Air Carrier Certificate for foreign nationals

[szbarn]

Out of curiosity- if a foreign investor purchased an already established small aviation company that offers tours or flight instruction under part 135 and 91 could this investor maintain ownership and continue to offer services to the public?Are foreigners eligible for holding air carrier certificates(might be called different in Canada but you know what I mean) and if so are there any limitations to what they can do with it?
Thanks for the constructive inputs

[peekay4]

Hmm good question.

The Canada Transportation Act limits license for air transportation services to Canadians only, defined as Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or corporations majority owned (51%) by Canadians.

However, specific services are excluded from this requirement, including flight training services. E.g., a flight school may be foreign owned, but a company offering domestic charters (and perhaps tours) will be subject to the foreign ownership rule.

So I think the answer is "maybe" (depending on what are all the services offered by this company, and which services the future company may be willing to exit from). It's best to consult an attorney in this field.

[szbarn]

I appreciate your feedback,thank you.
I need to find an aviation attorney who is familiar with the Canadian regulations.

[peekay4]

Canada is dominated by large / consolidated full service law firms.

Some leads in no particular order:

Michael Dery
Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP
[email protected]
(Vancouver)

Catherine Pawluch
DLA Piper
[email protected]
(Toronto, expert on foreign ownership rules & well known in the Chinese business community)

Carlos P. Martins
Bersenas Jacobsen Chouest Thomson Blackburn LLP
[email protected]
(Toronto)

For a smaller / boutique firm:

Bill Clark
Clark & Company Barristers & Solicitors
[email protected]
(Toronto)

If they're not a good fit, perhaps they can still provide recommendations for your circumstances.

Good luck.

[Longtimer]

So far under Canadian Law, foreign ownership of actual airlines will be capped at 49% so the actual ownership would therefore be Canadian.
Ottawa to ease foreign owner rules for airlines
BERTRAND MAROTTE AND GREG KEENAN
MONTREAL and TORONTO — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Nov. 03, 2016 8:27AM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Nov. 03, 2016 6:20PM EDT
Mr. Garneau said Thursday that the Liberal government plans to introduce legislation to ease foreign ownership restrictions on domestic airlines to 49 per cent from the current 25 per cent.