AOPA and the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) are urging the Canadian government to open the border to the 90,000 U.S. pilots who fly with BasicMed. Canada doesn’t have an equivalent medical category to BasicMed so those pilots would be flying without a valid medical if they fly in Canada. The groups made a formal request to Canadian Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland to allow BasicMed pilots to fly in Canada, noting the FAA has determined it has had no impact on flight safety since it was implemented in 2017. “Last year, at AOPA’s request, Congress expanded the BasicMed program to include more aircraft,” said AOPA President Darren Pleasance. “It would be helpful for both countries to get this done for economic and recreational benefits.”
The letter also notes that Canada is developing a new Class 4 medical that is similar but not identical to BasicMed. “There is a timely opportunity to establish mutual recognition between the two regulatory frameworks,” the letter said. “Such a step would enhance cross-border collaboration, support harmonization of North American general aviation policies, and foster a more seamless operating environment for private pilots in both countries.” The letter also urges Canadian officials to work with the FAA to create a bilateral agreement that will allow pilots flying under the relaxed rules in their respective countries to cross the border without impediment. “These initiatives would significantly benefit the general aviation community while maintaining the shared commitment to aviation safety and public interest,” the groups wrote.
Probably a pipe dream, but this effort should be extended to ICAO. Given the AME and authority bottlenecks everywhere, it would be a big boost to making/keeping GA attractive. I just heard that the FAA is expecting the number of medicals to need processing in 2026 to exceed 500‘000. How they‘ll manage that with staff cuts is anybody‘s guess.
Harmonization of medical categories such as Basicmed between Canada and the U.S. is long overdue. Facilitating cross border flight can only bring more prosperity and better relations. I get the sense that this is an opportunistic time for this to proceed and needs to happen promptly or this chance will move to the back burner and die a neglectful death. Ya, bring it on!
I hope the efforts of AOPA and COPA are successful. It seems to me, though, that the medical regulatory regime of the US and Canada may be diverging rather than converging. The upcoming Sport Pilot 2.0 rules are going to allow pilots to fly many more types of aircraft with only a driver’s license, which seems likely to decrease the number of pilots opting to go the BasicMed route.
We should respect and support Darren Pleasance’s efforts on this issue, but given the current political environment brought about by the Tariff fiasco, it is unlikely that any Canadian government agency will give us the time of day.