From Atop Parliament Hill

ALPA Canada Continues to Make Progress on Advancing ALPA’s Pilot-Partisan Agenda on Parliament Hill

Canada had been moving toward a federal election occurring in October. However, with a minority government in place, there was the looming possibility that the election could happen sooner, which is what occurred this past April when Canadians went to the polls to elect a new (minority) government with an agenda focused on building a strong Canadian economy amid unprecedented challenges to the country.

With little time between the opening of Canada’s 45th Parliament on May 27 and the start of the parliamentary summer recess, legislators were focused on dealing with key government legislation in both the House of Commons and the Senate. During this brief and busy time, ALPA Canada met with key legislators—both newly elected and reelected—to engage and promote the Association’s pilot-partisan agenda to protect pilot jobs and advance the piloting profession.

Though parliamentarians have returned to their ridings to reconnect with their constituents and focus on their local issues over the next few months, ALPA Canada continues its work to prepare for the return of Parliament to ensure issues impacting the piloting profession remain front and centre.

ALPA’s Canada’s Collective Voice, Strong and United

ALPA Canada is proud to represent and advocate for more than 95 percent of the unionized pilot workforce employed at 21 airlines across Canada. As ALPA Canada’s membership continues to grow, so does ALPA’s influence and reputation as the voice of the piloting profession in Canada.

ALPA Canada remains committed to working with the federal government and all parliamentarians to promote key pilot issues and provide solutions to move the Association’s priorities forward. ALPA Canada’s unwavering efforts have established the union as a prominent aviation safety organization and professional pilot union with the airline industry and government.

Legislative and Regulatory Update

Bill C-58: Historic Prolabour Legislation

Bill C-58, legislation that prohibits the use of replacement workers in federally regulated sectors and makes improvements to the maintenance-of-activities process (under Part I of the Canada Labour Code), received Royal Assent in June 2024.

The impact of ALPA’s engagement in the legislative process of Bill C-58 was substantial and resulted in fundamental amendments to the code’s maintenance-of-activities process, which is of particular importance to ALPA Canada members. The amendments to the code establish how essential services are to be maintained in the event of a labour disruption. Most importantly, they also provide time lines for implementing an agreement that can’t be manipulated by employers attempting to delay reaching a collective agreement or looking to frustrate the bargaining process.

On June 20, 2025, Bill C-58 came into effect. This key labour legislation represents a major achievement for ALPA Canada and will bring fairness and certainty to future bargaining for Canadian pilot groups.

Air Passenger Protection Regulations

The many concerns raised regarding Canada’s air passenger protection regulations (APPR), which went into force in 2019, made clear to the government that the regulations were overly complex and/or unclear for air carriers to implement and passengers to understand.

In September 2023, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) launched a consultation phase on proposed updates to the APPR. ALPA Canada provided a submission to protect captain’s authority over the concern that the CTA was proposing to eliminate the safety-related exemption category that included “safety-related decisions pilots make at their discretion” (captain’s authority) and replace it with a narrower list of exceptional circumstances.

ALPA Canada was clear that the inclusion of captain’s discretion to make safety-related decisions wouldn’t only ensure the recognition of captain’s authority, but would also safeguard against the pressure to compromise safety to avoid punitive penalties to the employer. ALPA maintains that pilots, and by extension airlines, shouldn’t be punished for ensuring the safety of the aircraft, passengers, and other crewmembers.

In late December 2024, ALPA was pleased to see that the draft regulations published in Canada Gazette included an exceptional-circumstances category recognizing safety-related captain’s authority.

ALPA Canada continues to monitor and await publication of the final updated regulations, to be published this year, to ensure that they keep recognizing captain’s discretion to make safety-related decisions, including the refusal to conduct any flight operations at any time unless the pilot is fully satisfied operations can be safely completed.

Flight- and Duty-Time Regulations

ALPA Canada continues to fight to protect and advance flight- and duty-time regulations through engagement with both the federal and provincial levels of governments.

In support of protecting Canada’s updated fatigue rules, which are fundamentally safety regulations, ALPA Canada has been actively working to oppose any attempt to weaken or suspend them. The Association firmly believes that granting exemptions or relief from these rules to commercial operators, for example, would compromise safety and pose significant risks to passengers and flight crews. The union’s work is also focused on strengthening the regulations and government-issued guidance materials where ALPA finds them to be deficient.

ALPA Canada will continue to strongly advocate for transparency and inclusivity in the policy-making process to ensure that all relevant parties, like ALPA, have the opportunity to contribute to discussions and decisions regarding aviation policy and regulations. ALPA Canada maintains that increased collaboration with government and aviation stakeholders will collectively enhance and prevent the erosion of these critical safety standards.

