Is Canada Beating the U.S. to the Punch?

The only authorized use of drones in the U.S is for non-commercial purposes, like law enforcement, search and rescue or as a hobby. Any other use of a drone is prohibited. While the FAA scrambles to regulate the fast-approaching commercial drone industry and state governments take it upon themselves to protect their citizen’ from the privacy issues that are sure to arise, Canada has quietly become a central hub for the commercial drone industry.

All you have to do to use drones for commercial purposes in Canada is fill out a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC). Basically you just have to tell the Canadian government the times and areas in which your drones will fly and familiarize yourself with the safety guidelines for responsible drone operation in public areas. Once Transport Canada approves the application, you are clear for take off.

The Canadian government has been extremely supportive of commercial drones, using federal funding to create the Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems. Founded in 2007, the center hosts training courses, helps people and companies fill out their SFOCs and rents out its drone-launching catapult. The center is now self sustaining.

*The one catch is that regulations prohibit drones from flying out of eyesight. But as “Sense and Avoid” technology advances, this restriction should loosen up.

With such loose regulation, there are bound to be privacy concerns, but this policy of openness and encouragement has lead Canadian UAVs playing a major role world-wide in farming, shipping and real-time mapping, among countless other industries. The privacy concerns have yet to be validated while the dollars are quickly adding up.

According to The Globe and Mail:

Canadian oil sands giant Cenovus Energy Inc. is working to build a fleet of UAVs, beginning with one $30,000 SenseFly eBee model. Transport Canada has just approved a flight and mapping program at three of its project sites, and beginning this month the company expects to conduct drone flights at least once a week.

In the case of commercial drones, the U.S Federal government is putting safety over progress, regardless of any economic benefits, and letting privacy catch up. The Canadian government is embracing the economic advantages of drone tech, favoring progress over regulation and also letting privacy play catch up.

Which policy remains the wisest remains to be seen, but you can be sure that when the FAA finally authorizes the use of commercial drones in the US, there will be a flock (Swarm? Is there a collective term for drones yet? Gaggle?) of drones migrating south. At least they won’t poop all over the golf courses.