The Canadian system and your path to instructing

HPAC/ACVL in one page

The Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada (Association Canadienne de Vol Libre) is the national association. Membership gives you third-party liability insurance, the rating system, access to sites, and a voice with Transport Canada. HPAC's rules apply to its members; Transport Canada's CARs apply to everyone.

Ratings (SOP 410): P1 Student, P2 Novice, P3 Intermediate, P4 Advanced, P5 Master (the Master rating is honorary, for service to the sport). Endorsements: TS (Thermal Soaring), CR (Coastal/Ridge), T (Towing), SIV (Simulation d'Incident en Vol). Instructor certifications: Instructor, Senior Instructor, and Tandem T1 / T2 endorsements for instructors.

An HPAC-certified instructor tests you and sends the rating form to the HPAC office; ratings are valid only once the office records them. For ratings that need the HAGAR, HPAC needs a scan of Transport Canada's letter confirming your pass.

Your APPI and Nepal qualifications in Canada

What each rating requires (SOP 410-9)

	P2 Novice	P3 Intermediate	P4 Advanced
Prerequisites	P1	P2 + TS and CR endorsements + HAGAR	P3 + TS, CR and SIV endorsements + HAGAR
Written exam	P2 exam	P3 exam	P4 exam
Logbook	25 flights	30 flying days, 90 flights, 60 hours	80 flying days, 250 flights, 120 hours (60 in thermals); 5 flights at each of 5 sites (3 inland); three 1-hour thermal flights from 2 sites; one 1-hour ridge flight; 5 different glider models
Key demonstrated skills	Aircraft, S-turn and figure-8 approaches; forward and reverse inflations with visual check and surge control; kiting; one-handed, weight-shift and rear-riser turns; big ears; speed bar; strong-wind landing; right-of-way; reserve deployment in a simulator	Verbal analysis of conditions; flight plan; 180° and 360° turns at various speeds and banks; 25% per side / 50% total tip folds; one method to increase speed; surge control; verbal recovery from a 50% asymmetric; why not to fly with brakes extended; stall signs; airspeed near minimum sink in 8–24 km/h wind without stalls; 5 landings within 3 m; gradient control on approach; best speed into a headwind; site restrictions	Analysis of conditions; flight plan; the figure-8 drift task around two pylons; 3 consecutive landings within 3 m from 200 ft; coordinated 360s both ways; instructor confidence you can fly advanced sites
Recommended limits	Wind ≤ ⅔ trim speed; no advanced manoeuvres without an instructor; beginner/intermediate wing	Wind 25/30 km/h, gust 8 km/h in 5 s; brake ≤ ¾; manufacturer bank angles; ≤ 800 fpm thermals; clearance 300/250 ft	Within the manufacturer's limits and your judgment

Endorsements you will need: TS (five 30-minute thermal flights without ridge lift, strong forward launches in under 5 km/h, correction of 50% asymmetrics, understanding of high-altitude conditions), CR (two launches in 20–25 km/h wind, top landings in 20–25 km/h laminar wind, venturi and gradient explained, strong-wind landing and glider-disabling techniques, speed system), SIV (signed proof from an SIV instructor of big ears, spiral, induced asymmetric, induced frontal, induced spin, induced stall).

