Letter to Stakeholders: Invitation to Participate in Consultations

October 8, 2009

To: Stakeholders

Re: Invitation to interested parties to submit their views concerning changes made to the Canada Transportation Act relating to the percentage of voting interests owned and controlled by non-Canadians in Canadian air carriers.

This letter is to inform you of changes which were made to the Canada Transportation Act (CTA) by the passage of legislation earlier this year and to solicit your comments on proposed new regulations necessary to bring the new legislation into force.

Part 14 of the Budget Implementation Act which received Royal Assent on March 12, 2009 changed the definition of Canadian in subsection 55(1) of the CTA to allow for an increase in the percentage of voting interests owned and controlled by non-Canadians. Under the amendments, which are not yet in force, the Governor in Council has the authority to create regulations to specify classes of non-Canadians and to specify a percentage of permissible ownership with respect to each class, which in all cases may not exceed 49% of the voting interests of a Canadian air carrier. These amendments will be brought into force after the new regulations are enacted.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (the Agency) is leading the process of developing these new regulations and is seeking your input. The Agency invites you to submit written comments regarding the possible wording of the new regulations, any suggested measures to facilitate the efficient implementation of the new regulations and any comments concerning the anticipated impacts the proposed regulations may have on your organization.

In order to facilitate this process, the Agency has created a web page where you will find background information on the proposed regulations, a presentation which provides greater details concerning the new regulatory regime, a link to the new legislation and other useful information.

The web page can be found at: www.cta.gc.ca/eng/consultation-ownership

On this site you will find instructions on how to receive e-mail notifications advising you of when the site has been updated.

Written comments are to be submitted to and received by the Agency no later than November 28, 2009. Written submissions should be addressed to:

Canadian Transportation Agency
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0N9
Attention: Allison Fraser

Alternatively, your comments may be sent by e-mail to:

propriete-ownership@otc-cta.gc.ca

If you have any questions or if you would like further information on this initiative, please contact Allison Fraser by telephone at 819-997-1457.

Sincerely,

Carole Girard
Senior Director, Regulatory Approvals and Compliance Directorate
Canadian Transportation Agency