The Government of Canada officially introduced Bill C-28 in the House of Commons today. Formally titled An Act to amend the Aeronautics Act and other Acts, the legislation serves as the parliamentary vehicle to enact the long-anticipated Canadian Space Launch Act—a dedicated framework designed to oversee and regulate commercial space launch and re-entry activities from Canadian soil.
Introduced by Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, the legislation aims to provide the regulatory certainty required to foster a domestic commercial space launch industry. The move addresses a glaring strategic gap: despite Canada’s storied history in space robotics and satellite telecommunications, Canada remains the only G7 nation lacking sovereign space launch capabilities, relying entirely on foreign providers—predominantly the United States—to reach orbit.
“Canada has a long and important history in space, and we are taking another major step toward securing our future in the rapidly evolving space domain,” MacKinnon stated today. “A long-term Canadian commercial space launch and re-entry regulatory framework would help make our space sector more competitive, create lasting economic opportunity… encourage innovation and research, and support national security.”
The introduction of Bill C-28 is the regulatory counterpart to the government’s recent infrastructure push. On March 16, the Department of National Defence announced a historic $200-million, 10-year lease for a dedicated military launch pad at Spaceport Nova Scotia, alongside $24.9 million in initial funding for three domestic rocket companies. That major investment—a direct execution of Security, Sovereignty, Prosperity: Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy—provided the initial financial anchor for domestic launch. Today’s legislation provides the necessary legal architecture.
Moving past a makeshift regulatory era
For industry insiders, today’s announcement is the culmination of over a decade of quiet regulatory maneuvering. For years, the Canadian space sector has been constrained by a regulatory vacuum regarding launch.
Historically, without a dedicated launch law, regulators were forced to use the 2005 Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA) as a makeshift general outer space law. This proved highly problematic. In 2017, an independent review by McGill University’s Institute of Air and Space Law heavily criticized this practice, noting that the RSSSA was designed to regulate data and satellite imagery, not launch hardware.
The McGill review explicitly recommended the creation of a new “General Outer Space Act,” warning that using the RSSSA to regulate hardware was “unnecessarily onerous and ripe for confusion.” The report further cautioned that the outdated Act “leans more in favour of protecting Canadian national security interests at the expense of technological development and commercial interests.”
From loophole to legislation
Recognizing the limitations of the RSSSA, Transport Canada has spent the last few years managing commercial space aspirations through an Interim Commercial Space Launch Program.
To do so, the government leaned on an antiquated definition buried within the Aeronautics Act, which defines an “aircraft” as “any machine capable of deriving support in the atmosphere… and includes a rocket.” Under this interim program, Transport Canada released extensive Application Requirements, forcing prospective operators to clear a labyrinth of hurdles, including rigorous flight and ground safety reviews, security risk assessments, and proof of financial responsibility. Notably, the interim requirements heavily referenced existing U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, signaling early on that Canada intended to harmonize its framework with its closest ally.
By introducing Bill C-28 to formally amend the Aeronautics Act and other laws, the government is officially closing the era of regulatory loopholes and interim sandboxes. The Canadian Space Launch Act effectively takes the lessons learned from the interim phase and codifies them into a formalized, statutory regime.
The crucial U.S. factor: The TSA
A domestic launch framework, however, means little if U.S. clients or components cannot legally launch from Canada.
To become a viable “emerging launching state,” Canada needed a Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) with the United States to ensure sensitive U.S. rocket technology is protected from unauthorized access or export when crossing the border. In August 2024, the Canadian government announced the completion of “substantive negotiations” toward a TSA.
Bill C-28 provides the final domestic legal enforcement mechanism needed to uphold those international TSA obligations. This effectively clears the path for American launch providers, as well as Canadian firms utilizing U.S. components, to operate from domestic sites like Spaceport Nova Scotia without violating stringent International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Yet, while the TSA unlocks the market for U.S.-dependent firms, some domestic developers are taking a different route to bypass these cross-border hurdles entirely. Quebec-based Reaction Dynamics—one of the three companies recently funded under the Department of National Defence’s “Launch the North” challenge—is actively engineering its Aurora-8 launch vehicle to be completely ITAR-free. By deliberately designing, sourcing, and manufacturing components outside of American export restrictions, Reaction Dynamics is aiming for true sovereign operational independence. This ITAR-free architecture ensures that even in complex geopolitical scenarios where U.S. export licenses might be delayed or restricted, Canada retains an unencumbered, domestic path to orbit.
Next steps: How Bill C-28 becomes law
While the tabling of Bill C-28 is a significant milestone, it must now navigate the Canadian parliamentary process before becoming binding law. For industry stakeholders, understanding this timeline is important for business planning:
- First Reading (Completed Today): The Bill is officially introduced in the House of Commons and printed for review. No debate takes place.
- Second Reading: Members of Parliament (MPs) will debate the core principle and purpose of the Bill. If it passes a vote, it moves forward.
- Committee Stage: This is the most crucial phase for the space sector. The Bill is sent to a parliamentary committee where MPs study the text clause-by-clause. Industry leaders, policy experts, and organizations will likely be called as witnesses to provide input and suggest amendments.
- Report Stage and Third Reading: The committee reports the Bill back to the House for further debate, final amendments, and a final vote.
- The Senate: The Bill moves to the Senate, undergoing a nearly identical process of readings and committee study.
- Royal Assent: Once both chambers pass the identical text, it receives Royal Assent from the Governor General, officially becoming an Act of Parliament.
As the domestic space market tracks toward an estimated valuation of $40 billion by 2040, the government is betting that opening Canadian airspace under clear, statutory conditions will give the private sector the confidence to invest. For the Canadian space industry, the door to sovereign launch has been opened; now, it is a matter of getting Bill C-28 across the finish line.
That legislative finish line appears significantly closer following last week’s byelections and recent Conservative floor crossings, which have secured a majority for the Carney Liberal government. However, even without the shifting parliamentary dynamics, the strategic and economic imperatives of establishing a domestic sovereign launch capability would likely garner more than enough cross-party support to see the bill passed into law.
It’s possible with its majority that the government could pass Bill C-28 into law by the end of year. The more plausible scenario is the bill passes in the spring 2027 session. One wildcard is the Senate. With the majority of Senators being independent they could slow things down.
Canadian space related Acts: