Welcome to the exciting world of recreational aviation. The Recreational Pilot Permit will open the door to recreational flying for approximately half of the cost of the Private Pilot Licence. The Recreational Pilot Permit will allow you to fly aircraft having up to four seats, but you will be limited to not more than one passenger. You will also be limited to flying by day, under Visual Flight Rules, although you may fly anywhere in Canada. With further training, you may add a float rating to the Recreational Pilot Permit. In addition, the Recreational Pilot Permit may be upgraded to the Private Pilot Licence at any time in the future, provided that you obtain the necessary upgrade training, and that you meet the medical, skill and knowledge standards for the Private licence.
In order to hold the Recreational Pilot Permit, you must be at least 16 years of age (you must be 14 years of age to hold a student pilot permit), and meet the medical standards for a Category 4, 3 or 1 Medical Certificate. The minimum total flying time required for the permit is 25 hours, of which not less than 15 must be dual instruction, and not less than 5 must be solo practice. There is no groundschool requirement for this permit but without taking a groundschool course, you may find the final written exam very challenging.
You must obtain a minimum of 90% on a pre-solo written exam (PSTAR), a minimum of 60% on the final written exam, and you must pass a flight test.
Although 25 hours of flight time is the required minimum, I recommend that you budget for an average completion time of 40 hours.