Restrictions on Use of Portable Lasers

WARNING! READ THIS FIRST, PLEASE!

Penalties for possessing a hand-held laser where you shouldn’t be:

• If a law enforcement officer stops you with a hand-held laser over 1mw in a prohibited area, depending on the circumstances, they can issue you a monetary penalty either under the Canadian Aviation Regulations or under the Contraventions Regulations on the spot unless you demonstrate a legitimate reason. Under the regulations, the fines are:
  • Under the Contravention Regulations, the fine amount is $1000; under the Canadian Aviation Regulations:
    • • up to $5,000 for an individual
      • up to $25,000 for a corporation
  • Penalties for aiming a laser at an aircraft or into airspace: if you are also convicted of intentionally interfering with an aircraft by using a laser, you could face one or both of:
    • up to $100,000 in fines
    • up to 5 years in prison

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    On November 16, 2022 The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada received renewed authorization from the Director General of Civil Aviation with Transport Canada, Felix Meunier, on the use of portable lasers outside of prohibited areas. This renewed guidance is effective from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2025, unless any conditions of the authorization are breached in which case authorization may be removed earlier.

    This renewed authorization outlined the following as it relates to the use of portable lasers by RASC members:

    On behalf of the Minister, I hereby, authorize members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, to project hand-held lasers into navigable airspace in Canada, excluding within a 10km radius of any certified aerodrome, subject to the following conditions:

    1. Hand-held lasers will only be used outside of 10km radius from all certified aerodromes as described in the interactive map. [Please note that for any activity occurring within a 10km radius of a certified aerodrome a separate authorization is required and must be submitted to Transport Canada for review and consideration.] RASC Calgary Note: Link updated to English version of authorization form. Source link available here.

    2. Hand-held lasers will only be used for identifying stars, constellations, and celestial objects across the night sky, for the purpose of public education.

    3. Hand-held lasers will not exceed Class 3R, or Class IIIa and will not exceed a maximum output power of five milliwatts (5 mW).

    4. Hand-held lasers will never be pointed in the direction of aircraft and will only be used in accordance with guidelines similar to those developed by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). The guidelines are published (Last modified Friday May, 3, 2019) on RASC website: https://www.rasc.ca/green-laser-pointer-usage. The organization must submit a copy of their guidelines to Transport Canada as part of the request for authorization.

    5. A minimum of at least one trained and dedicated spotter must be used at each event where hand-held lasers will be used to watch for aircraft and warn the laser operators.

    6. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada shall be responsible for ensuring that all members using hand-held lasers have the training, skills and qualifications necessary to operate the lasers in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada own safe-usage guidelines, as noted under condition 4; and that no hazard to aviation safety will be created by the operation.

    7. All members that are operating a hand-held laser will carry proof of membership of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. They will also carry a copy of this authorization letter.

    8. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada shall provide Transport Canada with a list of every event that occurred under this authorization. The information shall be provided to Transport Canada no later than 30 days after the authorization validity period has ended.

    9. The organization shall have a valid liability insurance for the validity period of this authorization.

• Go to the National RASC site
• Click on e-Store
• Click on Log In (top right)
• Sign in using your National Username and Password
• Click on My Account which can be found under Member Area or Useful Links
• Under the Edit Personal Information section you have the option to Print a Temporary Card. 
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• Click on Log Out (top right)