Transport committee  Absolutely, sir, this is something of great concern. As I just said in my opening remarks, we don't know what the future holds as far as the industry is concerned. Up to 60% of travelling in the past was for business-related reasons, and yes, people are getting used to working with other means, so obviously that's going to have a huge impact on the air travel industry and on the equipment used and so on, but we just don't know.

Transport committee  In prepandemic years, we were losing about five million passengers a year with people crossing the border to fly, and that's just a rough estimate. We don't see that going down any time soon. Of course, it was quiet during the pandemic, when people couldn't cross the border, but that's not something that's going to last.

Transport committee  Good afternoon. The Air Transport Association of Canada has represented this country's commercial air transport industry since 1934. Our 175 members are engaged in all levels of commercial aviation and flight training, in every region of Canada. Our membership ranges from the very large domestic transborder and international carriers to regional carriers, along with flight training organizations and the Canadian air transport support industry.

Transport committee  The training infrastructure is there; there's no doubt that it's there. Access to it is difficult, because of funding, for one thing, and also because our regulations date back to the 1990s. They're not modern, not up to date. They're not following the world trends as far as incorporating new teaching technologies and so on.

Transport committee  It is better in that we have done away with COVID measures. To comment also on what my colleague, Mr. Morrison, was saying, the wage subsidy helped, but it doesn't keep an airline flying if there are no passengers. It just kept the lights on for many companies. What's better now is that there is a growth in demand, so there's a growth in service.

Transport committee  Visa applications, rate card applications, timed certificate applications, medical approvals, licence renewals, professional exams, pilot proficiency tests, aircraft certification—all this stuff is taking three or four times longer than it ever has, and we don't understand why.

Transport committee  Could I add something to that, sir? It takes four years to train an AME in Canada. That's the training requirement by Transport Canada. That's twice as long as any other jurisdiction. Why is that? It's that the regulation has not been amended since the 1990s, and they are not taking into consideration new teaching technologies, the new teaching environment and the operating environment.

Transport committee  As was mentioned with the visa applications, it's good to change a policy to allow immigration. Then again, the administration of that policy is something altogether different. You have a huge backlog of people waiting for processing, and it's not happening. Policy is great, but you have to be able to do it.

Transport committee  They've updated their regulations to make them more current and with modern technology.

Transport committee  I also have three things. The first is to make sure that regulations reflect the reality that we live in, which is not the case right now. Second, in the last 10 years, demand for our services has grown by about 5% a year, but Transport Canada's safety budget has been consistently cut.

Transport committee  Actually, I always prefer to hear from carriers. So I'd love to hear what they have to say about it.

Transport committee  Good morning. This year, the Air Transport Association of Canada is celebrating 90 years of representing this country's commercial air transport industry. Our 175 members are engaged at all levels of commercial aviation and flight training in every region of Canada. Our membership ranges from very large domestic, transborder and international carriers to regional carriers, flight training organizations and the Canadian air transport support industry.

Transport committee  Thank you. Briefly, yes, government policies in general are really, as I mentioned, hindering the competitiveness, and most affected by these are the northern and regional people, because of the service that we try to provide in those regions. Yes, in the last few years we've had a number of policies, be it flight and duty times, be it APPR....

Transport committee  The cost from the APPR would escalate significantly if the proposed rules being discussed now come into effect. That cost and the cost recovery they're proposing would drive those markets to be not profitable at all. Actually, when the compensation is so high, there's a decision to just cancel the flight way out, rather than have it be late or unable to render services on time.

Transport committee  Adding to what my colleagues said, I would say it's a lack of infrastructure. That is really needed. That is what I want to add to these comments.