COPA is calling on Nav Canada to conduct “meaningful consultations with the GA community” over its navaid modernization program. In a letter to the corporation, COPA CEO Bernard Gervais called on Nav Canada to provide details of the program so stakeholders can determine how it will affect, particularly on matters of safety. “We see the timeline for a project of this magnitude is especially rushed and we are concerned that full consideration is not being given to the project’s overall impact on safety for all users of Canada’s airspace,” Gervais said.

COPA met with senior Nav Canada staff in October of 2017 to express concerns about the program, which will involve major changes to air navigation in Canada. In our view, for a legacy project of this magnitude, NavCanada should be directly consulting in an open and transparent manner with the user community across Canada and taking a proactive role to mitigate the obvious safety risks in all sectors.

The full text of Gervais’s letter is below.

I am writing on behalf of Canada’s General Aviation community to express our concerns about the proposed NAVAID Modernization Plan and the effect it will have on operations and the safety of flight for GA aircraft. While COPA does recognize the validity of a modernization program for our aging NAVAID network, we have yet to be presented with a full, comprehensive detailed project scope of what will be accomplished.

As we highlighted for you in our meeting of October, 2017, we see the timeline for a project of this magnitude is especially rushed and we are concerned that full consideration is not being given to the project’s overall impact on safety for all users of Canada’s airspace. In our view, for a legacy project of this magnitude, NavCanada should be directly consulting in an open and transparent manner with the user community across Canada and taking a proactive role to mitigate the obvious safety risks in all sectors.

We have not had any further follow-up from NavCanada on this proposal since our meeting in October and we feel the proposal has not been adequately presented to users for consideration. We expect NavCanada to fully engage with the user community and propose a plan that prioritizes the safety of all pilots in Canadian airspace as well as their passengers. 

We remain willing to assist you in conducting more than just information sessions, but meaningful consultations with the GA community.