Canada's New Drone Rules: A Summary

New rules governing drone use in Canada were released this morning by the Minister of Transportation Marc Garneau. These new rules only come into effect on June 1st 2019, so take time to review them before worrying about their requirements.

The biggest topics or changes from the previous rule regime are: Basic and Advanced Operations licenses, liability insurance not being required, drone registration online and recency requirements. These apply to all drones weighing 250g up to and including 25kg and operated within line of sight; this is a marked difference from the previous draft of regulations which separated rule classes based on weight. There is no longer a difference between recreational and commercial flying. All pilots of drones must get a pilot certificate.

The new licenses/certificates are: Pilot Certificate: Basic Operations and Pilot Certificate Advanced Operations. These two new categories of drone operations are based on distance from bystanders and airspace rules. This handy infographic from Transport Canada gives a good run down of the operation types. To conduct basic operations, you’ll need to pass the basic operations exam and register your drone online. For advanced operations, you’ll need to pass the advanced operations exam, pass a flight review with a flight reviewer and register your drone online. Micro-drones such as the DJI Tello, do not follow under either category or have to register but must be kept away from airports and not put people/property or other aircraft in danger. Anything over 25kg requires special permission in the form of a Special Flight Operations Certificate.

Liability insurance is no longer required for the basic and advanced operations categories but is recommended. However, liability insurance will more than likely be relevant for anything over 25kg. This is an incredible amount of cost savings for individual owner/operators and since it is not required, deductibles can be tailored to the pilots operations.

All drones (except those under 250g) will need to be registered through the Transport Canada online portal before their first flight. The previous rules only required you write your name and address on the drone – this time, a registration number and barcode will need to be printed and attached as well as now the government has your information. A similar requirement in the USA was needed until a recent court challenge struck it down.

Lastly, all pilots will need to keep their drone knowledge up to date. If your knowledge level lapses more than 2 years, your certificate can be invalidated. Transport Canada’s ‘Recency Requirements” outlines acceptable activities to prove that you have retained your flight knowledge; such as attending a safety seminar by Transport Canada or completing a recurring training program. I personally think this requirement is extremely arbitrary and will be circumvented easily. I understand what Transport Canada is trying to do here which is maintain education levels for Canada’s drone pilots, however I can see this just being a cash-for-signature business unless it is clearly outlined how this will be carried out.

Canadian UAV Regulations: More Learning, Less Fear.

New recreational unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) rules were announced before the weekend by Canadian Transportation Minister Marc Garneau. Recreational users face hefty fines if they do not abide by certain rules, namely not flying within nine kilometers of an active airstrip. I’ve been asked by quite a few people about the new restrictions since they were released and my response has been that they have always been ‘the rules’ – however previously they had existed as ‘guidelines’ and no penalties could be handed down for breaking them. These ‘guidelines’ have always been front and center in every operation we carry out – also I’m not aware of any incidents where someone needed to be fined for negligent drone use but laws did not exist to penalize them.

I also take issue with the Transportation Minister’s statement from CBC.ca “I have read almost on a daily basis reports from pilots coming into airports, on the flight path, and reporting seeing a drone off the wing.” This is absolutely false. If there were this many UAV’s being spotted at Canadian airports, why have we not seen more investigations regarding them? Further, there have been zero reported cases of a UAV hitting an airplane – both in Canada and the United States. This statement breeds unnecessary fear which leads to hastily prepared, ill-thought regulations. Based upon this statement alone, I’m hesitant to discover further rules being handed down in June.

We need less fear from our politicians and more education. Current efforts to bring a minimum of learning to future UAV pilots before their first operation are crucial to tackling the problem. What kind of minimum education do you think pilots should have before their first flight?

Canadian Drones Save Lives

While unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may not be a big part of your life right now, one day they just might save it.

In May 2013, the Saskatchewan RCMP reported the first life saved by a UAV in Canada. A man driving in near-freezing temperatures wearing only a t-shirt had flipped his car off the road in a remote, wooded area.  The man managed to call 911 but did not know where he was so only the last recorded location on his cell phone’s GPS was used. The police had originally deployed a regular, manned helicopter equipped with night vision to try and find him, but they weren't able to during an initial sweep of the area.

The RCMP eventually deployed their Draganflyer X4-E5 UAV which was equipped with an infrared camera. The UAV soon picked up three heat signatures 200 meters from the last known GPS location, where fire department members found the driver curled next to a tree.  According to the RCMP’s website that without the UAV, searchers would not have been able to locate the driver until daylight meaning he would have frozen to death before he could have been reached.

UAV’s are still in their genesis when it comes to bringing life-saving supplies to remote areas. Germany’s logistics company DHL will begin daily flights with their quad-rotor "DHL Paketkopter 2.0" to bring a maximum load of 1.2 kilograms of medicine to the sparsely populated German island of ‘Juist,’ located just off the nation’s northern coast. Flying up to 65kmph with the flight expected to take as long as 30 minutes, this is the first time an unmanned aircraft has been authorized to deliver goods in Europe. With medication, other urgently needed goods will also be transported, at times when other modes of transport such as flights or ferries are not operating.