Pilot Licensing for Private Pilot License and Commercial Pilot License – Checklist
By Anna Serbinenko
Hey, didn’t you know that aviation is all about the paperwork in the first place? LOL
As an Authorized Person (AP) on behalf of Transport Canada (TC) I process a large number of license applications every year. Some (very few) take me less than half an hour to complete. Some may take multiple hours, and multiple back-and-forth, returning unsigned documents, asking for missing document or fixing the wrong totals. Worst thing – realizing that a license application is to be rejected because the flight test expired 3 days ago for example.
Important note 1: You don’t have to use an AP’s services to have your license processed. You can feel free to submit it your application to TC directly. The upside of it is saving on the AP fees. The downside can be significant delays. While an AP would let you know fairly soon if something is missing, you get it fixed right away, and can possibly get your temporary license as early as the same or the next day, the TC timeline is often counted in multiple months. Much longer if your application must be returned for fixes.
Important note 2: If you are using any foreign (non-Canadian) credits, prior foreign flight experience or applying based on any foreign credentials, an AP would not be able to process your license or give you any temporary privileges. We still can informally review your application and help putting the package together prior to sending it to TC. But it is only Transport Canada that can process license applications that involve foreign credentials or foreign experience.
So how do you make your license application as streamlined as possible? Here is the checklist. It contains the description documents package to prepare and submit, items to check in your package, and a reminder of licensing requirements for Canadian PPL and CPL. Make sure you go through this checklist thoroughly, item by item, verifying it all in your package, fixing where necessary and checking it off.
Good luck!
- Documents to submit
- Application form
- PTR
- Pilot’s personal log
- Student Pilot Permit if applying for PPL; PPL if applying for CPL
- Medical Certificate (unless you have a booklet)
- Proof of written exam completion
- Proof of flight test completion
- Proof of language test completion (PPL only). If Canadian citizen having graduated from a Canadian English speaking high school + ALPT note made on FT report, then that proof instead (copies of the passport + high school diploma + FT report)
- Proof of license fees (55$ for PPL, 80$ for CPL) paid online canada.ca/payments-air
- Payment to CFC for AP services
- If have no booklet yet: application for booklet (free for 1st time, then 35$) + 1 passport photo
- Name declaration if the name on the license differs from the name in the passport
- Check the following
- Application form
- Application form completed in Parts A and B
- Applicant has signed part B with original signature
- Address and phone number are correct
- Correct license and category are on the title of the application form
- Times in Part B of application form all meet legal minimum for license issue
- All flight tests are dual, but no instrument time may be recorded.
- PTR
- PPL: Solo page completely filled in and signed
- PPL: SPP was issued before first solo
- Ground school page has all required subjects, word for word
- Ground school page shows at least minimum number of hours and is signed. Letter from online ground school has to be signed by the CFC’s CFI
- All training flights have been entered and pages totaled and signed
- For each “messy” line/flight or any correction in a line, attach copy of the aircraft journey log for the respective flight
- Long solo cross-country flight completed, both distance and number of stops fully meet legal minima and are recorded clearly
- All cross country flight have to indicate the routing
- No required flight training exercises are missing over the duration of the course (PPL: partial panel and radio navigation can be omitted; CPL: fam flight, prep for flight, ancillary controls, taxiing, attitudes and movements, range and endurance, first solo can be omitted)
- Final flight totals match those on application form and meet all legal requirements
- The instrument time may not exceed the air time, i.e. can be at the most flight time minus 0.2 (and it is suspicious instrument time equals air time)
- No solo instrument time (even if you are IFR rated)
- No instrument time on the flight test
- PPL: no night time
- CPL: Time CAN be logged as night AND cross-country
- CPL: Time CANNOT be logged as night AND instrument
- Time CANNOT be logged as cross-country AND instrument
- Airwork time and circuits time should be subtracted from cross-country flight time, if any airwork or extra circuits were done on a cross-country flight
- All required dual times must be received from a holder of a valid instructor rating. If training not done with CFC, provide proof.
- Personal log
- All flights have been entered, all pages totalled and signed
- All totals match those in PTR and on application form (there can be more flights in the personal log, but all the flights in the PTR have to be in the personal log)
- No foreign training, or credits for exams or flight tests are being requested (if foreign credits required, the application will be processed by TC directly)
- Other documentation
- Written exam and any supplemental were passed
- All written passed exams were completed within previous 24 months
- Flight test was completed within previous 12 months
- Reliable evidence of flight test is viewed
- Medical certificate shows correct category for license, and is still valid
- Application for booklet: the AP does not need to sign the application form, but whoever signs it has to be the same person who signs the back of the photograph
PPL requirements
Flight experience:
- 45h
- 17h dual, incl.
- 5h instrument flying (3h of which can be in simulator)
- 3h cross-country
- 12h solo, incl.
- 5h cross-country, incl.
- 150nm cross-country with 2 full stops
- Cannot count the PIC time on the flight test!
Knowledge:
- 40h of ground school, incl. at least 0.1 on each topic (list is in PTR)
Tests:
- Written test (valid for 2 years)
- Can be done after 10h of flying
- 100 questions for 3 hours of time
- 4 sections: general knowledge, air law, meteorology, navigation.
- Pass mark 60%, each section – min 60%. Partial retest possible on maximum 2 sections.
- Flight test (valid for 1 year)
- Can be done after 35h of flying
- mark 124, pass mark 62.
- Each item: 4 – above standard, 3 – standard, 2 – below standard (error corrected without prompting and in a timely manner), 1 – fail (error, and not corrected). If up to 2 items have mark 1 – partial retest possible. If failure on the ground – full retest.
- Ground portion – navigation, meteorology, documents, aircraft performance and characteristics.
- Flight portion (see Flight test guide of TC)
- Language test (to be done once if level Expert is achieved, to be re-done every 5 years if only Working knowledge of the language is shown)
CPL requirements
Flight experience:
- Total flight time – 200h
- PIC time airplane – 100h (flight tests count)
- PIC cross-country – 20h
- Flight training (after issuance of PPL!) – 65h, incl. Dual and Solo
- Dual flight time – 35h, incl.
- Advanced instruction – 10h
- Cross-country – 5h (can include night cross-country)
- Instruments – 20h (10h of which can be in simulator)
- Night – 5h, incl. 2h night cross-country
- Solo flight time – 30h, incl.
- General practice, airwork – 25h
- Night – 5h, incl. 10 take-offs and landings
- 300nm radium cross-country with full stop landings in 3 airports other than the departure airport
Knowledge:
- 80h of ground school after PPL, incl. at least 0.1 on each topic (list is in PTR)
Tests:
- Written test (valid for 2 years)
- Can be done any time after receiving PPL
- 100 questions for 3 hours of time
- 4 sections: general knowledge, air law, meteorology, navigation.
- Pass mark 60%, each section – min 60%. Partial retest possible on maximum 2 sections.
- Flight test (valid for 1 year)
- Can be done after 150h of flying
- mark 124, pass mark 93.
- Each item: 4 – above standard, 3 – standard, 2 – below standard (error corrected without prompting and in a timely manner), 1 – fail (error, and not corrected). If up to 2 items have mark 1 – partial retest possible. If failure on the ground – full retest.
- Ground portion – navigation, meteorology, documents, aircraft performance and characteristics.
- Flight portion (see Flight test guide of TC)
