On June 1, 2019, the Canadian landscape for drone operations
changed. Their uses are as varied as their names (drones, unmanned
aerial vehicles, UAVs, remotely piloted aerial systems, RPAS, among
others — collectively, Drone or Drones), but a Drone's
use no longer determines the regulatory regime. Instead, the new
regulations apply to all Drones operating within a visual line of
sight (VLOS) that have a maximum take-off weight of at least 250
grams (0.55 pounds), but not more than 25 kilograms (55
pounds).
The aim of the new regulations was, in part, to streamline the
registration process and more closely align Drone regulations with
that of manned aircraft regulations. The new rules are designed to
be commensurate with the level of risk of a Drone operation, based
on the complexity of the operation. As such, within the weight
category, the rules are further broken down into two types: basic
operation and advanced operation.
