Canadian ATPL Flight Time Requirements: Co-Pilot and PIC U/S

Executive Summary

This report is written for Canadian first officers and charter pilots preparing a personal ATPL-Aeroplane (Airline Transport Pilot Licence, Aeroplane) experience summary. Its central claim is that a logbook should carry three separate things for every flight: the source duration actually flown, the recorded role, and a credit computed per requirement. Under Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA, referred to below as TC) Standard 421.34, the licence calls for 1,500 hours of total flight time, at least 900 hours of them in aeroplanes ^[1]. TC's own guidance says that 100% of co-pilot flight time may now be used toward the total flight time required for a higher class of licence ^[2], after an amendment repealed CAR 401.10 so that co-pilot time could be credited in full ^[3].

Credit then changes with the paragraph being tested. Pilot-in-command under supervision (PIC U/S) time is credited at "not more than 50%" toward pilot-in-command (PIC) experience ^[1]. The additional cross-country paragraph is met with 100 hours as PIC or 200 hours as co-pilot, or any combination thereof, and night time may be accumulated as PIC or co-pilot. Instrument ground time is excluded from the 1,500-hour total entirely ^[1]. In a worked example (Hypothetical Example), 200 aircraft co-pilot hours containing 120 qualifying PIC U/S hours produce 60 hours of PIC credit, leave the aircraft total at 200 hours, and keep a separate 20-hour ground-instrument record outside the aircraft total.

One source conflict needs a visible flag. TC's co-pilot guidance page, last modified 2019-12-11, still describes PIC U/S credit as applying if completed within 12 months of the application date ^[2]. The current Standard 421 page, modified 2026-08-20 ^[1], shows no such sentence in 421.11. TC's Notice of Standard Amendment 2025-008, issued November 10, 2025 ^[4], says an amendment repeals 421.11(5)(b) to codify an earlier exemption ^[4]. That is separate from the 12-month skill-test window in 421.34(5). TC's application page offers its "Changes to CAR 421.34" communication document only on request, and it was not available for this report. That is an evidence gap, not a reason to rely on forum answers.

In practice, this means keeping flight durations in whole minutes, building a PIC U/S register around the elements 421.11(6) names, and treating incomplete eligibility evidence as unresolved before any credit is applied. Terms that look alike in other jurisdictions, such as European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) PICUS (Source: www.easa.europa.eu) and United States second-in-command time ^[5], are different legal concepts and must not share a Canadian column. The worksheet does not decide licence eligibility; TC does.

Introduction and Background

Every Canadian pilot who files for an ATPL-Aeroplane ends up with a spreadsheet, a logbook export or a printed page showing one number in a "co-pilot" column, another in a "PIC" column and, if the logbook offers it, a third for supervised time. This report asks a narrower question than "what are the ATPL requirements": when a total on that page is displayed, is it time actually flown or credit toward one specific requirement, and which rows are still unresolved?

The question matters because Canadian rules do not apply one conversion to a co-pilot hour. Before 2014, section 401.10 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) allowed only part of co-pilot time to count toward a higher licence; the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement for SOR/2014-15 describes the earlier position as one where the holder "cannot be credited more than 50% of co-pilot flight time" ^[3]. The amendment, registered ^[3], repealed 401.10 to allow 100% crediting ^[3], aligning Canada with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), whose standards "allow the crediting in full of co-pilot flight time" ^[3]. It was proposed in the Canada Gazette, Part I, as alignment of the crediting of flight time acquired by a co-pilot ^[6]. Today 401.10 appears as reserved ^[7]. Yet a 50% figure survives, narrowly, inside the PIC U/S provision of Standard 421.11.

A pilot using older material, or a logbook that applies one halving factor to a whole "co-pilot" column, can therefore reach a wrong total in either direction. This report proposes a requirement-by-source ledger: a worksheet that keeps each row's unmodified flight duration and recorded role, and derives clearly labelled totals for each requirement. It is a reference design for the personal record, not a calculator that decides licence eligibility.

