Remote Sensing Space Systems Regulations (SOR/2007-66)

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 1 (1) The following definitions apply in these Regulations.

  Act

  Act means the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act. (Loi)

  command protection plan

  command protection plan means a plan designed to protect the commands given to a remote sensing satellite of a remote sensing space system and the sales orders that give rise to those commands. (plan de protection des commandes)

  contact information

  contact information means a person’s street and mail address, telephone and fax number and electronic mail address. (coordonnées)

  data protection plan

  data protection plan means a plan designed to protect raw data and the remote sensing products produced from that data. (plan de protection des données)

  entity

  entity means a corporation, a partnership, a government, a government agency and an unincorporated organization. (entité)

  identifying information

  identifying information means,

  • (a) in respect of an individual, their date and place of birth and citizenship;

  • (b) in respect of a corporation, its jurisdiction of incorporation or continuation; and

  • (c) in respect of a partnership or unincorporated entity, its jurisdiction of registration. (renseignements identificatoires)

  sales order

  sales order means an order for raw data or a remote sensing product, including an internal order within a licensee or system participant for raw data or a remote sensing product. (commande client)

• Marginal note:Control

  (2) An entity is controlled by a person if the person has control in fact, whether directly through the ownership of securities or indirectly through a trust, an agreement, an arrangement, the ownership of any body corporate or other means.

• Marginal note:Affiliation

  (3) One entity is affiliated with another entity if one of them is controlled by the other or both are controlled by the same person.

Applications

Marginal note:Issuance of licence

• 2 (1) An application for the issuance of a licence must contain

  • (a) the information and documents set out in Schedule 1; and

  • (b) a declaration, signed and dated by the applicant or their authorized representative, that the information contained in the application is true, complete and correct.

• Marginal note:System participant

  (2) If the application includes an application to have a person designated as a system participant, the application must include a declaration signed and dated by the proposed system participant or its authorized representative attesting that

  • (a) the proposed system participant is authorized to enter into the agreement referred to in paragraph 32(c) of Schedule 1 by the laws of the jurisdiction in which it proposes to operate and, in the case of a corporation, the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated or continued; and

  • (b) the information contained in the application relating to the proposed system participant is true, complete and correct.

Marginal note:Amendment of licence

• 3 (1) An application for the amendment of a licence must include

  • (a) the applicant’s name and contact information;

  • (b) the amendment requested; and

  • (c) the requested effective date of the amendment.

• Marginal note:System participant

  (2) If the application includes a request to have a person designated as a system participant, the application must include

  • (a) the declaration described in subsection 2(2); and

  • (b) the information and agreement or proposed agreement referred to in section 32 of Schedule 1.

Marginal note:Renewal of licence

4 An application for the renewal of a licence must contain the applicant’s name and contact information and the requested term of the renewal.

Marginal note:General requirements

• 5 (1) An application for the issuance, amendment or renewal of a licence must

  • (a) be in writing; and

  • (b) be accompanied by a copy of the application on electronic media.

• Marginal note:Changes

  (2) If any of the information or documents contained in an application for the issuance, amendment or renewal of a licence changes before the application is approved or refused, the applicant shall, without delay, inform the Minister of the change.

Marginal note:Copy of agreement

6 If an application contains a copy of a proposed agreement referred to in paragraph 32(c) of Schedule 1, the licensee must provide the Minister with the final copy of the agreement as soon as it comes into effect.

Marginal note:Minister’s notification

7 If an application to issue a licence has not been approved or refused within 180 days after the applicant has provided the required information and documents, the Minister shall, as soon as feasible, notify the applicant of any issues to be resolved and any action required to resolve them. In the case of an application to amend or renew a licence, the period is 90 days after the applicant has provided the required information and documents.

Prescribed Factors

Marginal note:All applications

8 For the purposes of subsection 8(1) of the Act, the prescribed factors are the following:

• (a) the ability of the applicant to comply with the Act and these Regulations; and

• (b) the enhancement of the competitiveness, at the national and international levels, of the Canadian remote sensing space industry.

