ACAN - Pilot Mountain Training

Solicitation No. T8493-25-0045

Advance Contract Award Notice

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

1. BACKGROUND:

Transport Canada (TC) Aircraft Services Directorate (ASD) is a Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) regulated, pan-national, air operator that is similar to a small airline or air charter service that provides aviation operations and maintenance services to multiple federal government departments including the Canadian Coast Guard as well as other federal departments and agencies

2. DEFINITION OF REQUIREMENTS:

TC ASD has an essential requirement to obtain training and certification for ASD/CCG for an estimate of (4) pilots from contract award until March 31, 2026, and an estimate of (4) pilots annually, that fly Government of Canada (GOC) owned Bell turbine powered helicopters in mountainous terrain.

3. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES (MINIMUM ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

MINIMUM ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

#1 The Bidder must provide instructor pilot(s) to deliver operating helicopters in mountain terrain training that have experience in all of the following:
• Mountain flying pilot training delivery
• High density altitude operations
• Meteorology and wind interpretation in mountainous terrain
• Navigation and route planning.
• Takeoff and landing in challenging terrain such as canyons, ridges, pinnacles, cirques and saddles
• Emergency procedures

#2 The instructor pilot provided by the Bidder to deliver the operating a helicopter in mountain terrain training course MUST have all of the following experience requirements:

o A valid Commercial Pilots License with a valid instructor rating
o At least 3000 hours total helicopter
o At least 250 hours of Bell 407 helicopter flight time
o At least 50 hours of instrument flight time
o Provided at least 1000 hours flight training as an instructor,
o Provided at least 100 hours of mountain flying ground school
o Provided at least 500 hours of mountain flying flight training

#3 The Bidder must provide the mountain terrain flight training on its Bell 407 turbine powered helicopter.

#4 The Bidder must demonstrate that they have a safety management system (SMS).

4. APPLICABILITY OF THE TRADE AGREEMENT(S) TO THE PROCUREMENT:

• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
• Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
• Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA)
• Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)
• Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA)
• Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA)

5. JUSTIFICATION FOR PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER:

Transport Canada intends to enter in a sole source contract with Topflight Elite Training and Charter Services Inc. believed to be the only supplier immediately available and capable of providing flight on a turbine powered helicopter in mountainous terrain training to ASD/CCG helicopter pilots.

Obtaining compatible training is essential for pilots to safely fly the Bell 429 turbine powered GOC owned helicopters in mountainous terrain during helicopter operations. Only the identified contractor can provide the intended training on the Bell 407 turbine powered helicopter similar to the 429 operated by CCG,.Providing training on a different helicopter model with different capabilities would create additional training requirements, longer lead times and likely additional training costs for pilot readiness to undertake mountain operations.

Should Canada receive a statement of capabilities from a supplier that contains sufficient information to indicate that it meets the requirements set forth in this ACAN and are immediately available to deliver the training, a competitive process will be triggered with a technical and financial evaluation methodology of the bids proposed by potential bidders.

6. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS REGULATIONS EXCEPTION:

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6 (d) that states “only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.”

7. EXCLUSIONS AND/OR REASONS TO INVOKE LIMITED TENDERING REASONS

All of Canada’s free trade agreements allow for limited tendering and the following limited tendering
reason contained in the trade agreements is applicable and invoked on the following grounds:

a. where the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable
alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons (CAP Code 71
Exclusive Rights):

i. N/A
ii. the protection of patents, copyrights, or other exclusive rights; or
iii. due to an absence of competition for technical reasons.

8. OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:

There is no intellectual property generated from this requirement.

9. PERIOD OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACT:

The proposed contract is from date of contract award to March 31st, 2028.

10. ESTIMATE COST:

The total estimated value of the contract is $454,380.00 CAD (taxes extra, if applicable).

11. NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER:

Company Name: Topflight Elite Training and Charter Services Inc.
3130 Airport Road
Penticton, BC V2A 8X1
Canada

12. SUPPLIERS’ RIGHT TO SUBMIT A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and immediately available to provide the services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

13. CLOSING DATE FOR A SUBMISSION OF A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is February 21, 2026, at 2:00 PM EDT.

14. INQUIRIES AND SUBMISSION OF STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:

Inquiries and Statement of Capabilities are to be directed to:

Name: Courtney Galeote
Procurement Specialist
Department: Transport Canada, Aircraft Services Directorate
Tel: 343-630-5331
Email: courtney.galeote@tc.gc.ca