The jurisdiction is Canada, and each legal statement names its instrument: the CARs, Standard 421, TC guidance pages or TC notices. Where a statement is this report's reading rather than TC's wording, it says so, and suggested worksheet fields are labelled as proposed, never as statutory logbook fields. Cross-country route classification is outside this report, which consumes a verified cross-country subtotal. It does not replace an operator's approved procedures or a decision by TC. Sources were read on 2 November 2026.

Scope, Sources and the Receiving Form

What is being totalled

The licence in scope is the Canadian ATPL-Aeroplane. Standard 421.34(4) sets 1,500 hours total flight time with 900 in aeroplanes, and within it 250 hours of PIC time in aeroplanes, which may include a maximum of 100 hours of PIC U/S flight time completed in accordance with 421.11 ^[1].

The receiving form and the documents behind it

TC's application page, last modified 2026-04-17, tells applicants to email the application including the form, documents and proof of payment to a TC centre, and states that an e-logbook or a scanned copy of a paper logbook can be emailed ^[8]. That supports a digital submission route. It does not say that a particular software layout is accepted, certified or pre-approved, and a layout resembling a TC paper page remains the applicant's own presentation of the underlying record.

The same page carries a notice that "Transport Canada has amended Standard 421.34" ^[8] and offers a "Request a copy of this document" link for the communication document on the changes ^[8]. Its text was not available. Every number in the ledger therefore carries two labels: the source edition (here Standard 421 as modified 2026-08-20) and the receiving form version as downloaded on the filing day.

Which edition governs which sentence

The current Standard 421 page marks several 421.34 paragraphs with effective-date labels tied to Notice of Standard Amendment (NSA) 2025-008, issued November 10, 2025 ^[4]. The notice explains that sections 421.34(6) and 421.34(9) were introduced to address an outstanding ICAO concern ^[4]; they concern the skill test and licence annotation rather than hours, but they share a section with the hour requirements, which is why the ledger carries an edition column at paragraph level. A third-party training page states that TC processed applications under the previous rules until March 31, 2026 ^[9]; this report could not confirm that from TC text, so a pilot filing near that boundary should ask TC which version applied.

Source Duration, Recorded Role and Credit

What the Canadian personal log holds

CAR 401.08 requires every applicant for and holder of a flight crew permit, licence or rating to maintain a personal log ^[10], which documents experience acquired toward issuance of the permit, licence or rating ^[10]. Each flight entry must show the flight crew position in which the holder acted ^[10], the flight conditions with respect to day, night, VFR and IFR ^[10], and for aeroplanes all intermediate takeoffs and landings ^[10]; entries may be made only by the holder or a person the holder authorizes ^[10]. The page carries a date modified of 2026-10-15 ^[10].

Two design rules follow. The role is a recorded fact and is never edited to fit a requirement; credit is computed later from it. And flight time has a regulatory meaning: CAR 101.01 defines it as the time from the moment an aircraft first moves under its own power ^[11] until the moment it comes to rest at the end of the flight ^[11]. This report reads that as describing aircraft time, which fits the Standard's explicit sentence that "Instrument ground time shall not be applied toward the total 1500 hour flight time requirement". The explicit sentence, not the reading, controls.

When co-pilot time counts, and when PIC U/S may be logged

TC's guidance states that a type-qualified first officer can credit co-pilot time toward an ATPL if the aircraft was required to be operated with a co-pilot, which an approved certificate can establish ^[2], or if the type certificate sets a minimum flight crew of two. The same page places the onus on the ATPL applicant and suggests a letter from the operations manager or chief pilot to clarify individual situations. The ledger therefore needs an aircraft-requirement field on every co-pilot row (certificate or type-certificate basis, with an evidence reference). That is a proposed review field.

