Buying an airplane can be the right decision for you. You can save thousands of dollars in flight training and enjoy the freedom to fly where you want to, at your own schedule. These are some reasons why I bought my Piper Cherokee, renting aircraft just wasn’t enough for me.
Despite all the benefits, there are unique complications to aircraft ownership if you are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. For instance, the government won’t let foreigners register an aircraft. In this guide I’ll show you how to navigate around these issues - legally.
<< This article is not to be considered legal advice. It is written for general information only. >>
WHY YOU CAN’T REGISTER PERSONALLY
You cannot fly a Canadian aircraft without registering it with Transport Canada. Unfortunately, the Canadian Aviation Regulations explicitly excludes tourists, temporary students or workers from registering an aircraft in its own definition of Canadian.
This is also stated in the registration form.
When I purchased my aircraft, I was a temporary worker and couldn’t register. So, here’s the work around I found that anyone can do:
Create and register the aircraft to your corporation.
HOW TO REGISTER
A corporation created in Canada is a separate legal entity from yourself and will meet the requirements for registering the aircraft. See CARs section 202.15.
It is also mentioned in the registration form.
When I found out about this, I already had a corporation set up for one of my businesses. It was a straightforward process.
I incorporated online in the province where I live – Manitoba. The whole set up took me 10 minutes. It cost $350 for incorporation, and a $45 fee for custom name which is optional. The best thing? You don’t need to be a citizen or permanent resident to incorporate.
Once I purchased my airplane, I registered it to my company using the certificate of incorporation. A simple work around using bureaucracy to solve government bureaucracy.
Be mindful that upon setting up a Canadian corporation you will have to comply with administrative duties and tax fillings for the corporation. On the other hand, you have the benefits of asset and liability protection as the company owns the airplane.
CONCLUSION
In short, non-permanent residents or non-citizens can’t register airplanes, but their holding companies can! I used this method to comply with the CARs when I bought my airplane.
Ironically, I received my permanent residency notice the same day I got my airplane delivered. Why does fate work this way???