The exams: format, pass rules, and how to prepare with this guide

Exam	Format	Pass rules	Study focus
P2	40 MC + about 20 short answers (three drawings) + 10 air-regs MC + 1 essay	75% overall, all 5 † correct	Modules 00, 01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 09, 10 (the 10 air-regs questions), 08 (the safety essay). Practise writing short answers and the three drawings. † topics: wind differs at the landing field; intentional stall only when landing; risk can be managed; lean forward on launch; explain the upwind-side approach.
P3	~49 MC in sections (airmanship and meteorology, air regulations, paragliding specifics) + 1 long answer	75% overall and 15/20 on air regulations, all 5 † correct	Modules 10 and 09 first (the gate), then 04, 03, 06, 08, 07. Long answer: emergency descent (Module 06). † topics: what a P3 pilot is; evening restitution; no thermals under building clouds; reserve facts; what is worse in a stall.
P4	100 MC in four sections of 25 (air regulations, aerodynamics, meteorology, airmanship) + cause-and-recovery essay	75% overall, 15/25 in every section, 5/5 cause and recovery, all † correct	Module 01 (aerodynamics, 25 questions), 10 and 11 (air regulations, 25), 03 and 04 (meteorology, 25), 08, 02, 05, 06, 09 (airmanship, 25). Essay: the five-row table at the end of Module 06. † topics: head-on both turn right; entering lift raises the angle of attack; valley winds; hypoxia signs; cause and recovery.
HAGAR	40 MC, 2½ hours, VNC map questions	60%	Learn the answers, not the theory: Module 11 (facts), Module 12 (map questions), Module 13 (HPAC's sample questions), plus the regulations numbers in Module 10 and human factors in Module 09. Use the HAGAR flashcard deck daily.

Suggested order: P2 → HAGAR → P3 → P4. The HAGAR is a prerequisite for P3, and its material overlaps the P3 air-regulations gate and the P4 air-regulations section, so studying it once pays three times.

From P3 to instructor and tandem

The path HPAC's Instructor/Tandem Instructor Certification Program describes (confirm current details with your Senior Instructor and the HPAC office):

1. P3 Intermediate with at least the published hours and flights is the prerequisite for the Instructor certification seminar.
2. Within one year of the seminar: HAGAR pass, Standard First Aid, and 25 hours of assisting an instructor; then the Senior Instructor recommends you to HPAC as a Certified Instructor.
3. Tandem: take a tandem course from a Senior Instructor with the tandem instructor rating, fly a series of practice tandems with rated HPAC pilots only while keeping the Tandem T1 Endorsement Training Log, then receive the T1 endorsement. HPAC's program page states the tandem endorsement is assigned no earlier than one full year after the Advanced (P4) rating. T2 follows with experience.
4. Every tandem flight is legally dual flight instruction (CAR 602.29), flown with the HPAC Critical Prelaunch Checklist.

The temporary route: TTICE (SOP 432-1)

For experienced foreign tandem instructors who are not Canadian residents, HPAC can issue a Temporary Tandem Instructor Certification and Endorsement (TTICE), case by case:

• Who: holders of current foreign instructor and tandem certifications judged at least equivalent to HPAC Instructor + T1 for the previous 12 months, with at least 100 instructional tandem flights in the previous 12 months.
• Documents: evidence of the foreign certifications; logs of tandem flights in the last 12 months; evidence of passing the HAGAR; endorsement letters from an HPAC T2 instructor and a Senior Instructor. The Senior Instructor requires the candidate to write the HPAC P4 exam (it may be waived with proof of an equivalent foreign written exam); the T2 instructor conducts a flight evaluation with solo and tandem flights.
• Limits: 90 days from issue; tandem instructional flights only; no signing off ratings; other instruction only as an apprentice under an HPAC instructor; must remain an HPAC member in good standing, keep the foreign certifications current, use the Critical Prelaunch Checklist, and comply with the CARs.

This is a bridge, not a destination. The full path above is what makes you a Canadian instructor.

Practical steps for a pilot arriving from Nepal

1. Join HPAC (insurance) before you fly.
2. Category 4 medical: complete form 26-0297, witnessed, and email it to Transport Canada; allow up to 40 working days.
3. Meet an HPAC instructor for the foreign-rating assessment: bring your APPI/NAA/CAAN documents, logbook, SIV certificate and tandem records.
4. P2 exam and flight assessment → P2. Start collecting TS and CR endorsement sign-offs.
5. Book the HAGAR at a Transport Canada Centre or with an invigilator once the medical certificate arrives. Bring two IDs, the medical, a ruler, a protractor and a calculator. Send HPAC the result letter.
6. P3 exam and skills → P3. Then the Instructor seminar when eligible.
7. P4 exam and skills (SIV endorsement needed) → P4.
8. First Aid, assisting hours, tandem course, T1.