Marginal note:Renewal of licence

9 In addition to the factors prescribed in section 8, the following factors are prescribed in respect of an application for the renewal of a licence:

• (a) any unpaid fee, fine, penalty or other amount due under the Act that is owing by the licensee;

• (b) the danger to the environment, public health or the safety of persons and property arising from not disposing of the licensed system in accordance with the timing of the system disposal plan; and

• (c) the data continuity for recipients of raw data or remote sensing products.

Marginal note:Amendment of licence conditions

10 For the purposes of subsection 10(1) of the Act, the prescribed factors are the following:

• (a) the failure of the licensee to comply with the Act, these Regulations or the conditions of the licence; and

• (b) the failure of a system participant to comply with the provisions of the agreement referred to in paragraph 32(c) of Schedule 1.

Marginal note:Cancellation of licence

11 For the purposes of section 12 of the Act, the prescribed factors are the following:

• (a) the failure or inability of the licensee to comply with the Act, these Regulations or the conditions of the licence; and

• (b) the failure of the licensee to pay any fee, fine, penalty or other amount due under the Act.

Licence Conditions

Marginal note:Prescribed conditions

12 The following conditions are prescribed as conditions of a licence:

• (a) the licensee must have a contact person for the purpose of communication with the Government of Canada who is an individual who meets the requirements of the appropriate level of security clearance — under the Government Security Policy, as amended from time to time, published by the Treasury Board Secretariat — for the nature of the commands given to and the raw data acquired by the remote sensing satellites of the licensed system;

• (b) the licensee must, without delay, notify the Minister in writing of any change in control of the licensee or an affiliate of the licensee that is involved in the operation of the licensed system and provide the name, identifying information and contact information of each person who exercises control;

• (c) the licensee must, without delay, notify the Minister in writing of any change in the name, identifying information or contact information of the licensee or any system participant;

• (d) the licensee must on a regular basis evaluate the system disposal plan for the licensed system and, if amendments are needed, without delay, apply to the Minister for an amendment to the plan in accordance with paragraph 9(3)(a) of the Act;

• (e) the licensee must evaluate its command protection plan and data protection plan on a regular basis and ensure that its system participants evaluate their data protection plans and, if any, their command protection plans and notify the Minister in writing, without delay, of any proposed changes to any of those plans; and

• (f) the licensee must, without delay, notify the Minister in writing of its decision to discontinue operation of the licensed system, or of the financial insolvency, dissolution or termination of operations of the licensee or one of its system participants.

Transformation of Raw Data

Marginal note:Process not considered to transform raw data

• 13 (1) Any process that retains the phase information of raw data, or that produces an output from which measurements can be taken to determine the phase response of a remotely sensed surface, including the process to produce the synthetic aperture radar output known as Single Look Complex, is not considered to transform the raw data.

• Marginal note:Process considered to transform raw data

  (2) Any process or series of processes operating on raw data that rectifies errors, distortions and other artifacts of the system by pixel aggregation, averaging or resampling are considered to transform the raw data if the process or series of processes also

  • (a) radiometrically calibrates the data; or

  • (b) geocodes the data with respect to features of the Earth by resampling.

Priority Access Orders

Marginal note:Amount paid by a minister

14 An amount paid by a minister under subsection 22(2) of the Act for a service must not exceed

• (a) an amount that is in accordance with any agreement in effect between the minister and the licensee at the time the service was provided; or

• (b) if there is no agreement, an amount that is proportionate to an amount received by the licensee for a comparable service provided on a priority basis to any person during the 12 months prior to the providing of the service.

