Directive No. 7
Revision 4

Requisite Training to Obtain Ministerial Delegation of Authority

Policy Objective:

To establish the requisite training for employees to obtain Delegation of Authority (DoA).

Background:

The Commission of Inquiry into the Air Ontario Crash at Dryden, Ontario, identified the lack of an established training policy, which clearly set out the training required for Transport Canada inspectors.

In 1998, the ICAO Safety Oversight Report to Transport Canada identified shortcomings in the field of training records for its personnel holding delegation of authority.

In addition, recognition and strengthening of professional skills and knowledge is an operating principle of Flight 2010 A Strategic Plan for Civil Aviation.

Civil Aviation has identified the following four phases of learning for employees exercising delegation of authority responsibilities: 

• Phase I, initial training - the planned process to acquire common competencies for job performance
• Phase II, supplementary training - the planned process to develop further job-specific competencies
• Phase III, recurrent training - the planned process to maintain competencies in order to exercise delegation of authority
• Phase IV, career development training

This Directive relates specifically to Phase I training.

Policy Statement:

Civil Aviation is committed to providing requisite training for employees to develop competencies to effectively exercise delegation of authority.

Application:

This Directive applies to all Civil Aviation employees who will exercise Ministerial Delegation of Authority or other non-delegated officer as identified by the applicable Branch Functional Directors.

Definitions:

Delegation of Authority - certain powers, duties or functions, conferred by the Minister authorizing persons employed in the positions set out in Schedules A to N identified in the Ministerial Delegation of Authority Document.

Competencies - a set of skills, abilities and related behaviors, which are indicative of the personal attributes that employees need to do their work successfully.

Waiver - the process by which a manager can release an individual who demonstrates the identified interpersonal and communication competencies, from the requirement to take the Communications Skills Course.

Approach:

Before officers are granted full-delegated authority, they must successfully complete Phase I training. Phase I training includes: Delegated Officer Initial Training (DOIT)¹ Structured On-The-Job Training (SOJT) (See Appendix C for generic Phase 1 Notice of Training Completion form); and the functional branch-specific course as contained in the specific schedules for the various job types with delegation of authority (see Appendix A):

Schedule B - Regulatory Services
Schedule C - General Aviation
Schedule D - Aerodromes and Air Navigation
Schedule E -  Aircraft Certification
Schedule F -  Aircraft Maintenance and Manufacturing
Schedule G - Regions - Aircraft Certification and Aircraft Maintenance and Manufacturing (see Schedule E and Schedule F)
Schedule H - Commercial and Business Aviation (see also Schedule F) and International Aviation and Technical Programs
Schedule K - System Safety

The process for issuing DoA can be found in CAD 7A.

Functional branches may, at their discretion identify required training for non-delegated officers to maintain the competencies required of their position.

Waivers:

Specialty Courses - Only delegated officers who are within one year of their declared retirement date are exempt from taking Phase I specialty course training. 

Communications Skills Course - A manager may approve a waiver for the Communications Skills Course for those officers with delegation of authority hired prior to July 01, 2002, who demonstrate the identified competencies through the performance of job activities.  The manager is required to evaluate and document the delegated officer’s communications and interpersonal competencies using the waiver for the Communications Skills Course (see Appendix B for waiver form). The signed waiver must be forwarded to the Director, Aviation Learning Services who will acknowledge, sign and return a copy to the Manager for the officer’s training file.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Civil Aviation officers are responsible for:

• being aware of the training required in order to exercise their respective delegation of authority
• through learning plans, requesting training in a timely fashion in order to continue to exercise their delegation

Headquarters Functional Directors are responsible for:

• chairing Functional Learning Committees which implement the requirements of this directive at the functional level
• identifying the Phase I competencies and training required by delegated officers within their respective functional areas, in consultation with the regions
• establishing functional procedures for the delivery and monitoring of the required training program
• ensuring their employees with delegation of authority are aware of and receive the requisite training in accordance with their respective schedules 

Regional Directors are responsible for:

• ensuring their employees with delegation of authority are aware of and receive the requisite training in accordance with their respective schedules

The Director, Aviation Learning Services is responsible for:

• assuring the quality of the design, development,  delivery,  evaluation and validation of required training programs
• identifying a common structure and approach that will be used for training
• offering sufficient number of courses/learning events (given adequate resources) to meet the demand for required training such that employees may meet their requirements
• maintaining the records for requisite training in the Civil Aviation Training Information System (CATIS) database
• retaining waivers and updating the employee's CATIS record
• reporting annually to the National Civil Aviation Management Executive on matters relating to this policy

Functional Learning Committees are responsible for:

• recommending revisions to schedules for additional training requirements within their respective functional areas
• recommending training content, evaluation standards and recurrent frequency required by delegated officers within their respective functional areas

The Learning Oversight Committee (LOC) is responsible for:

• establishing partnerships among functional areas, Aviation Learning Services, and Corporate Human Resources, Learning and Counseling
• pursuing consistency in inspectors’ competencies
• monitoring cross-functional learning programs
• providing a forum for sharing ideas concerning learning, training and development within Civil Aviation
• recommending training/learning directives and policies to NCAMX
• making decisions regarding the implementation of training/learning directives and policies, needs analysis, development, delivery, evaluation and competencies
• communicating decisions made by LOC to NCAMX and
• making minor changes to NCAMX – approved policies

Further information:

Kim Current
Director, Aviation Learning Services (AARE)
Telephone: (613) 990-3729
Facsimile: (613) 993-0748
E-mail: currekg@tc.gc.ca

Merlin Preuss
 Director General
Civil Aviation

Effective Date: September 8, 2006

Expiry Date: This directive will be reviewed annually.

Revisions: Changes to the schedules may be made by functional groups provided that they only affect their specific function.

¹ DOIT is a mandatory Training Program for delegated officers recruited since Jan 03, 2003. This one course incorporates 5 basic components (Orientation to TC and Civil Aviation, Communication Skills, Ethics and Values, Basic Aviation Enforcement, and Emerging Management Practices which includes Risk Management.)