DJI announced today that 9 drones are now declared to meet the new Transport Canada Requirements for “near people” as part of Advanced Operations. The updated information should be reflected on the Transport Canada site shortly.
According to Transport Canada’s list of Drones Eligible for Advanced Operations, “near people” is defined as “operations in which the drone will fly within 30 meters(10 feet) and 5 meters(16.4 feet) of any person not associated with the operation.”
This is great news for DJI owners in Canada!
In the past we’ve written about how the prior cumbersome and changing regulations prevented entrepreneurial drone owners from kickstarting a cottage industry to provide aerial services. Under the old rules, anyone intending to do commercial work required a Special Flight Operations Certificate that could take weeks or months to receive, which is obviously not an ideal condition to run a business.
Under the new rules, drone operations are distinguised only as being either Basic or Advanced and commercial activity (subject to other conditions) does not require an SFOC.
| Mfr | Model | Type | Controlled Airspace | Near People | Over People |
| DJI | Inspire 1 | Rotary Wing | Yes | ||
| DJI | Wind 4 | Rotary Wing | Yes | ||
| DJI | M600 Series | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | M200 Series | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | M200 V2 Series | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | Inspire 2 | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | Mavic 2 Series | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | Mavic Pro | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | Mavic Air | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | Phantom 4 Series | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes | |
| DJI | Spark | Rotary Wing | Yes | Yes |
Transport Canada announced its new regulatory framework for certain types of advanced civilian drone operations in January, requiring the use of drones whose manufacturer has declared that its drones meet reliability and operational characteristics under a safety assurance framework.
DJI drones that can be used near people and in controlled airspace are the M600 Series, M200 Series, M200 V2 Series, Inspire 2, Mavic 2 series, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 series and Spark. The new declaration is expected to soon be reflected in Transport Canada’s list of drones eligible for advanced operations at this link.
Have you taken the Transport Canada Basic or Advanced drone pilot exam? Let us know what you thought about the process in the comments!
