Canada · Pilot examsWhat’s on the Transport Canada private pilot written exam?
Standard 421.26, the licensing standard under the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs), sets four mandatory subject areas. TC’s study guide for the exam, TP 12880 (sixth edition, May 2025), lists the topics in each:
- Air Law: regulations, rules and orders, air traffic services, practices and procedures, and the licensing rules for the licence
- Navigation: navigation, radio aids and electronic theory
- Meteorology
- Aeronautics, General Knowledge: airframes, engines and systems, theory of flight, flight instruments and flight operations, with human factors in the same area
A question belongs to one area but may need knowledge from another. TP 12880’s own example is a fuel calculation under Navigation that needs the fuel rules for flight under visual flight rules (VFR) from Air Law.
What you need before you write the PPAER
Standard 421.13 sets the prerequisites for the private pilot written exam:
- A letter of recommendation from your flight training unit or the instructor responsible for your training, saying you’ve finished ground school and are ready. It must be dated within 60 days before the exam and can only be used once
- At least 5 hours of flight time in aeroplanes, or a valid ultra-light pilot permit
- Proof of medical fitness for the licence: a Category 1 or 3 medical certificate, or a temporary certificate or medical report that TC has assessed for that category
- Photo ID with your signature, and your logbook or pilot training record
AC 400‑004, TC’s 2018 advisory circular for invigilators, lists 10 hours of flight time. Standard 421.13 was amended to 5 hours on 10 October 2024, and the standard is what applies.
The ground school itself must be at least 40 hours, on the subjects Standard 421.26 lists. Candidates converting a foreign licence don’t need the letter, but they show a licence issued under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules.
Bring a pencil, a ruler or scale, a protractor and a flight computer. Electronic calculators are allowed if their memory is cleared before and after, and TC lists the electronic flight computers it accepts. Computers that can store text aren’t allowed. If you arrive without the documents TC asks for, you can’t write the exam and you don’t get a refund.
Booking the exam and what it costs
Ask an AEI first. TC lists them on its booking page, at flight schools, colleges and flying clubs across the country. If no AEI can give you the exam, book a TC Centre with TC’s online tool: you need your pilot licence or file number (it begins with 5802), you pick the exam, place and date, and you attest that you meet the requirements.
These are the charges in Schedule IV of the CARs:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Licence exam, given by TC staff | $105 |
| Licence exam, given by an AEI | $65 |
| Supplementary exam | $35 |
Each fee covers writing or rewriting the exam once. An AEI collects it before you start and may charge its own service fee on top, which TC doesn’t set. The CARs’ yearly inflation rule (section 104.06.1) covers only the drone pilot certificate charges and the flight reviewer exam in Schedule IV in Schedule IV, not these, but TC’s booking page says its fees may change with inflation on April 1, so the amount you’re charged when you book, in TC’s tool or by your AEI, is the one you pay.
The refund rule for cancelling or rescheduling is on the guide, and it’s the same for this exam.
Results, partial passes and rewrites
You get your results the same day, with feedback on the questions you got wrong. Your exam history, marks and attempts also show in TC’s General Aviation On-Line (GALRO) portal. There are three outcomes:
| Supplementary exam | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Air Law (PALAW) | 20 | 1 hour |
| Navigation (PANAV) | 20 | 2 hours |
| Meteorology (PAMET) | 30 | 1½ hours |
| General Knowledge (PAGEN) | 30 | 1½ hours |
- Pass: 60% overall and 60% in each mandatory area
- Partial pass: 60% overall, but under 60% in one area or more. You write a supplementary exam for each failed area, all in one sitting
- Fail: under 60% overall. You rewrite the whole exam
Each supplementary needs 60%. If you write more than one, your time is the sum of theirs, up to 3 hours. To book, pick the private pilot aeroplane exam whose name ends in “Partial” in TC’s booking tool, then the section.
CARs 400.04 sets a wait before any rewrite: 14 days after a first failure, 30 days after a second, and 30 more days for each failure after that, up to 180 days. TC shortens the wait if you ask and confirm you’ve reviewed your weak areas. Copying, sharing or getting help with an exam is a fail, and you can’t write any exam for a year.
The training and flight test that go with it
The written exam is one part of the private pilot licence. Standard 421.26 also asks for these, and you must be at least 17 to apply for the licence:
- At least 45 hours of flight training in aeroplanes with a flight instructor, up to 5 of them in an approved simulator or flight training device
- Within those, at least 17 hours of dual instruction, including 3 hours cross-country and 5 hours of instrument time, up to 3 of them on the ground
- At least 12 hours solo, including 5 hours cross-country with a flight of at least 150 nautical miles and 2 full-stop landings away from where you started
- A flight test passed within the 12 months before you apply
Written exams, rewrites and supplementaries must all be done within the 24 months before you apply for the licence (CARs 400.03). The Student Pilot Permit or Private Pilot Licence for Foreign and Military Applicants, Aviation Regulations exam (PSTAR), written for your student pilot permit, is the exception.
To find a school, TC’s Flight Training Units Search lets you pick a province or region, the type of training and the aircraft category.
The commercial pilot exam and other TC written exams
Each licence or rating has its own written exam, and its own pass mark in Standard 421. The commercial pilot exam for aeroplanes, CPAER, has 100 questions in 3½ hours, with the same four mandatory areas as the PPAER (TP 12881, seventh edition, August 2026). TC’s list of sample exams has none for the commercial aeroplane exam, so TP 12881’s topic list is TC’s study material for it, and the study options page lists a commercial answer guide.
| Exam | For | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|
| RPPAE | Recreational pilot permit, aeroplane | 60%, each area too |
| PPHEL | Private pilot licence, helicopter | 60%, each area too |
| CPAER | Commercial pilot licence, aeroplane | 60%, each area too |
| INRAT | Instrument rating | 70% |
| SAMRA and SARON | Airline transport pilot licence, aeroplane | 70% on each |
| FAAPA | Converting a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) private pilot certificate | 60% |
The FAAPA has 20 air law questions in 1 hour. Helicopter pilots adding aeroplanes write the shorter PARAC instead of the PPAER: 35 questions in 1½ hours. TC lists the study and reference guides for the other licences and ratings on the same page as TP 12880.
Sources: Transport Canada · Justice Laws Website and 6 more. Checked November 2026.
- Transport Canada: TP 12880, Study and Reference Guide for Written Examinations for the Private Pilot Licence Aeroplane, sixth edition (May 2025) ↗
- Transport Canada: TP 12881, study guide for the Commercial Pilot Licence Aeroplane written exams, seventh edition (August 2026) ↗
- Transport Canada: How to book a flight crew exam ↗
- Transport Canada: Standard 421, Flight Crew Permits, Licences and Ratings (421.13, 421.26 and the other licence sections) ↗
- Justice Laws Website: Canadian Aviation Regulations, SOR/96-433 (400.02 to 400.04 and Schedule IV to Subpart 4), consolidated to 2026-09-30 ↗
- Transport Canada: Advisory Circular AC 400-004, industry invigilation of computer delivered examinations ↗
- Transport Canada: Accepted electronic computers for flight crew examinations ↗
- Transport Canada: Medical certificate categories ↗
Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.