Flying in Canada

[kalimah]

I’ve been reading information about flying a drone in Canada if you are not a Canadian citizen. Seems a certification test must be taken. Does anyone know of a study guide for this test?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Although it is not a very hard exam to pass you might need to brush up on some questions that get asked. I found Google very helpful on the ones I did not know. I challenged the exam the very first day it came out and still passed with a 96% pass. Most is common sense questions. Some will make you ask why is this in a drone exam so use Google to find the right answer. Lots of time to complete the test.
This guys has some helpful videos.

 

[kalimah]

Although it is not a very hard exam to pass you might need to brush up on some questions that get asked. I found Google very helpful on the ones I did not know. I challenged the exam the very first day it came out and still passed with a 96% pass. Most is common sense questions. Some will make you ask why is this in a drone exam so use Google to find the right answer. Lots of time to complete the test.
This guys has some helpful videos.

Will check it out. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Chrislaf]

Also, unless you are flying a sub 250g drone it is unlikely you will be able to legally fly your drone here even if you take and pass the basic exam. Unless the rules have changed recently, you will need to apply for and get a SFOC. I have read that Transport Canada is not issuing SFOCs to foreigners who are flying for recreational purposes.

The only way to fly a drone here in Canada as a foreigner is to fly a sub 250g drone which do not have to be registered, nor do you need a pilots licence to fly.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[kalimah]

Also, unless you are flying a sub 250g drone it is unlikely you will be able to legally fly your drone here even if you take and pass the basic exam. Unless the rules have changed recently, you will need to apply for and get a SFOC. I have read that Transport Canada is not issuing SFOCs to foreigners who are flying for recreational purposes.

The only way to fly a drone here in Canada as a foreigner is to fly a sub 250g drone which do not have to be registered, nor do you need a pilots licence to fly.

Hope this helps.

Chris

Great. Just got that same info. Looking forward to flying my mini2 “across the pond” as we say.

 

[Bill Lorenz]

Thanks to Jagerbomb52 for your excellent video regarding doing the test. I plan to use it as my go-to reference when preparing. ​

I do have a specific question, though. Has anybody been able/tried to copy the questions that are presented during the test? Perhaps not easily done, I suppose. I did copy the questions when I did my test for the EU (I live there now, but am Canadian) for future reference and to help others.
I think having the questions while preparing could be a great help, even if the goal is really to understand the material fully, which should be the case, of course. And especially if some of the questions seem to be almost irrelevant for many drone pilots (Radiotelephony? Really?).
Anybody got the questions (some of them)?
Thanks in advance!
Bill

 

[Zbip57]

Has anybody been able/tried to copy the questions that are presented during the test? [...] I think having the questions while preparing could be a great help...

The questions aren't always the same. It's a random selection of questions drawn from a larger pool of questions. If you do the test twice, you won't see all the same questions repeated the second time.

Copying the questions is prohibited under CARS 901.58

901.58 No person shall, in respect of an examination taken under this Division,
(a) copy or remove from any place all or any portion of the text of the examination;
(b) give help to or accept help from any person during the examination; or
(c) complete all or any portion of the examination on behalf of any other person.

That said, hypothetically speaking, it's not impossible to run your own screen recorder while completing the online test in case you want to review the results later. Not that I would know anything about that. I'm sure it has been done, but nobody is going to admit to that, or post the questions in a public forum.

 

[kalimah]

The questions aren't always the same. It's a random selection of questions drawn from a larger pool of questions. If you do the test twice, you won't see all the same questions repeated the second time.

Copying the questions is prohibited under CARS 901.58


That said, hypothetically speaking, it's not impossible to run your own screen recorder while completing the online test in case you want to review the results later. Not that I would know anything about that. I'm sure it has been done, but nobody is going to admit to that, or post the questions in a public forum.

A fellow flyer and I took the test a couple days ago and our tests were totally different. He had to take it over and got another totally different test.

 

[Robert Prior]

The easiest way to fly up here is to be under 250 g. At 250 g you need a sRPAS certificate, and a foreign pilot will also need a Special Flight Operations Certificate. Details here:

Get permission to fly a drone as a foreign pilot or operator

Get permission to fly a drone as a foreign pilot or operator

tc.canada.ca

 

[Zbip57]

The easiest way to fly up here is to be under 250 g.

Sub-250g is definitely the way to go. No registration required. There are still some restrictions like Class-F restricted zones over Niagara Falls and the Parliament Buildings, and National Parks, etc. Otherwise, only the "don't be an idiot" rule applies (CARS 900.06).

Currently there isn't any distinction between recreational vs commercial operations either. Anyone can use a sub-250g Mini for Real Estate work or just for fun with no need for registration nor any Basic or Advanced certification, nor even an SFOC.

However, that's about to change for non-Canadian operators wishing to fly in Canada. Last June 24, 2023, Transport Canada published proposed changes to our regulations introducing new requirements for foreign commercial operators. The comment period has already expired, so we'll eventually see the final version.

See: Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 157, Number 25: Regulations Amending the Canadian Aviation Regulations (RPAS – Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight and Other Operations)

 

[Robert Prior]

Note … from the SFOC application … see the circled section.

Exactly. Less than 250 g and you don't need the SFOC. (Which is what I meant, although I can see how I worded it is a bit ambiguous.)

Um, did you mean to post your name, address, phone number, and email to the internet? Personally, I'd have blanked out that section of the form before posting it in a public forum…

 

[Robert Prior]

Last June 24, 2023, Transport Canada published proposed changes to our regulations introducing new requirements for foreign commercial operators.

That was an interesting read. Thanks for linking to it.

I'm quite happy with the current rules for sub-250 g drones, so I'm pleased to see that those don't seem to be changing (if I read the bulletin correctly).

 

[kalimah]

Exactly. Less than 250 g and you don't need the SFOC. (Which is what I meant, although I can see how I worded it is a bit ambiguous.)

Um, did you mean to post your name, address, phone number, and email to the internet? Personally, I'd have blanked out that section of the form before posting it in a public forum…

No i didn’t! Removed it. Thanks.