Canadians may fly CDN registered plane in the US using their current CDN licence - no change in that.
BUT......
Every year I spend several weeks in the US where I rent and fly C172s. Rental of a US aircraft requires a US FAA add-on licence document. My original was issued at HNL airport by a FAA clerk. Five minutes tops ! Free. No passport was even required in 1978.
This FAA document says that if the CDN licence is valid, the FAA add-on makes it equivalent to a US PPL. Things have changed.
In November 2010 at my local Arizona airport I was refused a plane rental because my FAA add-on document has gone stale. No notification came from the FAA beforehand. The document must be reissued. This has caused a delay of 60 days, start to finish. The process is shown below.
If you have any kind of FAA add-on document, check now to verify that it will be acceptable in the US when you next plan to use it. FAA is also re-registering ALL US planes since they have lost track of 10,000 planes !
Today, (day 60), I picked up my US PPL at the Scottsdale AZ FFA office.
It is "Recertification of a foreign licence"
For you to get your FAA recertified PPL add-on you would work through an FAA local office - your option where.
A good starting point
http://www.faa.gov/search/?q=foreign+verification&x=37&y=17
The steps
1 Go online and create an FAA account. (Do you have one already for trans-border flights ?)
2 Fill in the online documentation - print clear copies.
3 Find a hi-quality fax machine (Staples ?) and fax every page of your documentation to the Oklahoma City fax number.
4 Wait for their response. Usually 24 hours. If every item faxed clearly (doubtful) they will verify it all with CDN MOT. This takes 45+ days.
5 If the faxes were too messy or incomplete you must Xerox and snailmail it.
6 Wait for the letter back from OK City FAA saying it all checked out. About 45 days in my case.
7 Phone your nearest FAA office for an appointment to meet over a desk.
8 Take everything they could think of requesting. This is very promptly booked.
9 At the FAA meeting you get cordial help completing another form.
10 FAA issues a flimsy temporary paper licence for 120 days. (The same office will extend it if necessary)
11 FAA will snailmail a final licence in plastic credit card form. You choose the mailing address with some concern for where you will be at that date.
12 The final plastic card arrived by snailmail 30 days after the temporary paper licence was issued. So the total time involved was 45 days plus 30 days. (Some CDN pilots have had much longer waits.)
