CAR 571.11 Type-Training Requirements for Canadian AMEs

Having an appropriate AME rating does not by itself establish authority to sign every maintenance release. For transport category aeroplanes and turbine-powered helicopters specifically, CAR 571.11(4) adds a separate, additional condition — approved type training or a qualifying pre-1999 type rating — on top of the rating requirement in CAR 571.11(1). For aircraft operated commercially, CAR 571.11(3) adds yet another, independent condition: AMO-granted signing authority (see our Who Can Sign a Maintenance Release guide). These conditions are cumulative, not alternatives — an AME can hold the correct rating and the correct type training and still lack the AMO/ACA authorization needed to sign for a specific aircraft.

CAR 571.11(4) applies narrowly: it governs signing a maintenance release "in respect of maintenance performed on a transport category aeroplane or a turbine-powered helicopter" — no other aircraft category. For any other aircraft, CAR 571.11(4)'s type-training condition does not apply; only the baseline rating requirement in CAR 571.11(1) and, where applicable, the AMO/ACA requirement in CAR 571.11(3) apply.

The first route requires the person to have "successfully completed a course of maintenance training that has been approved by the Minister and that is applicable to the type of aircraft, engine or system on which the maintenance is performed, in accordance with Appendix M of Standard 571 — Maintenance." The training has to match the specific type of aircraft, engine, or system actually being worked on — a type course for one aircraft type does not, by itself, establish this condition for a different type.

The second route is historical: a person who "held a type rating applicable to the type of aircraft, engine or system on which the maintenance is performed, issued by the Minister before August 1, 1999" satisfies CAR 571.11(4) without the approved course. This route is only available to someone who already held such a type rating before that date.

CAR 571.11(5) lets the holder of an applicable AME licence sign a maintenance release for a transport category aeroplane or turbine-powered helicopter without either the type course or the pre-1999 type rating — but only where the maintenance "consists of any of the types of work set out in Schedule III." Schedule III is a fixed, itemized list of 23 specific tasks, not a general low-complexity exemption. Its items include, among others: replacement of tires, wheels, brakes, skis, landing skids and skid shoes (item 2); cleaning, testing and replacement of spark-plugs and igniters (item 7); replacement of voice communication line replaceable units designed for rapid replacement (item 15); replacement of instruments and indicators that do not require calibration or adjustment after installation (item 16); and aircraft structural repairs that do not affect aircraft systems (item 23).

A task not on this specific list does not qualify for the CAR 571.11(5) exception — that alone does not mean the release cannot be signed, only that CAR 571.11(4)'s type-course or pre-1999 type-rating condition still has to be met the ordinary way. Whether a given task is actually on the list has to be checked against the exact wording of the applicable item, not assumed from a general description of the work.

The rating scope defined by Standard 566.03(8)(a) — which aircraft an M1, M2, E, S, or Balloons rating covers — answers a different question than CAR 571.11(4)'s type-training condition. Standard 566.03(8)(a)(ii) states M2 covers "all aircraft not included in M1 (excluding balloons)," which includes transport category aeroplanes and turbine-powered helicopters. Holding the M2 rating establishes that the aircraft is within the licence's rating scope; it says nothing about whether CAR 571.11(4)'s type-training condition has also been met for that specific aircraft type. Both conditions have to be satisfied independently.

CAR 571.11(3) and CAR 571.11(4) are separate conditions with separate exceptions — CAR 571.11(3) excepts only what CAR 571.11(7) provides for, while CAR 571.11(4) excepts both CAR 571.11(5) and CAR 571.11(7). Meeting one does not satisfy the other. For aircraft operated under Part IV or VII, CAR 571.11(3) requires AMO-granted signing authority — a status Standard 573.05 identifies as an Aircraft Certification Authority (ACA) — as a separate condition from whatever rating and type-training requirements apply under CAR 571.11(1)/(4).

Standard 573.05(2) authorizes an AMO's other signing status, the Shop Certification Authority (SCA), for "a person, that is not the holder of an AME licence" — the contrast implies an ACA presupposes the holder already has the applicable AME licence; the AMO authorization adds to that, rather than replacing it. Neither type training nor an AME licence, on its own, establishes ACA status, and ACA status does not, on its own, establish the applicable AME rating or type training. See our Who Can Sign a Maintenance Release guide for the fuller AMO/ACA mechanics.

CAR 571.11(4)'s type-training condition applies the same way regardless of where the maintenance is performed — it is triggered by the aircraft type, not by geography. CAR 571.11(3)'s AMO-authority requirement, by contrast, has an explicit domestic/foreign split: for maintenance performed outside Canada, CAR 571.11(3)(b) allows authorization "in accordance with a foreign document equivalent to an MPM," established by an organization approved under an applicable international agreement, in place of a domestic MPM authorization under CAR 571.11(3)(a).

None of CAR 571.11(4)'s conditions can be determined from the rating alone. Whether it applies at all depends on the aircraft category (transport category aeroplane or turbine-powered helicopter); whether it's satisfied depends on the specific type of aircraft, engine, or system the training or pre-1999 rating actually covers; whether the CAR 571.11(5) exception applies depends on whether the exact task matches one of Schedule III's specific items; and whether a maintenance release can be signed at all also depends on CAR 571.11(3)'s separate AMO/ACA condition, which turns on how the aircraft is operated. The same person can be authorized to sign one task and not another on the identical aircraft.