Canadian Aviation Regulations (SOR/96-433)

Maximum Number of Hours of Work

• 700.29 (1) An air operator shall not assign a flight duty period to a flight crew member, and a flight crew member shall not accept such an assignment, if, as a result, the member’s number of hours of work will exceed

  • (a) 2,200 hours in any 365 consecutive days;

  • (b) 192 hours in any 28 consecutive days;

  • (c) 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days if the air operator has provided the member with the following time free from duty:

    • (i) 1 single day free from duty in any 168 consecutive hours, and

    • (ii) 4 single days free from duty in any 672 consecutive hours; or

  • (d) 70 hours in any 7 consecutive days if the air operator has provided 120 consecutive hours free from duty, including 5 consecutive local nights’ rest, in any 504 consecutive hours and if

    • (i) the member is not assigned early duty, late duty or night duty,

    • (ii) the member is not assigned a flight duty period greater than 12 hours, and

    • (iii) the member’s maximum number of hours of work is 24 hours in any consecutive 48 hours.

• (2) An air operator who has assigned to a flight crew member a flight duty period that will result in the member’s number of hours of work exceeding those referred to in paragraph (1)(c) shall ensure that the member has 120 consecutive hours free from duty, including 5 consecutive local nights’ rest, before assigning a flight duty period that will result in the member’s number of hours of work exceeding those referred to in that paragraph.

• (3) A flight crew member’s hours of work are to include

  • (a) in the case of a flight crew member on reserve, 33% of the time that they are in a reserve availability period; and

  • (b) in the case of a flight crew member on standby, 100% of the time that they are on standby.

[700.30 to 700.35 reserved]

Home Base

700.36 An air operator shall assign a home base for each of its flight crew members.

Nutrition Break

700.37 An air operator shall provide a flight crew member with not less than 15 minutes every 6 hours within a flight duty period to eat and drink.

[700.38 and 700.39 reserved]

Rest Periods — General

• 700.40 (1) An air operator shall provide a flight crew member with the following rest periods at the end of a flight duty period:

  • (a) if the flight duty period ends at home base,

    • (i) either 12 hours, or 11 hours plus the travel time to and from the place where the rest period is taken, or

    • (ii) if the air operator provides suitable accommodation, 10 hours in that suitable accommodation; and

  • (b) if the flight duty period ends away from home base, 10 hours in suitable accommodation.

• (2) If an air operator assigns a duty to a flight crew member for a period — excluding the time required for positioning — that exceeds by one hour or more the maximum flight duty period referred to in section 700.28, the rest period shall be the longer of

  • (a) the maximum flight duty period plus the amount of time worked beyond the maximum flight duty period, and

  • (b) the rest period referred to in subsection (1).

• (3) An air operator shall have a means to determine the travel time referred to in subparagraph (1)(a)(i).

• (4) An air operator shall provide a flight crew member with advance notice of the member’s rest period and its duration.

Disruptive Schedules

• 700.41 (1) In addition to the rest periods required under section 700.40, an air operator shall provide a flight crew member with one local night’s rest between

  • (a) the time at which late duty or night duty ends and the time at which the following early duty begins; or

  • (b) the time at which early duty ends and the time at which the following late duty or night duty begins.

• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply when a flight crew member is at a location where local time differs by more than four hours from the local time at the last location where the member was acclimatized.

Rest Periods — Time Zone Differences

• 700.42 (1) Despite section 700.40, an air operator shall provide a flight crew member with the following rest periods when their flight duty period ends away from home base:

  • (a) 11 consecutive hours in suitable accommodation, if the local time at the location where the flight duty period began differs by four hours from the local time at the location where the flight duty period ends; and

  • (b) 14 consecutive hours in suitable accommodation, if the local time at the location where the flight duty period began differs by more than four hours from the local time at the location where the flight duty period ends.

• (2) Despite section 700.40, an air operator shall provide a flight crew member with the following rest periods when their flight duty period begins at a location that is in a time zone other than the time zone in which home base is located and ends at home base:

  • (a) 13 consecutive hours, if the local time at the location where the flight duty period began differs by four hours from the local time at home base and the member has been away from home base for more than 36 consecutive hours;

  • (b) if the local time at the location where the flight duty period began differs by more than 4 but not more than 10 hours from the local time at home base, and

    • (i) the member has been away from home base for 60 consecutive hours or less and no part of the flight duty period occurs during any part of the member’s window of circadian low, one local night’s rest before the beginning of the next flight duty period, or

    • (ii) the member has been away from home base for more than 60 consecutive hours, or any part of the flight duty period occurs within any part of the member’s window of circadian low, two local nights’ rest before the beginning of the next flight duty period; or

  • (c) if the local time at the location where the flight duty period began differs by more than 10 hours from the local time at home base and

    • (i) the member has been away from home base for 60 consecutive hours or less, two local nights’ rest before the beginning of the next flight duty period, or

    • (ii) the member has been away from home base for more than 60 consecutive hours, three local nights’ rest before the beginning of the next flight duty period.