Foreign Pilots and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program

ALPA Canada continues its efforts to stop Canadian airlines from hiring temporary foreign pilots through Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and to advocate for reforms to the TFWP.

Currently, the criteria guiding the program’s Labour Market Impact Assessment process, which determines whether Canadians are available to fill the vacancy, doesn’t require or make mandatory consultation or engagement with unions representing employees who are impacted by hiring temporary foreign workers. Furthermore, the program currently does little to encourage employers to address the reality of their own labour shortage in a meaningful way.

ALPA has never opposed legal immigration, especially when a potential employee is offered a stable path to citizenship, has labour mobility rights, and their status in Canada isn’t tied to a particular employer.

Over this past year, ALPA Canada has voiced this concern widely and has made several interventions with the former and current minister with oversight of the program and key opposition politicians. ALPA is urging the government to make the necessary program reforms to ensure considerations when assessing highly skilled and licensed unionized workers employed under terms set out through collective bargaining when evaluating an employer’s need to hire foreign workers (pilots).

In April, a record number of ALPA pilot advocates took action to reinforce ALPA Canada’s position by contacting their members of Parliament to let them know that Canadian airlines need to focus on making their airlines an attractive career destination by investing in available qualified Canadian pilots instead of looking to hire foreign pilots.

On May 27, ALPA Canada’s advocacy work was reflected in the new government’s Speech from the Throne. The Association is pleased that the government, in outlining its priorities and forward agenda, committed to capping the total number of temporary foreign workers to less than 5 percent of Canada’s population by 2027. While further details aren’t yet available, ALPA believes this is a step in the right direction toward the necessary reforms to a flawed program and that the government and others recognize the need for change. ALPA Canada looks forward to working with the newly elected government and will use all available tools to ensure the union’s position and priorities are clear and matter.

Advocating for Pilot Priorities: ALPA Canada’s Second Annual Parliament Hill Day

ALPA Canada hosted its second annual Parliament Hill Day this past December, which included scheduled meetings and engagements opportunities with legislators throughout the day and evening.

Pilot leaders representing nearly every ALPA Canada pilot group met with legislators and government officials in Ottawa to educate and bring awareness to the issues affecting the piloting profession and to effect positive change to protect pilot jobs.

This event was designed to complement ALPA Canada’s ongoing advocacy efforts with the government and focused on three main issues: reduced-crew operations, the ongoing concern over the erosion on Canada’s flight- and duty-time regulations, and free and fair collective bargaining.

With Parliament Hill Day 2024 coinciding with ALPA Canada’s evening holiday reception, pilot advocates had a further opportunity to engage with industry stakeholders, government officials, parliamentarians from all political parties, and the minister of Transport in a relaxed atmosphere as the parliamentary session was winding down for the winter break.

The third annual Parliament Hill Day is scheduled to take place December 1–2.

Engagement Continues

ALPA’s strong pilot partisanship continues to be key in successfully growing pilot influence and advancing pilot issues in the halls of Parliament.

In all matters affecting the piloting profession and Canadian ALPA members, ALPA Canada remains focused on engaging with Canada’s government in Ottawa and working tirelessly to advance pilot priorities to advocate for a safe, competitive, and sustainable industry now and in the future.

Canada’s Competition Bureau Report Undermines Canadian Jobs and Businesses

On June 19, Canada’s Competition Bureau released its report Cleared for Takeoff: Elevating Airline Competition, which makes recommendations to the government on creating what it believes are the right conditions for competition in Canada’s airline industry.

ALPA Canada believes that this report undermines Canadian jobs, businesses, and fundamentally shared national interests.

Despite ALPA Canada’s submission to Canada’s Competition Bureau advising against initiatives such as cabotage, the bureau made several recommendations that ALPA Canada doesn’t agree with.

The bureau’s focus on prioritizing competition within Canadian aviation policy is far too narrow in scope to take into consideration the broader realities and existing challenges of Canada’s aviation sector.
The bureau’s recommendation to allow foreign airlines to fly domestic service within Canada, known as cabotage, is a lose-lose proposition that sells out Canadians by forfeiting the air sovereignty that connects Canada and exports many of the benefits of Canadian-owned and -operated enterprises.
Cabotage would enable foreign airlines to cherry-pick money-generating routes at the expense of less-profitable regional connections that unite Canada and are the backbone of the Canadian economy.
Permitting foreign airlines to conduct cabotage operations in Canada is impractical, unwise, and places Canadian carriers at a competitive disadvantage while displacing Canadian workers from high-value jobs.

While the bureau’s recommendations don’t compel the government to take any action, ALPA Canada will continue to fight against cabotage operations (passenger and cargo) in Canada to protect pilot jobs.

This article was originally published in the August 2025 issue of Air Line Pilot.