For better or worse, drones have a prominent position in today’s news, examples from the battlefield are common, and unfortunately, examples of misuse in civilian scenarios are all too frequently the focus of the news of the day.

A recent news post by the CBC at the end of 2024 highlights the growing opportunity for the positive use of drones – or Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). Focus of the news piece was the expansion of capability to longer distance operations for services such as infrastructure inspection and parcel delivery.

Operation of RPAS for any purpose falls within the purview of Transport Canada which has a mandate to ensure safe operation of aircraft within Canadian airspace. While complex operations beyond visual sight (BVLOS) are currently not permitted within Transport Canada regulations, this is changing.  A detailed summary of the proposed modifications to the Canada RPAS regulations details the nature of the rules as well as the process Transport Canada has taken to arrive at what will be an important step towards expanded utilization of RPAS in Canada.

While the news reflects new opportunity, the journey has been ongoing for some time. In 2017 I had the opportunity to participate in an industry survey led by Aerial Evolution Association Canada and LOOKNorth that queried a relatively new, optimistic RPAS sector as to the opportunities and challenges associated with RPAS business growth in Canada. Like other countries, there was considerable optimism as to what the future held. Numerous analyst reports posited significant economic potential on the near horizon.

Like most technology advancements, the numbers were significantly skewed by early-stage hype but our survey revealed that within the hubris, there were identified opportunities that industry players were keen to pursue. Whether equipment manufacturers, software systems developers, service providers or end users there was a high level of optimism.

While optimism abounded, there was also a recognition of barriers that needed to be addressed to accommodate new applications and to achieve business scale. A key barrier limiting both operational scaling and the associated investment necessary for growth was the ability to operate BVLOS.

The views of the industry were an added input into a regulatory development process that Transport Canada had already initiated leading to some of the early steps in defining a path for commercial RPAS usage.

Key themes along the path include:

• Safety and Risk Mitigation is paramount, necessitating proven technology capability, pilot training, and airspace integration.
• Use Case Expansion demonstrating increasingly complex RPAS operations.
• Collaboration between Transport Canada, Nav Canada, private companies, and international regulatory bodies.
• Gradual Relaxation for BVLOS operations.

2017: Transport  Canada issued Interim Orders providing temporary guidelines for RPAS operations. These distinguished between recreational and commercial use, with strict requirements for flying within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS), maximum altitude limits, and distance from people, airports, and buildings.

2019: Transport Canada introduced Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs), which formalized rules for drone operations:

• Created two operational categories: Basic (within VLOS, away from bystanders) and Advanced (near people or controlled airspace, still within VLOS).
• Operators were required to pass exams, register drones, and obtain pilot certificates.
• BVLOS operations were generally prohibited without a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC), making such flights restricted to experimental or specialized use.

The period from 2020 through 2022 saw Transport Canada work closely with other countries defining RPAS regulations to ensure international standardization, emphasizing detect-and-avoid systems, safety management frameworks, and beyond-visual communication protocols. At the same time, the Canadian industry’s pursuit of SFOCs to operate under BVLOS conditions grew.

2020: Transport Canada began addressing BVLOS operations through experimental programs:

• Increased issuance of SFOCs for industries like delivery, infrastructure inspection, and agriculture.
• Released advisory circulars to guide BVLOS operations, outlining requirements like detect-and-avoid systems and risk mitigation plans.
• Began collaboration with Nav Canada for integration with manned aviation systems.

2020: Transport Canada put out a call for proposals to innovators to help set the requirements for, and the deployment of services needed for Canada’s RPAS Traffic Management (RTM) system. As a result of this process, proposals from consortium projects led by AirMarket and SkySensus were selected for demonstration.

2021: Adoption of remote pilot stations and first-person view (FPV) systems began to be addressed in guidelines, enabling remote BVLOS testing under controlled conditions.

2022: Transport Canada launched a technology assessment program to evaluate commercial Detect and Avoid technologies in support of BVLOS use cases.

Transport Canada’s most recent efforts to enable routine BVLOS operations without needing SFOCs for specific use cases. The emphasis has been on:

• Creation of standardized BVLOS risk assessment frameworks.
• Introduction of draft regulations for drone corridors and urban BVLOS applications.
• Integration of RTM systems to support autonomous and safe operation alongside manned aircraft.
• Collaboration with Canadian companies and academic institutions to enhance detect-and-avoid technologies, communication solutions for extended-range RPAS operations, and operational safety.

At this point in early 2025, Canada is now at a place where draft regulations defining BVLOS operations in low-risk parts of the country (remote and rural) are ready to be officially recognized. The goal had been for this to happen in the first quarter but in late 2024 Transport Canada announced this would be delayed to the third quarter of 2025.

Officially, this is still the case, but perhaps the current political schedule will have an impact on this timing.

For a variety of reasons, it has been a long journey to get to this point. The industry has seen many changes along the way. The enthusiasm expressed in 2017 has been tempered. Some companies have found ways to thrive or at least survive, some have pivoted their business away from RPAS, mergers have taken place, and some companies have ceased to exist. All of this points to the challenge of growing an industry in a regulated (necessarily so) environment.