NAV CANADA Building Towards Tomorrow’s Airspace

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The future of air travel in Canada

As we look towards the future of air travel in Canada, we are guided by a clear strategic direction that prepares us to meet the future needs of our customers and brings us in line with international standards. This year, we began the shift from planning to execution as we took concrete steps forward on a number of initiatives. Throughout this process, we are communicating transparently with our employees and stakeholders, ensuring that everyone is aligned with our goals over the coming years.

Digital facilities

Digital facilities extend the horizon of possibilities for NAV CANADA to continue delivering safe and efficient services, while moving beyond the intrinsic limitations of traditional on-airport facilities. Our strategic and financial investment in these advanced facilities reflects our ambition to meet the industry's evolving needs through modernization.

In fiscal 2024, we began planning and preparing to implement Digital Aerodrome Air Traffic Services (DAATS) technology at Kingston Airport as our initial digital facility. With the effort to secure a construction vendor underway, we have partnered with Kongsberg Geospatial — which brings experience from successful implementation in Norway — to equip us with this progressive technology.

This partnership equips us with technology that improves the safety, resiliency and sustainability of our facilities and activities. The high-resolution optical sensors and camera technology, microphones, integrated screens and related equipment will ensure situational awareness and augment the visual capabilities of air traffic service personnel at our future digital facilities. Our current efforts build towards the broader expansion and implementation of these services across Canada.

Trajectory-based operations

In February 2024, NAV CANADA reinforced its commitment to safer, more efficient and responsive air traffic management systems by joining the iTEC Alliance with Indra as the technology partner. This partnership will facilitate the replacement of our legacy Canadian Automated Air Traffic System (CAATS) and the adoption of trajectory-based operations (TBO) — one of the three initiatives driving our strategic direction — as we deploy Indra’s technology at facilities across the country over the next 15 years and beyond.

The first phase of this partnership includes deploying a state-of-the-art central flight data processor (cFDP) based on the iTEC Flight Data Processor (FDP), and an air traffic flow management system (iACM) for complex airspaces. The integration of information from Canada’s area control centres is aimed at improving traffic flow and boosting efficiencies, while reducing fuel consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions.

The iTEC FDP offers numerous benefits to our operational success. Foremost, this technology provides a more comprehensive picture of flights from takeoff to landing. Information will be integrated, providing greater predictability and accuracy of air traffic information over an extended horizon. This will contribute to more precise planning and coordination, while fundamentally creating a safer overall operation.

The agreement reflects NAV CANADA’s ongoing commitment to being a global leader in air navigation. It enhances our security measures, promotes innovation and advances our expertise. It also deepens our international relationships with our global ANSP counterparts who are also members of iTEC: DFS (Germany), ENAIRE (Spain), NATS (United Kingdom), LVNL (the Netherlands), Avinor (Norway), PANSA (Poland) and Oro Navigacija (Lithuania).

This long-term commitment underscores NAV CANADA’s contributions to greater collaboration and predictability in global aviation by aligning with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Aviation System Block Upgrades (ASBU). Anticipated benefits will include optimized flight path planning and cost savings, as well as greater predictability, fewer delays and reduced C02 emissions. Increased commonality could also facilitate further shared development and testing in the future.

Airspace modernization

In charting NAV CANADA’s future course, we are actively implementing modernization programs that enhance service delivery and safety measures, while laying the groundwork for TBO. Airspace modernization (ASM) is a long-term strategic effort that involves multiple projects and initiatives which, combined, anticipate ongoing growth in — and optimal value to — our industry.

Foremost have been our continued efforts towards establishing the Canadian Network Management Unit (CNMU), a key anchor point for both TBO and ASM. To date, functional areas have been established and CNMU roles are being defined. We have also begun work on a future airspace concept of operations, which will: reimagine Canadian domestic airspace to improve service efficiency, flow and predictability; introduce concept enablers like flexible-use airspace and free-route airspace; and enable trajectory-based operations.

Other notable projects during the past year include:

The Vancouver Airspace Modernization Project (VAMP), which has addressed concerns at Abbotsford International that there were limited options available for straight-in IFR approaches and related procedures (e.g. circling, visual approaches, landings in tailwind conditions). Further to an assessment conducted between 2021-2023, a series of changes are now underway through the collaborative efforts of several groups. These changes include providing straight-in IFR access to the runway, greater predictability and reliability for IFR arrivals, reduced track miles and mitigation of other challenging flight situations.
The expanded implementation of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) mandate to include Class B airspace improves safety and efficiency while further setting the stage for TBO. ADS-B equipment — backed by an Iridium network of 66 satellites carrying Aireon’s ADS-B receivers — offers an unparalleled level of precision. This contributes to improved search-and-rescue operations and, more broadly, provides operators with the ability to fly shorter, more predictable routes while reducing fuel costs.

RPAS traffic management: Preparing for new entrants

It is widely accepted that drones — or, as they are more formally known, remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) — represent a significant opportunity for our economy as new entrants begin to harness this technology’s vast potential. Consider the array of prospects available, from reimagining delivery services to managing surveys, inspections and related geotechnical services, emergency response, agricultural monitoring, real estate and much more.

In preparation, NAV CANADA is building the tools to manage the safe integration and operation of RPAS in our airspace alongside traditional aviation. This is part of the Company’s comprehensive strategy for Canada to meet the challenges presented by rapidly expanding drone operations.

This year marked further growth and updates for NAV Drone, our official application that enables RPAS pilots to safely and legally request authorization to fly drones in NAV CANADA-controlled airspace. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, the most recent version has several new features, including an operation timeline, improvements to the operation flight report, strategic deconfliction to avoid potential conflicts, and a distance calculator for more precise planning and adjustable flight path width, which allows for greater flexibility and safer flight planning. Over the course of fiscal 2024, NAV Drone gained 17,552 new users, bringing its total to 55,277, while issuing 53,699 flight plan approvals over the course of the year.

We are also preparing for a future that welcomes more types of drone operations. Currently, drone pilots can fly within visual line of sight (VLOS), and the next stage of evolution is beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). In December 2023, a concept of operations for phase two of RPAS Traffic Management (RTM) was published to share our approach for this future. This concept of operations will guide the safe integration of BVLOS operations into the aviation ecosystem in the coming years.

Over the course of this past year, we also began Phase 2 RTM trials, worked in conjunction with the Canadian government and military to develop plans for drone incursion response activities, and held our first industry day for advanced air mobility (AAM) and urban air mobility (UAM), bringing together regulators, experts and stakeholders to understand the current situation and discuss plans and requirements for the future.