so training hours undertaken in one ICAO country (Canada) cannot count towards the 40 hours required to get a UK PPL - once EASA take over the asylum?
They don't at present, AIUI.
All they would count for is towards the 100hrs for the 100hr license conversion route.
Provided that they are flown in an EASA aeroplane
That's a nice bit of restrictive practice. What if they are flown in an N-reg, with a DfT approval, and with a JAR-FCL instructor, and in UK airspace to top it off nicely ?
I wonder what will happen to the present ability to do an IR in an N-reg in the UK, post 2012?