PIC U/S rows carry a heavier dependency. CAR 401.11 provides that no person shall record in a personal log the flight time acquired by a co-pilot while acting as PIC under supervision unless conditions are met ^[12], including recording in accordance with the licensing standards ^[12]; the Minister shall approve a qualifying training program once the standards' requirements are met ^[12]. Standard 421.11 lets air operators of large aeroplanes institute programs of supervision, while small aeroplane and helicopter operators need Ministerial authorization. A PIC U/S row without that evidence still exists as co-pilot time; it simply earns no PIC U/S credit.

Why one hour is treated differently in each paragraph

The credit rate belongs to the requirement paragraph, not to the hour. Table 1 lists the paragraphs of Standard 421.34(4) that matter to a co-pilot's totals, with the rows each draws on and the treatment it applies. Edition: Standard 421 modified 2026-08-20; receiving form version recorded at filing.

Table 1 shows the same 200 co-pilot hours counted at 100% in the total row, at 50% (supervised subset only) in the PIC row, at two co-pilot hours per PIC hour in the additional cross-country row, and 1:1 in the night row. These are four different questions asked of the same rows, so a total labelled only "co-pilot" or "credited" answers none of them. Standard 421.34(4)(c) itself allows mixing roles: it reads "100 additional hours cross-country flight time as pilot-in-command or 200 hours as co-pilot or any combination thereof." It does not state how a PIC and co-pilot combination is scaled. A third-party training page words the same paragraph as "any proportional combination thereof" ^[9], and gives night as PIC or co-pilot with at least 30 hours in aeroplanes ^[9]. The proportional scaling used below is a reading to confirm with TC, not TC wording.

The PIC U/S Register and the Credit Bridge

What Standard 421.11 asks the applicant to supply

Standard 421.11 gives the ATPL-Aeroplane applicant credit for up to 100 hours of PIC U/S flight time, subject to conditions ^[1], among them at least 150 hours of PIC time in aeroplanes. A supervision program must include at least one takeoff and one landing for each ten hours of flight time ^[1]. At filing, the applicant must submit a personal log or other reliable record that contains a summary of the PIC U/S time ^[1] and the number of takeoffs and landings, and must enter a notation on the application form showing the portion of PIC time acquired under supervision ^[1].

Those are the only record elements the paragraph names in the text read. Everything else in Table 2 is a proposed review field that lets a reviewer trace each credited minute to a flight; none is a statutory logbook field.

Table 2: PIC U/S supporting register (Hypothetical Example)

Table 2 shows a register for the invented pilot used throughout. Edition: Standard 421 modified 2026-08-20; receiving form: the current ATPL-Aeroplane application as downloaded on the filing date. Columns marked "(421.11)" are the elements the Standard names; the rest are proposed.

Batches A to D sum to 7,200 minutes (120:00), the separately substantiated qualifying PIC U/S source time of the example. Batch E (900 minutes, 15:00) is still co-pilot time but earns no PIC U/S credit until its program reference, qualifications and notation link are supplied. A single "PIC U/S" column in a logbook cannot carry this: the duration is a fact of the flight, while "qualifying" is a conclusion that depends on documents outside the flight row.

Table 3: Bridge from the aircraft-only total to requirement subtotals (Hypothetical Example)

Table 3 bridges the invented pilot's aircraft-only total to each requirement subtotal in whole minutes. Edition: Standard 421 modified 2026-08-20; receiving form version recorded at filing. The aircraft rows total 85,415 minutes; the 20-hour ground-instrument record (1,200 minutes) is held outside that figure. The example ends below the 1,500-hour total on purpose, so it cannot be read as a pass.

The bridge makes three distinctions visible. The 120 PIC U/S hours are a subset of the 200 co-pilot hours, and the 60 hours in L5 speak only to the PIC requirement: they do not create 60 extra aircraft hours in L1, and they do not turn the 200-hour bucket into 100 total hours. The 20 ground-instrument hours appear in L10 but never in L1. And L6 clears its line by 10 minutes, exactly the situation in which a rounding difference or an unresolved batch matters. If batch E were resolved, L7 would add 450 minutes; a qualifying batch that lost its program evidence would cut L5 by half its minutes. The example illustrates overlapping records and a credit bridge only; it does not prove that the 1,500-hour total, PIC, cross-country, night, instrument, skill or licence requirements are met.

