Converting Transport Canada Pilot Licenses to USA/FAA or vice versa
Converting a Canadian pilot certificate or rating to the equivalent FAA certificate or rating? GroundSchool can help you prepare for the required FAA knowledge test.
The following information is for pilots who hold a Transport Canada pilot certificate and/or rating and are working toward the corresponding United States FAA certificate and/or rating.
FAA PILOT CONVERTING TO TRANSPORT CANADA?
We do not provide test-prep material for pilots converting an FAA certificate to a Transport Canada certificate.
Transport Canada prefers applicants preparing for its conversion examinations to use the study materials it recommends. If you are converting from FAA to Transport Canada, please contact Transport Canada for guidance on the appropriate study material.
We do, however, provide comprehensive test preparation for Transport Canada pilots converting to FAA certificates and ratings. That is what the information below covers.
LOOKING FOR LICENSING, CAREER, OR LEGAL GUIDANCE?
Dauntless makes FAA test-prep software and related learning material. We are not a flight school, licensing consultancy, or legal advisory service.
If you need to know exactly which certificate, rating, test, application procedure, or licensing pathway applies to your individual circumstances, please obtain that guidance directly from the FAA.
Requirements can change, and individual circumstances can matter. We therefore do not want to give you licensing advice that could later prove incomplete or out of date.
For questions involving conversion from Transport Canada to FAA certificates or ratings, we suggest contacting the FAA International Field Office in New York. Its specialists can provide authoritative guidance on which requirements apply to you.
If the FAA tells you that you need to take a knowledge test, that is where GroundSchool comes in.
YES, GroundSchool provides test preparation for the principal Transport Canada to FAA pilot conversion knowledge tests.
Depending on the certificate or rating involved, this includes preparation for:
Transport Canada PPL to FAA Private Pilot Certificate, airplane and helicopter
Transport Canada Instrument Rating to FAA Instrument Rating, airplane and helicopter
Transport Canada CPL to FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate, airplane and helicopter
Transport Canada ATPL to FAA ATP Certificate, airplane and helicopter
Professional airplane pilots using our ATP preparation will see several Canadian conversion tests available. In many cases, an airline or professional multiengine airplane pilot will be looking for the applicable ATP Multiengine Airplane Canadian Conversion test.
Broadly speaking, holders of a Canadian certificate or rating who wish to obtain the corresponding FAA certificate or rating will normally need to:
Take and pass the applicable FAA Canadian conversion knowledge test, where one is required.
Complete the necessary FAA application, documentation, and certification procedures.
GroundSchool helps you with the knowledge-test preparation. We do not handle the paperwork or determine which licensing pathway applies to your individual situation.
If you are uncertain which conversion test you need, please ask the FAA directly. The FAA International Field Office in New York is a good place to start. We strongly recommend obtaining the answer from the authority responsible for issuing the certificate rather than relying on a private company to interpret your individual licensing situation.
So, once you know which test you need, how do you prepare for it?
Our GroundSchool FAA software and apps for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android provide the test-prep material you need for the supported Canadian conversion knowledge tests.
For example, suppose you hold a Canadian Commercial Pilot Licence and need to prepare for the corresponding FAA Commercial Pilot conversion knowledge test:
Choose the platform you want to use, such as PC, Mac, iOS, or Android, and obtain the appropriate GroundSchool product.
Within GroundSchool FAA Commercial Pilot, select the appropriate test, such as Commercial Pilot Airplane Canadian Conversion or Commercial Pilot Helicopter Canadian Conversion.
Study the questions carefully and, just as importantly, study the explanations. The FAA may vary wording, values, or presentation on the actual test, so understanding the material is much more effective than simply memorizing answers.
Once you are consistently performing well on simulated tests, schedule and take the actual FAA knowledge test at an authorized testing center. Be sure to confirm current eligibility, identification, authorization, and testing requirements directly with the FAA or testing provider before attending.
"But I heard the actual conversion test has only a few dozen questions."
That's true, but it does not mean there are only a few dozen questions you need to study.
On test day, the FAA will present you with a limited number of questions. The exact number depends on the particular conversion test. Those questions, however, are selected from a considerably larger body of material.
GroundSchool takes care of the filtering for you. When you select the appropriate Canadian Conversion test, our software presents the question bank our editors have determined applies to that conversion exam.
You study what applies to your test, rather than the entire question bank for a standard FAA certificate.
The Canadian conversion pools are generally much smaller than the full FAA question banks, but they can still contain several hundred questions. That is why proper preparation normally takes more than a quick session of memorizing a few dozen answers.
Expect to study over several sessions. Use GroundSchool conscientiously, read the explanations, identify your weak areas, and take advantage of the unlimited simulated tests available in the app.
As a practical guideline, once you are consistently achieving strong scores on full simulated tests, you should be in a much better position for the real examination. We recommend aiming comfortably above the FAA passing standard rather than studying merely to scrape through.
"I heard the Canadian conversion test is only about Air Law."
Be careful with that description.
"Air Law" is terminology commonly used in Canadian aviation training. The FAA more commonly refers to regulations, operating rules, procedures, and related knowledge areas. The subject matter does not map perfectly from one terminology system to the other.
As a result, thinking of the FAA conversion test as simply an "Air Law test" can give you an unnecessarily narrow impression of what you should study.
Conversion tests can cover material beyond what a Canadian pilot might ordinarily place under the heading of Air Law. The precise mix can also change as the FAA revises question pools, areas of emphasis, and test content.
GroundSchool's Canadian Conversion test banks are maintained specifically to reflect the material applicable to those tests. We take a reasonably conservative approach: enough breadth to help ensure that you are properly prepared, but without making you study the entire question bank intended for a standard FAA applicant.
We also greatly appreciate useful feedback from pilots after they take the real test. Remember, however, that not receiving a question on a particular subject during one examination does not necessarily mean that another applicant will not receive one.
Quick Links to Get Started
Canadian PPL to FAA Private Pilot Certificate
Get GroundSchool FAA Private and Recreational Pilot and select the appropriate Private Pilot Canadian Conversion test for Airplane or Helicopter.
One final point: FAA conversion question pools change over time.
Our editorial team works continuously to keep GroundSchool's Canadian Conversion material current and representative. No legitimate test-prep provider can promise that every question appearing on every future FAA examination will already be present in its preparation material.
In practice, many GroundSchool users report seeing questions that are highly familiar from their preparation. From time to time, however, the FAA introduces new questions or variations. This is another reason why we strongly encourage you to study our detailed explanations and understand the material rather than relying solely on memorization.
We also welcome feedback after your test. If you encounter genuinely new or significantly different material, specific information about what you saw can be extremely valuable to our editorial team as we continue updating and improving GroundSchool for future test takers.