Notification

Marginal note:Duty to notify Minister

• 15 (1) A licensee must, as soon as feasible, notify the Minister in writing if the licensee has reasonable grounds to believe that

  • (a) the licensed system poses a danger to the environment, public health or the safety of persons or property;

  • (b) the licensee has lost or is in danger of losing control of a remote sensing satellite;

  • (c) the cryptography used in communications with the remote sensing satellite or the information assurance measures for the licensed system are malfunctioning;

  • (d) an unauthorized communication of raw data has occurred;

  • (e) the provision of a remote sensing product has been provided in breach of a condition imposed under subsection 8(7) of the Act; or

  • (f) there has been a breach in the security of the licensed system.

• Marginal note:Written report

  (2) Within 21 days after notifying the Minister, the licensee must provide a written report to the Minister that describes the situation, its probable cause and the corrective measures taken or proposed to be taken.

Records

Marginal note:Maintenance of records

• 16 (1) A licensee must maintain the following records for a period of one year:

  • (a) a record of every sales order placed with it;

  • (b) a record of every command given to each remote sensing satellite of the remote sensing space system, including the date and time of the command;

  • (c) a record of all raw data received from each remote sensing satellite, including the date and time of receipt;

  • (d) a record of raw data being entered into the archives of the licensee and the disposal of raw data, including the date of each entry and disposal;

  • (e) a catalogue that lists the raw data that is accessible to the public, including the date of each entry into the catalogue;

  • (f) a record of every use of raw data by the licensee or of a system participant to make Single Look Complex data or a remote sensing product, including the date and time it was used;

  • (g) a record of every communication of raw data or provision of a remote sensing product to any person, including the date and time it was communicated or provided; and

  • (h) a record of any amount paid by a minister under subsection 22(2) of the Act for the provision of a service on a priority basis, including the date the service was provided.

• Marginal note:Sales orders

  (2) The licensee must keep the records in a manner that enables the ready determination of the following in respect of every sales order:

  • (a) the date and time of the sales order;

  • (b) the name and contact information of the person who placed the sales order;

  • (c) the type of raw data or remote sensing product ordered;

  • (d) the location sensed in order to fill the sales order; and

  • (e) the name and contact information of the recipient of the raw data or remote sensing product and the conditions under which the recipient may make use of the data or product.

• Marginal note:Examination and communi­cation

  (3) The licensee must keep the records in a form that allows them to be readily examined and communicated.

• Marginal note:Notifying Minister

  (4) Every licensee who becomes aware of an inaccuracy or incompleteness in a record that has been examined by an inspector or communicated to the Minister must, without delay, notify the Minister in writing.

• Marginal note:System participant

  (5) Every licensee must ensure that every system participant maintains – for one year and in accordance with subsections (2) and (3) – the records identified in paragraphs (1)(a) to (g) that are in respect of the participant’s activities in the operation of the licensed system.

Archiving and Access to Raw Data

Marginal note:Archiving raw data

• 17 (1) A licensee must archive raw data from the remote sensing satellite in a readily retrievable format for a minimum period of 15 months from

  • (a) the day on which an entry for the raw data was first made in a catalogue accessible to the public; or

  • (b) if the raw data was not entered in a catalogue accessible to the public, the day on which the raw data was received by a ground station.

• Marginal note:Notice of proposed disposal to Minister

  (2) A licensee must, before disposing of the raw data, notify the Minister and provide the following information about each scene of raw data:

  • (a) a unique identifier;

  • (b) the date and time when the raw data was acquired by the remote sensing satellite;

  • (c) the geographic boundaries of the scene;

  • (d) the position of the satellite when the raw data was acquired;

  • (e) the sensor modes used to acquire the raw data;

  • (f) the ground station that received the raw data;

  • (g) the date and time when the ground station received the raw data;

  • (h) the date on or after which the raw data will be disposed of;

  • (i) the cost to communicate the raw data; and

  • (j) the name and contact information of a contact person.

• Marginal note:Timing of notice

  (3) The licensee may not send the notice until 12 months of the 15-month period referred to in subsection (1) have expired.

• Marginal note:Disposal of raw data

  (4) The licensee may not dispose of the raw data until three months after the day on which the notice was sent.