Storing source minutes and credited minutes separately

Standard 421.34(4)(a) caps the PIC U/S contribution at a maximum of 100 hours, while 421.11 describes credit of up to 100 hours computed at not more than 50% of the supervised time. Read together, 100 credited hours corresponds to 200 hours of supervised source time, which matches TC's older guidance introducing PIC U/S as another way to credit co-pilot time. That is this report's reading. A third-party training page summarizes the paragraph as up to 100 hours of PIC U/S within the 250 PIC hours ^[9], which is silent on the source-versus-credited question. A worksheet should store source minutes and credited minutes in separate columns so a reviewer can apply TC's interpretation without rebuilding the data.

Keeping Canadian PIC U/S Apart from EASA PICUS and FAA SIC

Logbook software and training material often reuse similar column names for supervised or second-in-command time across jurisdictions. The legal content behind the names differs, and an applicant who mixes them can import another authority's conclusion into a Canadian total.

EASA PICUS

In Part-FCL, PICUS means a co-pilot performing, under the supervision of the pilot-in-command, the duties and functions of a pilot-in-command (Source: www.easa.europa.eu). A "co-pilot" is a separate status: a pilot operating other than as PIC on an aircraft for which more than one pilot is required (Source: www.easa.europa.eu). Part-FCL entitles a pilot to be credited with all of the co-pilot time toward the total flight time required for a higher grade of licence (Source: www.easa.europa.eu). Logbook guidance lists pilot function details "namely PIC, including solo, SPIC and PICUS time, co-pilot, dual" (Source: www.easa.europa.eu), tells the pilot to enter PICUS as PIC in the model logbook (Source: www.easa.europa.eu), requires PIC countersignature (Source: www.easa.europa.eu) and a method of supervision acceptable to the competent authority (Source: www.easa.europa.eu). For the EASA ATPL(A), 500 hours as PIC under supervision is one route to the PIC element (Source: www.easa.europa.eu), 500 hours in multi-pilot operations on aeroplanes is another requirement (Source: www.easa.europa.eu), and up to 100 of the 1,500 hours may be in an FFS and FNPT (flight simulation devices) (Source: www.easa.europa.eu). The pages read are dated 31 August 2023, so later amendments are unchecked. The UK Civil Aviation Authority's ATPL(A) page likewise lists 500 hours as PICUS ^[13].

The contrast is structural. EASA logs PICUS as PIC at the logbook level; the Canadian log records role and PIC U/S time, and the Standard credits "not more than 50%" of supervised time toward PIC experience.

FAA second in command

In the United States, 14 CFR 61.159 requires at least 1,500 hours of total time as a pilot for the airplane ATP ^[14]. SIC time may be logged only when specified conditions are met ^[5], and a separate 61.51 route covers a pilot performing PIC duties under a qualified PIC's supervision ^[5]. A third concept, the second-in-command professional development program, requires experience accomplished as part of a program approved by the Administrator ^[14]. The FAA also attaches a certificate limitation stating that the holder does not meet the pilot in command aeronautical experience requirements of ICAO in certain credited cases ^[14], a reminder that totals can differ by authority.

ICAO-derived wording

The ICAO Annex 1 text itself was not retrievable from an ICAO-hosted page. A Brazilian authority glossary quoting Annex 1 gives the ICAO-derived rule that PIC under supervision is credited in full toward the total flight time for a higher grade of licence (Source: www2.anac.gov.br); this is a secondary rendering to check against the current Annex. The practical point is that the Canadian 50% in 421.11 is a paragraph-level rule for PIC experience, applied alongside full credit in the total. A Canadian application is assessed under Canadian Standard 421 only.

Resolving Outdated Guidance and Missing Evidence

What the TC layers say about the PIC U/S timing sentence

The evidence comes in layers, and only the most recent states the current standard.

