems" or "SMS" through revised CARs. Traditionally, government agencies promulgate regulations with specific standards; however, an SMS approach means that agencies set guidelines and objectives, rather than specific standards, and industry groups are responsible for implementing an SMS within the guidelines.
Although Transport Canada states that using an SMS approach will add an additional layer of safety to the civil aviation industry, critics contend that Transport Canada's apparent use of SMS will be as a cost-saving measure by reducing the number of safety inspectors and using an audit of SMS reports prepared by the airline companies in place of mandated safety inspections. - Since 2005, various bills have been introduced in Parliament to amend the Aeronautics Act, particularly with respect to specifically enabling the use of SMS in the aviation industry. None have passed. Given the controversial implementation of SMS through CARs by Transport Canada, the issue is likely to be raised again along with other substantial amendments to the Act.
