Canadian flight plans....I didn't know this.

[Mooneymite]

I've flown into and around Canada quite a bit.  However, it's always been through the company's dispatch folks.  I've never flown my own plane into Canada (it's a long way from Atlanta ), but I just saw this in the Fltplan.com newsletter.  Probably I'm the only one who didn't know this, but....

 

Be Sure to Cancel Your Canadian Flight When Plans Change

The U.S. and Canada handle most things similarly, but there is one important difference: the way the FAA and Nav Canada treat flight plans that are filed but not used. 

In the U.S., a filed flight plan will simply expire if ATC is not contacted for an IFR clearance. In Canada, however, a filed flight plan is handled as a firm plan to depart. At non-controlled airports, the Canadians take the opposite approach from the FAA. They assume that an aircraft has departed as planned unless they hear differently.

When filing a flight plan departing from an uncontrolled airport, Nav Canada expects to establish contact within 60 minutes of the scheduled departure time. Otherwise, search and rescue efforts begin on the assumption that you have taken off and are now missing. 

At controlled airports with operating towers in Canada, this isn't much of an issue, since the pilot would be in radio contact from taxi out. From remote airports (or at airports after the tower has closed), failing to cancel a filed flight plan causes a great deal of unnecessary effort to locate the pilot. 

If the flight plan has not been filed yet (FltPlan.com normally files your flight plan 2 hours before scheduled departure time), then just remove the checkmark from the 'File This' column on the Active Flight Plan List and click Press Here When Done. There is no need to contact Nav Canada. 

To cancel a flight plan after it has been filed, you must contact Nav Canada. Any Canadian ATC facility that could have given a clearance can also cancel a flight plan. Nav Canada has a national phone number, and a phone call is the most reliable way to cancel your flight plan. The phone number appears on the top right side of your NavLog. 

It's also important that contact information on FltPlan be complete and up to date. Nav Canada can see that a flight plan was filed through FltPlan and will contact us if there is an issue (see the article below).

So please remember, at non-controlled airports the Canadians expect departure within one hour of the time on the flight plan or they start looking. 
 

[Guest]

Generally speaking a control tower will not close a VFR flight plan, you as pilot in command are expected to call Nav Canada to close.  IFR is automatic.

Clarence

[Badmoonraising]

Not entirely true. After landing in controlled airspace i.e. Control tower, you can request that your VFR flight plan be closed. Often the tower will ask you if you would like you Flight Plan to be closed. At least that is my experience. I fly from Kelowna mostly. 

[Guest]

You can always ask, but it is not guaranteed that they can or will close a VFR flight plan for you.

 Clarence

[Ned Gravel]

My experience matches both Clarence and Badmoonrising on this one.  Waterloo, where I take my Mooney for all maintenance because it is Clarence's home drome, has no sense of humour when it comes to this.  They will not close your VFR flight plan - only your IFR flight plan.  Ottawa International will (because their North Field is entirely GA).  Quebec City will.  St. Jean will.  Both North Bay and Sudbury lost their towered status and now operate only "Radio" stations.  They will not.  Windsor will not close a VFR flight plan.  

So it is mixed, but the rule is still the same.  Plan on doing it yourself, unless the tower asks you outright.

[Cyril Gibb]

From my experience, note also that NavCanada starts to get antsy if they haven't closed a flight plan within 30 minutes of the expected VFR arrival time.  When I've closed 40 minutes after expected, they've already started to call around.

Also, in Canada, flight plans are mandatory on anything beyond a local flight unless a "responsible person" is prepared to follow up with a non-arrival.  (However that rule is probably broken more often than not)

 

[blaine beaven]

I prefer the opening "on time" approach. The majority of places I fly out of are remote and uncontrolled. I sometimes fly over an hour before I can reach anyone by radio.

In 12 years of flying I had a first last weekend - I was on a VFR flight plan cruising at 9500' and flight services contacted me via another aircraft to warn me of an unidentified converging radar target with an expected bang in 9 minutes. It was pretty slick how it was dealt with.

I also forget to close about one flight plan every two months, luckily they always call me on my cell phone right away to remind me...

Filing takes 2 minutes as I have a master flight plan registered. I usually call for my weather briefing on the drive to the airport, get the plane out and ready, then call again while the engine is warming up and file then.

In Canada it seems common to complain about the fees we pay for NavCanada services, but I feel I get my money's worth.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mooneymite]

6 hours ago, blaine beaven said:

In Canada it seems common to complain about the fees we pay for NavCanada services, but I feel I get my money's worth.

Didn't NavCanada just reduce many of the fees?

[yvesg]

The reason that a flight plan is automatically open is because there are many places an aircraft can depart where there is no means to activate. For example, many floatplanes take off from remote lakes.

Yves

[gjw]

On July 28, 2016 at 5:53 PM, Ned Gravel said:

My experience matches both Clarence and Badmoonrising on this one.  Waterloo, where I take my Mooney for all maintenance because it is Clarence's home drome, has no sense of humour when it comes to this.  They will not close your VFR flight plan - only your IFR flight plan.  Ottawa International will (because their North Field is entirely GA).  Quebec City will.  St. Jean will.  Both North Bay and Sudbury lost their towered status and now operate only "Radio" stations.  They will not.  Windsor will not close a VFR flight plan.  

So it is mixed, but the rule is still the same.  Plan on doing it yourself, unless the tower asks you outright.

I seem to recall recently one of the Ontario airports (CYXU?) specifically telling pilots on the ATIS to contact Flight Service to close their flight plan. I have a vague recollection that back in the mid 80's when I was doing my private license at Buttonville that the ATIS advised pilots to use Flight Service to OPEN their flight plan...am I mis-remembering? If not, when did the "auto-open" process here come into place here?

On a side note, it seems the flight plan and the search and rescue notification are two separate things, on an IFR plan at least. When I did my IFR at an uncontrolled airport (Brampton) we would be talking to the Toronto Terminal controllers for the approach clearance back into Brampton. I think they have issues with potential conflicts with Pearson traffic either on their missed or us at Brampton and they always seemed to encourage us to cancel IFR. So, they would ask what our intentions were and we would tell them we want to fly the approach but will cancel IFR at KAPIK (the intermediate T-Turn to final fix) and that made them happy. When we crossed KAPIK and asked to "Cancel IFR" they would ask "Do you also want to cancel Search and Rescue as well?" and an "affirmative" was met with an acknowledgement that they would cancel IFR AND Search and Rescue.

Flying into an uncontrolled airport outside of Toronto, or into Brampton in actual IFR they will offer an 1-800 number to the Area Control Centre (not FSS) to cancel and then clear you out of controlled airspace and off frequency. If your IFR is open, they have the airspace blocked off for IFR traffic, so they want to know at the ACC when they can free that airspace up ASAP.

So, I guess it is possible to cancel the IFR "flight plan" when still far from a remote uncontrolled airport but leave SAR notification in place, cancelling that when on the ground.

Edited September 17, 2016 by gjw