Documents / Report
The Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada issued this June 2025 report of the Sky Canada Project, which reviewed how public reports of unidentified aerial phenomena are handled in Canada. It finds no cohesive, standardized reporting system, no official public platform, limited analysis and little scientific involvement. It compares approaches in the United States, France and Chile, includes a commissioned public survey, and makes fourteen recommendations, including naming a lead federal agency, creating a dedicated reporting service and cooperating with AARO, NASA, GEIPAN and SEFAA.
“UFO Research Society”5 pages
REPORT OF THE SKY CANADA PROJECT# 29 In the case of UAP sightings, pilots typically report their sightings to the nearest ATC tower, flight service station or other air traffic unit. These units file an Aviation Occurrence Report (AOR) with NAV CANADA, which subsequently gets sent to Transport Canada’s CADORS team for assessment and processing. UAP sighting reports from the public can also be reported to Transport Canada through the online aviation incident reporting application. Reports filed in this way may also be published through CADORS, provided they meet the criteria for inclusion. Analysts at Transport Canada use these UAP reports to create a CADORS record based on the details of the occurrence. These are then assigned as “events” in CADORS, under three catego- ries depending on the information provided: “Weather Balloon, Meteor, Rocket, UFO and Intelligence Sighting”; “Laser Interfer- ence”; or “Other Operational Incidences.” Examination of CADORS reports allows for follow-up on high-risk events while looking for trends and emerging risks through ag- gregate analysis by Transport Canada. Further follow-up may be undertaken by various organizations including Transport Canada, NAV CANADA, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NAV CANADA provides about 80% of the aviation occurrence information in each CADORS record.24 Other sources of infor- mation used to create or supplement a CADORS record include the information received from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), aircraft operators and other agencies. NAV CANADA is also responsible for the collection, evaluation and dissemination of special mes- sages called NOTAMs.d NOTAMs are short-term notices filed by NAV CANADA to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at locations that could affect a flight, such as presence of wildlife, volcanic ash warning, satellites, rocket launch, solar storm, etc. d Notam refers to Notice to Airmen. e MERINT refers to Communication Instructions for Reporting by Merchant Vessels of Vital Intelligence Sightings. In January 2024, CTVNews.ca25 reported on Transport Canada’s CADORS online database. They identified only 17 events report- ed by pilots in 2023 that could be considered UAPs,26 spanning all types of occurrences and sightings. As such, UAP sightings make up a very small portion (about 0.08%) of all incidences reported by pilots. They are so rare in CADORS that Transport Canada is not incentivized to dedicate time and effort to ex- plaining them. In fact, when such incidents do not raise serious safety concerns, Canadian authorities do not investigate further. Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is a special operating agency within Fisheries and Oceans Canada (but soon to be trans- ferred to the Department of National Defence). Its mission is to ensure the safety of mariners in Canadian waters, protect Canada’s marine environment, and support the safe and effi- cient movement of maritime trade. The CCG rarely receives reports on UAPs, although it has procedures on how to treat such reports. As part of its annual Notice to Mariners,27 pro- cedures on what are termed Vital Intelligence Sightings, any waterborne object which appears to be hostile, suspicious or unidentified should be reported and handled as a “MERINTe Report”. MERINT messages are transmitted to the nearest or most convenient Canadian or U.S. coast guard station. From 2010 to 2022, only two MERINT reports were filed, both to the CCG’s Western region. Consultations with Federal Departments and Agencies The Sky Canada Project sought to gain insight on the domes- tic front by identifying organizations in Canada that typically receive witness reports of UAP sightings and examined whether and how they collect, investigate and follow up on these re- ports. The OCSA consulted with, and gathered this information from federal government departments and agencies, as well as from several non-governmental organizations and individu- als interested in UAPs. It should be noted that participation in these consultations was entirely voluntary in nature. The type of response and the level of engagement varied from one orga- nization to another, but in general the team was able to meet and exchange with senior representatives of all organizations contacted. A list of organizations and individuals consulted is included in Appendix A. Federal departments and agencies were asked specific ques- tions aimed at understanding the role they played, if any, in UAP report management. Specifically, they were asked whether the Canadian public is contacting their organization to report UAP sightings. If so, how frequently, what follow-up is done, and how is the information safeguarded. These consultations revealed that federal departments and agencies do receive UAP sighting information and reports from their stakeholders and the public. However, few of these orga- nizations are currently investigating these sightings unless they pertain to specific aspects of their respective mandates, such as national security, transportation safety or public safety, and those instances are fairly rare. Additionally, most departments do not compile the reports they receive, making it difficult to provide information on the number of reports or the type of responses given to witnesses. Responses from federal departments and agencies that have received UAP-related information are summarized below, along with insights from media and online sources. Transport Canada (TC) and NAV CANADA Transport Canada is the federal department responsible for road, rail, marine and air transportation. Its Civil Aviation Directorate collects reports on various incidents (including UAP sightings) from pilots, air traffic controllers and the public. These reports are shared publicly through the Civil Aviation Dai- ly Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS), which is accessi- ble on Transport Canada’s CADORS website.23 Specifically, CA- DORS collects and distributes basic information on incidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft at Canadian airports, in Canadian sovereign airspace, and international airspace for which Canada has accepted responsibility. NAV CANADA is a private, not-for-profit corporation; it has been Canada’s air navigation service provider since 1996. It over- sees air traffic activity through a sophisticated network of area control centres, air traffic control (ATC) towers, flight service stations, maintenance centres, flight information centres and navigation aids across the country. View of a cloudy sky from the cockpit of an airplane in flight. Pilots often report visual phenomena that they are unable to immediately identify. These reports are registered in Transport Canada’s CADORS system. Atlantic Coastline in Canada. The Canadian Coast Guard has procedures on how to report UAPs through the MERINT system.
Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 30 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.