• Legacy guidance (modified 2019-12-11). TC's co-pilot criteria page ^[2] says 50% of up to 200 hours of co-pilot time can be credited as PIC experience "if approved and if completed within 12" months of the application date.
• Temporary exemption (2020). Exemption NCR-072-2020 extended the validity of PIC U/S experience on record from 12 months to 18 months as a temporary measure ^[15], for experience on record on a stated date ^[15], and ended on November 30, 2020 ^[15]. The paragraph it exempted applicants from read "within the 12 months preceding the date of application for the licence" ^[15].
• Notice of Standard Amendment 2025-008 (issued November 10, 2025). In its summary of changes since consultation, TC says an amendment was added to repeal 421.11(5)(b), the 12-month restriction on the validity period of PIC U/S time, which "will codify an exemption (NCR 124-2020)" ^[4], because "these flying hours will no longer expire" ^[4]. The notice is a TC Civil Aviation record issued on November 10, 2025 ^[4].
• Current Standard 421. The 421.11 text read on 2 November 2026 has no 12-month timing sentence in its PIC U/S credit paragraph, which matches the notice.

On this evidence the guidance page appears stale on the 12-month point, and the report goes no further than TC's words. It does not claim that PIC U/S time is unlimited in any other sense: program approval, qualifications, the 50% rule, the 100-hour credit cap and the record elements of 421.11(6) all still apply as the Standard states. Nor does it confuse the removed credit-timing sentence with the separate skill-test requirement in 421.34(5), under which the demonstration falls within the 12 months preceding the application.

What remains an evidence gap

• The communication document. TC's page announces the 421.34 changes and offers the document only by request. It could not be read and might clarify transitional treatment, so no age-of-experience conclusion beyond the Standard's text should be drawn.
• The guidance page. As read, it had not been revised after 2019-12-11. Ask TC which document controls before relying on Note 3 timing wording.
• Cross-country and night overlaps. Which subsets overlap depends on the cross-country definition. A separate regulatory amendment defines cross-country flight time as flight following standard navigation procedures ^[16] on a pre-planned route to a destination at least a stated distance away ^[16], and its analysis statement notes that the whole flight plan need not be completed to log cross-country time ^[16]. Route classification is outside this report; the ledger accepts a verified subtotal and records its source.
• Recency is not experience. CAR 401.05 contains a recency route in which the holder has acted as PIC or co-pilot within the five years preceding the flight ^[17]. It governs exercising privileges, not ATPL experience credit. A query for "CARs 401.05 ATPL flight time" is best answered by Standard 421.34 for experience, CAR 401.08 for the log and CAR 401.11 for logging PIC U/S.

Recording the Ledger in Paper and Electronic Logbooks

The paper method

A paper logbook can hold the ledger if each duration is written once in hours and minutes, the role stays as flown, and no credited figure is written in a flight row; credit belongs on a separate worksheet referencing rows by page and line. The weakness is arithmetic, because decimal page totals invite drift. For example (Hypothetical Example), three flights of 1:20 total 4:00 (240 minutes), but three decimal entries of 1.3 sum to 3.9.

Established electronic logbooks, from their own pages

• MyFlightbook. Its import reference lists an optional "Supervised PIC Time (PICUS)" property defined as time spent in a PIC role but under supervision ^[18], a property for the name of the under-supervision PIC ^[18], and a co-pilot property for time that is not SIC time ^[18]. An "SIC Time (Other)" property covers duties excluded from overall SIC totals ^[18], and flags exist for Canadian operations such as Part 705 ^[18]. The page is an import specification and does not describe Canadian regulatory credit.
• Safelog. The vendor's Canadian page says presentation will closely mimic that of standard Transport Canada logbooks ^[19], and a help page describes tools for maintaining currency with the CARs ^[20]. Another notes that most formats centre on P1/PIC or P2/SIC/Copilot ^[21], and support says it cannot make anything that sounds like a legal, career or regulatory recommendation ^[22].
• LogTen. A support article says Australian "I.C.U.S" is populated from LogTen's P1u/s time field ^[23] and that LogTen uses standard terms which apply globally ^[23]. It does not mention Canada, so no Transport Canada column mapping can be inferred.
• FlightLogger. Its instructions define a CO-PILOT field as time on duty as a co-pilot in a pilot seat during operations ^[24], in an EASA-style context.
• ForeFlight. Its page describes an 8710 report formatted like the FAA application ^[25] and export of the entire logbook ^[25]; it names no Canadian report or PIC U/S field.

