NAV Canada

The President and CEO, Raymond G. Bohn, manages daily operations for NAV Canada. Ultimate governance sits with a 15-member board split among four stakeholder groups — four directors elected by commercial airlines, one by general aviation operators, two by unionized employees, and three appointed by the Government of Canada. The remaining directors are the CEO and four independent members. This structure, codified in its 1996 enabling legislation, means no single constituency can dictate investment or pricing decisions without broader support.

No. NAV Canada is a private, non-share-capital corporation created by a 1996 act of Parliament to take over air navigation services from Transport Canada. It is not funded through taxpayer appropriations — all revenue comes from service charges on aircraft operators. The government does appoint three directors to the board, giving it minority representation rather than operational control.

NAV Canada is a founding co-investor in Aireon LLC, alongside Iridium Communications, ENAV (Italy), NAVIAIR (Denmark), and the Irish Aviation Authority. In November 2018, Aireon launched its space-based ADS-B surveillance system using the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation. The system provides continuous aircraft tracking across oceanic and polar airspace where ground-based radar is impossible, and NAV Canada uses it in real-time operations over the North Atlantic.

NAV Canada funds everything through customer-service charges — fees paid by airlines and general aviation operators for navigation, communication, and surveillance services. Major capital projects, such as technology modernization and facility construction, are financed through revenue bonds issued in Canadian debt markets. The organization has a defined-benefit pension plan for employees, managed as a separate trust with its own governance and investment strategy.

NAV Canada primarily manages Canadian sovereign airspace — roughly 12 million square kilometers of domestic and international airspace delegated to Canada. Its international commercial activity flows through Aireon LLC, the satellite surveillance joint venture, which sells space-based ADS-B data to air navigation providers worldwide. NAV Canada also participates actively in CANSO, the global trade body for air navigation service providers, and has won awards for its operational performance.