Taking Your Drone to Canada? What To Know Before You Go

America’s neighbour to the north just updated their drone rules, and it might have an impact on your travel plans if you wanted to bring your drone.

The rules apply to all drones between 250g and 25 kg…bascially 0.5 lb to 55lb, meaning consumer drones like the DJI Phantom 4 Series, Mavic Series and Spark are all affected.

Called Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, or RPAS, in Canada, the new regulations simplify what was a cumbersome and challenging system that severely constrained the viability of business use of drones.

Under the new rules, Canada licenses drone operators in two categories based on the nature of the mission being flown; Basic or Advanced.

A Basic operation meets all 3 of the following conditions:

• You fly only in uncontrolled airspace
• You fly no closer than 30 meters from bystanders
• You never fly over bystanders

If you do not meet any 1 of the three conditions then you are flying an Advanced operation.

Advanced operations are those where you are doing any 1 of the following conditions:

• You want to fly in controlled airspace
• You want to fly over bystanders
• You want to fly within 30 meters of bystanders.

These rules are specific to Canadians.  You are considered a Foreign Operator if you are not a Canadian Citizen, permanent resident or a corporation incorporated by or under federal or provincial laws.  If you’re a Foreign Operator there are different rules for you.

So if you want to come to Canada and fly your drone, first of all you’ll need to have the equivalent license in your home country to either the Basic or Advanced operation you intend to fly.

Second you’ll need to apply to Transport Canada for a Special Flight Operation Certificate to obtain authorization to operate your drone in Canada.

You can apply for an SFOC by downloading the SFOC application  on the Transport Canada website. Email the completed application form and any supporting documents to TC.RPASCentre-CentreSATP.TC@tc.gc.ca.

The biggest difference between US and Canadian drone rules is that the USA bases the licensing on whether you are flying recreationally or commercially.

Basically the Part 107 in the US would be the equivalent of Advanced in Canada, however the FAA is making changes to it’s licensing system to make it more like Canada’s, requiring a knowledge and safety test to be able to receive controlled airspace authorizations.

Are you planning to apply for an SFOC to operate your drone in Canada? Or have you done so already? Let us know in the comments how long it took for the application to be processed.