Two commercial pages sometimes cited around this topic should be read for what they are: AcuLog describes a service that catches errors and inconsistencies before a checkride or interview ^[26], and a flight academy page lists MyFlightbook among logging tools (Source: skyeagle.aero). Neither validates a Canadian credit formula. No vendor page read for this report claims to compute Canadian ATPL eligibility: a field called "PICUS" is a storage location, and Canadian credit is a calculation on top of it.

Pilot Logbook

Pilot Logbook (pilots.landing.aero) is an invitation-only electronic logbook made by a line pilot; a pilot who wants to try it can request an invite at pilots.landing.aero (the publisher's own product). Its own page describes printing in 99 layouts of the paper logbooks of 14 authorities, including Transport Canada, as PDF or Word, with page totals and totals to date that, in the vendor's words, add up to the minute; user-defined summaries of chosen values and periods; selectable headings and columns; and export of the whole logbook. Those are vendor claims, not an authority approval, and this report did not test them. The page does not say it has a dedicated PIC U/S field, applies the 50% rule or evaluates ATPL eligibility, and nothing here assumes it does.

A factual use of the worksheet is to take a sample summary or export from Pilot Logbook, or from any tool above, and ask four questions. Does each displayed total show source minutes? Can the role be read for every row? Is any "credited" total labelled with its requirement? Can PIC U/S rows be separated from other co-pilot rows? If any answer is no, build the ledger columns in a spreadsheet beside the export. A printout that resembles a TC layout is not evidence of TC acceptance.

Data Analysis and Evidence

The parameters the ledger uses

Standard 421, modified 2026-08-20, supplies these figures, each tied to its paragraph:

• 1,500 hours total, 900 in aeroplanes; 250 hours PIC in aeroplanes with a maximum of 100 hours PIC U/S.
• 100 hours cross-country as PIC or PIC U/S, 25 at night.
• 100 hours night (30 in aeroplanes); 100 additional cross-country hours as PIC or 200 as co-pilot; 75 hours instrument (maximum 25 on ground trainers).
• 50% maximum credit of PIC U/S toward PIC experience, to 100 hours; one takeoff and one landing per ten hours in a program.

Whole-minute arithmetic and display rounding (Hypothetical Example)

The ledger's internal unit is the whole minute. In the example, 200 co-pilot hours is 12,000 minutes, 120 PIC U/S hours is 7,200 minutes, and 50% of that subset is 3,600 minutes (60:00). The 1,200-minute ground record sits outside the 85,415-minute aircraft total. Displays are derived, never stored: h:mm is exact, and decimal hours are rounded only at the last step from total minutes, so 15,010 minutes is 250:10, or 250.17 hours at two decimals, or 250.2 at one. Rounded row values are never re-added.

What the arithmetic does and does not prove

The example is invented and shows no requirement as met. The credit in Table 3 depends on conditions only TC can accept: program approval, qualifications, notation, and the reading of the "combination" wording in 421.34(4)(c). Quantity is not eligibility.

Implications and Future Directions

For a pilot, the implication is to separate three layers in any personal record: facts of the flight, evidence of eligibility, and credit by requirement. A displayed total should name its layer. The first layer, duration and role, is what CAR 401.08 describes ^[10]. The second, program, qualifications and notation, is what 421.11 and CAR 401.11 attach to PIC U/S ^[12]. The third is derived and can be re-run when TC's interpretation changes.

The open question is the controlling text. The Standard changed with a notice issued in November 2025, TC announced further 421.34 changes on an application page last modified in April 2026, and the older guidance has not moved since December 2019. A ledger tied to a stated edition makes such changes manageable: when the communication document becomes available, the pilot updates the rules table, not the flight rows.

