Components

Q5. How important is the degree of freedom given to operators in Canada to implement SMS (versus more prescriptive requirements)? Does Transport Canada nevertheless discourage copying of another operator’s basic safety policy (or similar practices) among operators?

A fundamental principle of SMS success is that the organizations build the system themselves. Transport Canada wants to engage organizations actively in finding their own solutions. The Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) are performance-based meaning that Transport Canada sets the performance objective and the organization determines the most appropriate way to achieve the objective. In Canada, there are multiple certificate holders operating in extreme and diverse environments, it would be unrealistic to expect that one size would fit all. For example, what works for Canada’s largest air carrier would be completely inappropriate for a small airport located in the Canadian North. Likewise an SMS at one of the country’s largest international airports would be overly complex for a small one-person air taxi operation.

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