Am I crazy??

[88AV]

I have a operation in South Africa with one King Air B200 and 2 !900D's. I want to move to Canada and start a operation there. Am I crazy in moving my whole family from SA to Canada? Is there scope for a small operator to start services in Canada? Smaller towns that needs to be connected to the bigger hubs with enough passengers??

just some info from you guys on what is happening there?

[fernytickles]

You'd consider starting a business based on what some kindly-meant folks told you on a forum? :eek:

Canada is a great place to visit, and much of the snow has melted in the lower half now - why not visit & take a look around?

And watch "Ice Pilots" on tv :}

[88AV]

Be assured my decision will not just be based on what is said on the forum:ok:
just trying to get as much info as possible.

[604guy]

Among many other things, the following will apply to obtaining a licence to operate a domestic air service;

•It must be incorporated or formed under the laws of Canada or a province;
•At least 75% of its voting interests must be owned and controlled by Canadians; and
•It must be controlled in fact by Canadians

There is an ability to get an exemption from the Minister;

Pursuant to section 62 of the CTA, where it is considered necessary or advisable in the public interest that a domestic licence be issued to a non-Canadian, the Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities has the statutory authority to exempt a person from the requirement to be Canadian.

I would think that the threshold for a demonstrated need for an exemption to be fairly high but I can't speak for the Minister obviously.

Given the above, 3 or 4 years ago there was a modification introduced by government that could see the non-Canadian ownership threshold raised to as high as 49% but is not yet in force and I haven't seen a timeline of when or even if it will become law.

Not sure of your status re Canadian but food for thought.

[BizAvIntl]

Pm sent :)

[J.O.]

Given the above, 3 or 4 years ago there was a modification introduced by government that could see the non-Canadian ownership threshold raised to as high as 49% but is not yet in force and I haven't seen a timeline of when or even if it will become law.

TUI has 49% ownership of Sunwing.

[rigpiggy]

By all means, emigrate, however, if you look at the history of Aviation in Canada, the only Air Service in Canada that has survived is the RCAF, though even that could be argued. Statistically around 90% of air services are toast within 5 yrs

List of defunct airlines of Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_airlines_of_Canada)
Even our glorious flag carrier has been through bankruptcy restructuring