Transport Canada Commercial Pilot Licence: hours, fuel and CO₂

Minimum requirements

The lines overlap: the rule counts one hour toward more than one of them, so they do not add up to the total.

Source: CARs Standard 421.30(4)

What else the rule says

• Pilot in command: 100 of the 200 hours must be as pilot in command, including 20 hours of cross-country as pilot in command.
• After the private licence: 65 hours of commercial pilot flight training in aeroplanes, after a Private Pilot Licence for aeroplanes from Canada or another contracting state. The rule sets no split for the other 135 hours beyond the pilot-in-command time.
• Dual: 35 hours with a flight instructor. They include 5 hours at night, with at least 2 hours of cross-country, 5 hours of cross-country, which may include those 2, and 20 hours of instrument time on top of both. At most 10 of the 20 instrument hours may be on an approved aeroplane simulator or synthetic flight training device. An aeroplane instrument rating counts as the 20 hours.
• Solo: 30 hours in VFR conditions. 25 of them are to improve general flying skills, with a cross-country of at least 300 nautical miles, full stop landings at 3 aerodromes and one at least 250 nautical miles from the start. The other 5 are solo at night, with at least 10 takeoffs, circuits and landings.
• Night: a Private Pilot Licence with a night rating counts as the night hours, if the 35 dual and 30 solo hours are met. Without the night hours the licence is restricted to daylight flying.
• Other aircraft: up to 50 hours in gliders, and up to 25 hours as pilot in command in three-axis ultra-light aeroplanes, count toward the 200 hours but not toward the 100 hours as pilot in command.
• Age, medical and ground school: the minimum age is 18, a Category 1 medical certificate applies, and the rule requires 80 hours of ground school. Ground school burns no fuel. A graduate of an approved integrated course meets the experience set in section 426.75 instead.

The CO₂ of 200 hours of training

These figures put every one of the 200 minimum hours in the aircraft. Fuel is hours times the trainer's fuel flow at about 75% power. CO₂ is the trainer's kilograms an hour, from 8.31 kg per US gallon of avgas, for burning the fuel only.

In a Cessna 172, the 65 hours of commercial training alone emit 5,720 kg of CO₂. Up to 10 of the 20 instrument hours may be flown in an approved simulator, which takes 880 kg off the total. The rule sets no number of hours in a complex or multi-engine aeroplane.

The rule counts up to 10 of these hours without flying the aircraft, for example in a simulator, in a training device or on the ground. That time burns no aircraft fuel, so a course that uses it emits less than the table shows.

Where a total is over the yearly plan's cap there is no list price, so the last column links to our contact form. Under it, the hourly figure is the monthly plan's base rate times the trainer's kg an hour, before volume rates.

The trainers are examples from our aircraft data, not a list of what any school flies.

How to offset it

In 2 of the 4 trainers below, 200 hours is over the 15,000 kg of CO₂ a year that the yearly plan covers, so we quote the total by hand there. In the others, the yearly plan costs $303.45 to $339.15.

To offset as you fly, the monthly plan starts at $0.036 per kg before volume rates. That is from $3.17 for each hour in a Cessna 172.

• Who it's forOffset as an individual pilotHow a pilot offsets their own flying.
• PricingPlans and ratesThe per-kg rates of the monthly and yearly plans.
• Who it's forFor flight schools and clubsHow a school or club offsets the hours its aircraft fly.
• ContactContact us about a fleet or schoolAsk for a quote on a fleet, a school or a total over the cap.

How to cut it

Over 200 hours, the Cessna 150/152 emits 10,200 kg of CO₂ and the Cessna 172 Skyhawk emits 17,600 kg, a gap of 7,400 kg. The trainer you pick and the hours you need are the two parts you control.

• GuideWhat learning to fly costs the climate: 3 to 6 tonnes of CO₂, and how to halve itIn the US, a private pilot license typically takes 50 to 70 hours (AOPA; the FAA says about 75), or about 3 to 6 tonnes of CO₂ in a common trainer. Here is the math by trainer, how to cut it by about half, and where electric training stands.
• GuideHow to cut your aircraft's fuel burn and CO₂Every US gallon of avgas you don't burn is 8.31 kg of CO₂ you don't emit. Leaning, power settings, altitude, ground time and maintenance, plus what unleaded fuel and electric trainers will and won't change.

Related licenses

• LicensePrivate Pilot LicenceMinimum 45 hours, about 3,960 kg of CO₂ in a Cessna 172.
• LicenseFAA commercial pilot licenseMinimum 250 hours, about 22,000 kg of CO₂ in a Cessna 172.
• LicenseEASA Commercial Pilot LicenceMinimum 200 hours, about 17,600 kg of CO₂ in a Cessna 172.

This summarizes the rule as of October 9, 2026; the regulation is the reference.