Drone Delivery Canada receives approval to transport medicines to remote areas

Toronto-based drone logistics firm Drone Delivery Canada has received Transport Canada’s nod to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone delivery operations for the University of British Columbia’s Remote Communities Drone Transport Initiative (DTI) program.

A Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) issued by Transport Canada on May 18 allows the drone company to transport healthcare supplies to rural and remote indigenous “First Nation” communities of Canada.

The SFOC issued this month allows for deliveries to be conducted between Village of Fraser Lake and Stellat’en First Nation – areas which are located at a distance of 7 km from each other in the northern British Columbia region.

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Drone Delivery Canada explains that the DTI program will utilize the company’s drone logistics solution to enable a defined two-way delivery flight route. By leveraging the Sparrow drone as well as its DroneSpot takeoff and landing zones, the program will be able to transport a variety of cargo for the benefit of the Stellat’en First Nation and the Village of Fraser Lake.

All operations will be conducted in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and Transport Canada flight authorizations. Flights will be monitored by Drone Delivery Canada by using the company’s proprietary FLYTE software system as a managed service.

Steve Magirias, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada, says:

We are very pleased to move to BVLOS operations for the University of British Columbia’s DTI program. This new SFOC approval is another testament in demonstrating effective and efficient operations and further allows the commercial viability of drone logistics solutions within the healthcare vertical market. We are also very appreciative of our collaborative relationship with Transport Canada and their overarching support of the industry.

Drone Delivery Canada was recently named a winner in the Innovation Category of the XCELLENCE Awards organized by the Association for Uncrewed Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI). The award acknowledged the company’s innovative project of integrating cargo drones into the controlled airspace at Edmonton International Airport (EIA).

That project – the first of its kind in Canada – explored setting up a drone link between EIA and an industrial park in Alberta’s Leduc County as a first step toward creating a sophisticated drone logistics network aimed at connecting multiple airports across the country.

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