Canadian Aviation Regulations · SOR/96-433
Flight Time Limits
Hard caps on how much flight time you can be assigned: 112 hours in 28 days, 300 in 90 days, 1,000 in 365 days — plus 8 hours in 24 for single-pilot operations.
Applies to 703704705 · in force since December 12, 2020
Flight time is defined in CARs 101.01 as “the time from the moment an aircraft first moves under its own power for the purpose of taking off until the moment it comes to rest at the end of the flight.”
That is block time (chocks-off to chocks-on): it includes taxi time. It is not the same as air time, which CARs 101.01 defines for technical records as the time “from the moment an aircraft leaves the surface until it comes into contact with the surface at the next point of landing” (wheels-up to wheels-down). Section 700.27 caps your flight time.
The limits
| Maximum flight time | Over any period of | CARs |
|---|---|---|
| 112 hours | 28 consecutive days | 700.27(1)(a) |
| 300 hours | 90 consecutive days | 700.27(1)(b) |
| 1,000 hours | 365 consecutive days | 700.27(1)(c) |
| 8 hours | 24 consecutive hours — single-pilot operations only | 700.27(1)(d) |
The single-pilot limit covers flights under both VFR and IFR (AC 700-047 § 4.16).
How the rolling limits work
Each limit is a running total over the window ending now. To find how much you can fly today, add up your flight time over the previous 27, 89 and 364 days (not counting today) and subtract each from the matching cap (AC 700-047 § 4.16(4)):
- Flown 103.4 hours in the previous 27 days → 112 − 103.4 = 8.6 hours available today.
- Flown 290.2 hours in the previous 89 days → 300 − 290.2 = 9.8 hours available today.
Your available time today is the smallest of the four results.
What counts
- All of your flight time, including flying for another air operator, a private operator, and any private or military flying. You must tell your operator about it, and the operator must include it (700.27(2)(a); AC 700-047 § 4.17, read with 700.20).
- On an augmented crew flight, the whole flight’s flight time counts for every flight crew member — not just the time you spend at the controls (700.27(2)(b); AC 700-047 § 4.18).
Related
- Maximum Flight Duty Period (700.28)
- Maximum hours of work (700.29) — the cap on total duty, not just flight time
Regulation text — CARs 700.27
Reproduced from the consolidated Canadian Aviation Regulations ( SOR/96-433) on the Justice Laws website. CARs 700.27
700.27 (1) An air operator shall not assign flight time to a flight crew member, and a flight crew member shall not accept such an assignment, if the member’s total flight time will, as a result, exceed
- (a) 112 hours in any 28 consecutive days;
- (b) 300 hours in any 90 consecutive days;
- (c) 1,000 hours in any 365 consecutive days; or
- (d) in the case of a single-pilot operation, 8 hours in any 24 consecutive hours.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a flight crew member’s flight time includes
- (a) the flight time accumulated from other flight operations; and
- (b) the total flight time of a flight with an augmented flight crew.
What changed in 2018
In plain language
The former rules limited flight time over rolling 90-day and 365-day windows. The 2018 rules keep 90-day and 365-day caps, lower the annual limit, add a 28-day cap, and — new — an 8-hour-in-24 limit for single-pilot operations.
Paraphrased from Advisory Circular 700-047 .