Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

“Fee modernization” is a term for Transport Canada’s project to update existing fees and create new ones. We’re doing this so we can:

• make sure that the people who benefit from our services pay a bigger share of the costs
• continue to support innovation and modern technologies, and
• provide excellent services to Canadians

Most of the fees for these services have been the same for 20 years.

A key principle behind modernizing fees is that the people who receive a service should pay a bigger share of the cost of providing the service. Modernizing fees will make sure that our services and fees reflect this principle.

Transport Canada is considering increasing existing fees to better reflect the costs of providing aircraft registration services. 

Transport Canada is considering introducing new fees to:

• renew a registration mark reservation before it expires
• authorize an alternate registration mark size, location, or variance from the specifications for registration marks
• authorize the operation of an aircraft in Canada that does not display a registration mark
• authorize removing registration marks for the purposes of re-registering with different registration marks
• provide a replacement blank interim certificate of registration

The proposed fees will range from $70 to $650.

Finally, Transport Canada is considering eliminating two existing fees for:

• Issuance of a certificate of registration, in respect of a temporary registration
• amendment to a certificate of registration, other than a change of address

We set the fees by looking at several things.

We estimated all the direct and indirect costs of delivering aircraft registration services, including:

• employee salaries and benefits
• operating and maintenance costs
• developing IT systems
• program support, internal services, and office space

The total cost of providing a service is the maximum price that Transport Canada could charge. However, we also considered other factors in proposing fees, like what other countries charge for similar services, and how these fees could impact aircraft owners and operators.

We’re planning for the new fees to come into effect in the spring of 2024.

As we continue to modernize our fees, we want your feedback.

You can read our fee proposal and submit your comments online. You can also email your comments to TC.CARConsultations-RACConsultations.TC@tc.gc.ca. We’ll record your comments and consider them as we develop the regulations.

We’ll also publish the proposed regulations in the Part I, of the official newspaper of the Government of Canada called Canada Gazette for more feedback before regulations come into effect.