Rest Period — Positioning

• 700.43 (1) If a flight crew member is required by the air operator to travel for the purpose of positioning immediately after the completion of a flight duty period and the flight duty period plus the travel time required for positioning exceed the maximum flight duty period set out in section 700.28, the air operator shall provide the member with a rest period before the beginning of the next flight duty period that is equal to the duration of

  • (a) the number of hours of work, if the maximum flight duty period is exceeded by three hours or less; or

  • (b) the number of hours of work plus the amount of time by which the maximum flight duty period is exceeded, if the maximum flight duty period is exceeded by more than three hours.

• (2) Despite subsection (1), the rest period provided to the member by the air operator before the beginning of the next flight duty period shall not be shorter than the rest period required under subsection 700.40(1).

• (3) An air operator shall not require the positioning of a flight crew member if it would result in the member’s maximum flight duty period being exceeded by more than three hours unless

  • (a) the member agrees to the positioning; and

  • (b) the member’s flight duty period is not exceeded by more than seven hours.

• (4) An air operator shall consider the time required for the positioning of a flight crew member, that is not immediately followed by the assignment of a flight duty period, as a flight duty period for the purpose of determining the duration of the rest periods in accordance with section 700.40.

[700.44 to 700.49 reserved]

Split Flight Duty

• 700.50 (1) A flight crew member’s flight duty period may exceed the maximum flight duty period set out in section 700.28 by the following amount of time, if the air operator provides the member with a break, in suitable accommodation, of at least 60 consecutive minutes during the flight duty period:

  • (a) 100% of the duration of the break that is provided to the member during the period beginning at 24:00 and ending at 05:59;

  • (b) 50% of the duration of the break that is provided to the member during the period beginning at 06:00 and ending at 23:59; and

  • (c) in the case of an unforeseen operational circumstance, 50% of the duration of the break that is provided to the member in the case of the replanning of a flight duty period after it has begun.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the duration of the break provided to the flight crew member is reduced by 45 minutes before the calculation is made.

• (3) If a flight crew member is assigned to night duty, their flight duty period may only be extended under subsection (1) for three consecutive nights.

• (4) The time referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) is the time at the location where the flight crew member is acclimatized.

• (5) If a flight crew member on reserve is assigned to flight duty that includes split duty, the air operator may extend the reserve duty period by two hours if a break in accordance with this section is provided. There shall not be more than two flights during the flight duty period following the break.

Consecutive Flight Duty Periods

• 700.51 (1) An air operator shall not assign to a flight crew member more than three consecutive flight duty periods if any part of those periods falls between 02:00 and 05:59, unless the air operator provides the member with one local night’s rest at the end of the third flight duty period.

• (2) However, an air operator may assign to a flight crew member up to five consecutive flight duty periods even if any part of those periods falls between 02:00 and 05:59 if the member is provided with

  • (a) a rest period of three hours in suitable accommodation during each flight duty period; and

  • (b) 56 consecutive hours free from duty at the end of the last consecutive flight duty period.

Delayed Reporting Time

• 700.52 (1) If an air operator advises a flight crew member of a delay in the member’s reporting time before the member leaves their suitable accommodation to report for duty, the duration of the flight duty period shall, for the purposes of determining the maximum flight duty period in accordance with section 700.28, be calculated starting from either the initial reporting time or the delayed reporting time, whichever results in the shorter period.

• (2) Despite subsection (1), the flight duty period shall begin, if the delay in the reporting time

  • (a) is less than four hours, at the delayed reporting time; or

  • (b) is four hours or more but less than 10 hours, four hours after the initial reporting time.

• (3) If the delay in the reporting time is 10 hours or more, the duration of the delay is considered to be a rest period if the air operator advises the flight crew member of the delay before they leave the suitable accommodation, and does not disturb their rest period before an agreed time.

• (4) Unless the air operator and flight crew member agree on a time when the air operator may disturb the member’s rest period referred to in subsection (3), the air operator shall not interrupt the member’s rest period other than

  • (a) during the 30-minute period before the time the member was initially scheduled to leave the suitable accommodation; or

  • (b) during the 60-minute period before the initial reporting time.