Operating A Drone In Canada Just Got A Lot Harder

With consumer drones being relatively new technology, it wasn’t surprising that it took regulators awhile to come up with rules on how they should be operated. For example in the US, drone owners are required to register their drones with the FAA, which we suppose creates a sense of accountability and responsibility when it comes to operating your drone.

However over in Canada, it seems that drone owners have pretty much been grounded thanks to a new set of rules that have recently been put into place by Transport Canada. According to the rules, drones are still allowed to be flown, but they cannot be flown higher than 90m above the ground, closer than 75m near buildings, vehicles, animals, people/crowds, vessels, and so on.

They also cannot be flown within 9km of a forest fire, or flown where it might interfere with police or first responders, within a controlled or restricted airspace, or closer than 9km from the center of an aerodome (such as an airport, heliport, and so on). Some of these rules makes sense, but some seem a tad strict and failure to comply could result in the drone owner being slapped with a $3,000 fine.

According to Minister Marc Garneau who responded to these rules in a statement to CBC, “When it comes to safety, I don’t think anything is overkill. 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.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Robots
Tags: Drones, Legal