The Canadian Aviation Regulation have been in force since Circa 1996. Over the decades where we have been governed by the CARs, there have been many different official
interpretations. Such “changes” in understanding the regulations have often been followed with Ministerial Exemptions to allow the CARs to be swiftly updated to follow progress in the Canadian aviation community.
Back in 2023, the Minister published a letter in the Aviation Safety Letter magazine (ASL 1/2023) entitled: Are You Planning an Air Show This Summer? This publication brought forward an interpretation of the CARs that differed significantly from the interpretation of the Canadian Aviation Community as far as what an “Air Show” actually is.
Basically, what the Minister said in the article is that most (if not all) Fly-Overs of funerals, memorials, weddings, sporting events etc.. are Air Shows and as such require a Special Flight Operation Certificate (SFOC) to be conducted legally
Furthermore, back in 2024, certain Warbirds Canada members have noticed that their insurance policies now clearly specified that fly-over performed without an SFOC were no longer covered under their insurance policy.
This sprung Warbirds Canada into action. In January 2025, Warbirds Canada requested an Exemption to CAR 603 that would allow operators to perform Fly-Overs without the requirement for an SFOC.
As you can expect, obtaining such an exemption is quite a complex process, specifically in this day and age of complex geopolitics where much of the resources of the Federal Government are busy managing issues which hold a higher priority then simple Fly-Overs. Nonetheless, Warbirds Canada is pleased to announce that Exemption NCR-012-2025 was approved and signed.
As with most exemptions, this document is a little complexed. Basically, when the Minister issues an exemption, he allows a specific groups of individuals permission to not follow the law, and this permission comes with certain strings.
Anyone who has ever flown an air show will know that the Minister has direct oversight with all operations. More often than none, there is actually a TC Inspector on site to oversee all flying operations. In this case, the aviation community is allowed to perform Fly-Overs without any Ministerial Oversight. But the Minister requires slightly more stringent conditions to compensate the decrease in oversight. Therefore, you will see in this exemption requirements that – specifically with formation flying – are more limitative then when flying an airshow with Ministerial oversight.
Certain key points in the exemption:
- Airplane and Aircraft are not interchangeable words. They do not mean the same thing. Airplane is an airplane. Aircraft is either an airplane, a helicopter of a glider. Please remember this when you refer to this document. Certain privileges are only afforded to airplanes whilst other are offered to aircrafts. Please be certain that you read it properly for you aircraft.
- There is a requirement to report the activity to Transport Canada. This requirement is for the simple reason that TC has no clue of how many such event occur in a single year. This reporting system will helm the Minister ascertain the extent of this part of our community and as such allow TC to dedicate the proper resources to this portion of our community.
As always, if you have any questions on this exemption, please reach us and we will do our best to provide you with the proper information.