For tool makers, the lesson is narrow. Separate fields for source duration, role and credit are inexpensive and match how the Standard is written; computing eligibility is not required, and vendors that disclaim regulatory recommendations ^[22] are consistent with TC, not software, deciding eligibility. This worksheet is a preparation aid and not a substitute for TC review; a pilot with an unusual operation or program should ask TC directly and keep the reply with the record.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the Canadian ATPL flight time requirements in Standard 421.34?

For the ATPL-Aeroplane: 1,500 hours total flight time with at least 900 in aeroplanes, 250 hours of PIC in aeroplanes, and cross-country, night and instrument components (see Table 1), plus a skill test within the 12 months preceding the application. The edition read was modified 2026-08-20.

Is the Canadian ATPL 1,500 hours, and does co-pilot time count in full?

The total is 1,500 hours. TC states that 100% of co-pilot flight time may now be used toward the total flight time for a higher class of licence, provided the aircraft was required to be operated with a co-pilot or has a minimum crew of two. The 2014 regulatory analysis gave alignment with ICAO as the reason ^[3].

Why is co-pilot time credited differently in different requirements?

Because the rate belongs to the paragraph: full duration in the total, not more than 50% of supervised time in the PIC paragraph, 200 co-pilot hours per 100 PIC hours in additional cross-country, and PIC or co-pilot time in night.

How does PIC U/S time count toward the Canadian ATPL?

At up to 100 credited hours, computed at not more than 50% of supervised time, and only if logged under CAR 401.11 ^[12] in a Minister-approved program ^[12], with the record elements of 421.11(6). In the worked example (Hypothetical Example), 120 qualifying PIC U/S hours give 60 hours of PIC credit.

Is PIC U/S the same as EASA PICUS or FAA SIC time?

No. EASA defines PICUS as a co-pilot performing PIC duties under the PIC's supervision (Source: www.easa.europa.eu) and logs it as PIC (Source: www.easa.europa.eu). The FAA regulates SIC logging separately under 61.51 ^[5]. Canadian credit is computed per paragraph.

Does the 12-month limit on PIC U/S still apply?

TC's 2019 guidance still mentions it, but the current Standard 421.11 text read here does not contain it, and TC's amendment notice says it codifies an exemption that eliminates the restriction ^[4] because the hours "will no longer expire" ^[4]. The skill-test 12-month window in 421.34(5) is a different requirement. Confirm with TC before filing near a transition.

Can an electronic logbook go to Transport Canada, and how do I total hours for the ATPL?

TC states that an e-logbook or a scanned paper logbook may be emailed. Keep source minutes per row, sum aircraft rows only, exclude instrument ground time, and derive each requirement's subtotal separately as in Table 3.

Conclusion

A Canadian first officer's displayed totals can mean three different things: time flown, evidence that a requirement is eligible, or credit toward a named paragraph of Standard 421.34. Treating them as one number produces errors in both directions. Eligible co-pilot time counts in full toward the 1,500-hour total, following the 2014 repeal of CAR 401.10 ^[3]; PIC U/S counts at not more than 50% toward PIC experience; additional cross-country and night use their own role rules; and instrument ground time stays out of the aircraft total.

The reference asset described here is a requirement-by-source ledger: flight rows with whole-minute durations and as-flown roles, a PIC U/S register tied to the elements of 421.11(6), and a bridge labelling each derived total with its paragraph and edition. Its limits matter as much as its uses. The ledger does not decide licence eligibility, a printed layout is not a TC acceptance, and the outdated 12-month wording on TC's 2019 guidance page was resolved here only as far as TC's own notice and the current Standard allow, with the request-only communication document still unread and the notice's repeal of 421.11(5)(b) as the controlling statement found ^[4]. Before filing, a pilot should confirm the current Standard 421 edition, the receiving form version and any TC interpretation, and should mark every incomplete PIC U/S batch as unresolved rather than credited.