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Facilities
Facilities
The company’s infrastructure of ANS facilities includes
seven Area Control Centres, 41 Air Traffic Control Towers, 58 Flight Service Stations
and eight Flight Information Centers. These facilities are complemented by a network
of 1,400 enroute and terminal aids to navigation, and landing aids.
Area Control Centres (ACCs)
Area Control Centres provide air traffic control, information services
and alerting services for aircraft within a designated area. ACCs normally
divide their assigned airspace into sectors that are controlled by a controller
or team of controllers.
Control services are provided through a combination of radar, information
technology, voice communication and highly skilled personel applying strict
and proven separation criteria and procedures; to ensure safe, consistent
separation and orderly, efficient flow of traffic from origin to destination.
NAV CANADA operates 7 Area Control Centres in Gander, Moncton, Montreal,
Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCs) 
Air Traffic Controllers working in Control Towers provide pilots approaching
and departing busy airports with clearances and instructions to ensure
their aircraft have sufficient separation (horizontal, lateral, and vertical
distance from each other).
Tower controllers also provide flight information to aircraft operating
within designated airspace around their airports. At busier airports monitoring
of ground movements is enhanced through ground surveillance radar systems.
NAV CANADA operates 41 control towers across the country.
Flight Service Stations (FSSs)
Flight Service Stations (FSS) provide resources for flight planning, access
to briefings on weather and other preflight information, aeronautical information,
enroute and airport advisory services, vehicle control services, monitoring
of navaids, VHF/DF assistance and alerting of Search and Rescue centres for
overdue aircraft. NAV CANADA has 58 Flight Service Stations.
Flight Information Centres (FICs)
FICs centralize the provision of those flight information services that are not
location dependent, providing pilots with efficient, seamless flight planning, enroute
services and better access to flight information services. They are a one-stop shop
for flight planning and in-depth interpretive weather briefings provided by qualified
specialists, using the latest computer and communications technology. Services are
offered pre-flight and en route.
Community Aerodrome Radio Stations (CARS)
Community Aerodrome Radio Stations provide aviation weather and communications
services at designated sites in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut
and Northern Québec. CARS facilities are equipped with meteorological
instruments for monitoring and recording aviation surface weather, and
communications equipment for providing operational information to pilots.
CARS are operated by observers/communicators who are usually recruited
locally. Each CARS is assigned to a designated Flight Service Station
which provides operational support assistance.
Remote Communications Outlets (RCOs) and Remote Aerodrome Advisory
Services (RAAS)
Remote Communications Outlets are remote transmitters/receivers set up
to extend the communications capabilities of FSS stations. They allow
Flight Service Specialists to provide some flight information services
to remote areas and aerodromes without a staffed NAV CANADA facility.
When an RCO is used to provide airport advisory services at a remote aerodrome,
the service is referred to as a Remote Aerodrome Advisory Service (RAAS).
Landing and Navigational Aids
Landing Aids and Related Facilities directly support aircraft and assist
during departure, enroute, and arrival.
The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is the primary international precision
approach system approved by ICAO. It provides navigational guidance signals
and information on a cockpit display which guides pilots to the point
of landing in reduced visibility.
Radio Navigation Facilities
Radio Navigation Facilities are installed on defined flight tracks for
use in the enroute phase of flight, or at aerodromes where they can be
used to perform non-precision approaches under IFR conditions. Normally
two or more types of Navigational Aids (NAVAIDS) are co-located at a site
to provide a combination of functions and to ensure reliability.
Non-directional radio beacons (NDB) transmit on a low frequency a non-directional
radiation pattern.
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) responds to aircraft queries to provide
cockpit display of the distance to the DME facility from a suitably equipped
aircraft.
VHF Omni-Directional Range/Distance Measuring Equipment is a ground-based,
short-distance radio aid which provides continuous azimuth information
in the form of 360 usable radials TO or FROM a station. It serves as the
basis for most of the civil airways structure in North America.
The Tactical Air Navigation System is used to define the azimuth lines
between the aircraft and the transmitter, and also the distance from the
aircraft to the transmitter. TACAN is supplied by the military and operated
and maintained by NAV CANADA .
RAMP Radar Site Equipment - The air navigation system uses radar surveillance
for both terminal and enroute control.
Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) – At six airports surface
aircraft and vehicle traffic is monitored during periods of reduced visibility
through the use of Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) radar.
Technical Systems Centre (TSC)
The Technical Systems Centre provides air navigation system development
and operational support (including repair facilities, calibration, and
test equipment). Through integration and testing, systems development
support ensures new equipment will function properly and safely in the
field and that its installation will not affect existing systems.
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