Toronto Mavic Owner: where can I fly?

[CanIFly]

Hey yall,

so i'm pulling the trigger today after weeks of deliberation regarding which drone to get... then which model... then where is best to purchase from... and now where can I even fly this thing so I don't 'break the law'.

after doing some research i found this site.
UAV Site Selection Tool - National Research Council Canada

so my understanding is that i cant fly anywhere in the red bubbles?
does this mean, even at lower altitudes...I can't imagine a plane being affected by a drone flying 20 ft above the ground, but who knows?

I'm in the Mississauga/Etobicoke/Port Credit areas.
Drone i will be getting MPP

 

[pixl]

Hey yall,

so i'm pulling the trigger today after weeks of deliberation regarding which drone to get... then which model... then where is best to purchase from... and now where can I even fly this thing so I don't 'break the law'.

after doing some research i found this site.
UAV Site Selection Tool - National Research Council Canada

so my understanding is that i cant fly anywhere in the red bubbles?
does this mean, even at lower altitudes...I can't imagine a plane being affected by a drone flying 20 ft above the ground, but who knows?

I'm in the Mississauga/Etobicoke/Port Credit areas.
Drone i will be getting MPP

Yup, you can't fly in any of those red bubbles, even 20 ft off the ground. And it's pointless to argue about it -- this is the law. Imagine being where I am -- Hamilton Harbor -- 5 overlapping NFZ's.

The laws being proposed are even more restrictive, and will include a requirement that you carry a minimum of $100,000 liability insurance.

 

[treygeiger]

Yup, you can't fly in any of those red bubbles, even 20 ft off the ground. And it's pointless to argue about it -- this is the law. Imagine being where I am -- Hamilton Harbor -- 5 overlapping NFZ's.

The laws being proposed are even more restrictive, and will include a requirement that you carry a minimum of $100,000 liability insurance.

Proposed regulations only require liability insurance if over 1kg / non-recreational use. It shouldn't impact most people. https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/proposed-rules-drones-canada.html

 

[Timbit31]

Whitby here. Here is a link to the drone laws in Canada.

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/flying-drone-safely-legally.html#flying

Download UAV Forecast from the app or Google store and you can set the restrictions in the settings which will put the restrictions on the map view.

 

[pixl]

Proposed regulations only require liability insurance if over 1kg / non-recreational use. It shouldn't impact most people. https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/proposed-rules-drones-canada.html

I doesn't say anywhere in the proposal that the liability is for commercial use only. What follows is a quote of the entire pertinent section (emphasis mine):

"All operators who fly a drone that weighs more than 250 g for any purpose will need to be insured through a liability insurance provider for at least $100,000."

 

[CanIFly]

Thanks guys, @pixl, the laws are... ummm... interesting to say the least.
Just to clarify, these laws are only enforced if someone complains to the police... correct?
because i definitely see a TON of content on youtube within the city or close to vehicles or animals etc.

I really wanted to get a sweep of toronto from over the water from humbers bay park by Mimco... very disappointed i won't be able to.

I will get the app @Timbit31 suggested, ty

 

[pixl]

Thanks guys, @pixl, the laws are... ummm... interesting to say the least.
Just to clarify, these laws are only enforced if someone complains to the police... correct?
because i definitely see a TON of content on youtube within the city or close to vehicles or animals etc.

I really wanted to get a sweep of toronto from over the water from humbers bay park by Mimco... very disappointed i won't be able to.

I will get the app @Timbit31 suggested, ty

Sorry, I'm not going to give any legal advice.

 

[verslen]

Yup, you can't fly in any of those red bubbles, even 20 ft off the ground. And it's pointless to argue about it -- this is the law. Imagine being where I am -- Hamilton Harbor -- 5 overlapping NFZ's.

The laws being proposed are even more restrictive, and will include a requirement that you carry a minimum of $100,000 liability insurance.

I don't think the information on that website is up to date. It looks like they're using the old 9 km exclusion zone around airports instead of the current 5.5 km one.

 

[pixl]

I don't think the information on that website is up to date. It looks like they're using the old 9 km exclusion zone around airports instead of the current 5.5 km one.

9 km is the current exclusion zone. 5.5km is the distance in the proposed changes, that are not yet in effect, and are going through the review process. If/when they will be adopted is so far undetermined.

 

[verslen]

9 km is the current exclusion zone. 5.5km is the distance in the proposed changes, that are not yet in effect, and are going through the review process. If/when they will be adopted is so far undetermined.

Information on the Transport Canada website seems to be saying it's currently 5.5 km.
https://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/ca-opssvs/Flying_for_fun_EN-V8.pdf
https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/flying-drone-safely-legally.html

It's a bit confusing because they do list proposed new changes here and they include the 5.5 km exclusion zone around airports. But they don't list the 9 km exclusion anywhere as being the current law so I'm pretty certain it's 5.5 km.

 

[pixl]

Information on the Transport Canada website seems to be saying it's currently 5.5 km.
https://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/ca-opssvs/Flying_for_fun_EN-V8.pdf
https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/flying-drone-safely-legally.html

It's a bit confusing because they do list proposed new changes here and they include the 5.5 km exclusion zone around airports. But they don't list the 9 km exclusion anywhere as being the current law so I'm pretty certain it's 5.5 km.

Interesting. So what are we to conclude? -- part of the TC website says that these are current regs, while another part says they are merely proposed. The same set of proposals says that they will be requiring 100k of liability insurance for all users, too, but no mention of that on the page you linked. They also say of the new: "We’ll publish the final regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II in 2018." The exact publication date is undecided. As usual, Transport Canada is clear as mud.

If I was still doing commercial work in Canada I'd call my local TC office for a clarification. But I don't know if they'd be any help to be honest -- the law is has always been subject to interpretation by the various enforcement officers. And aerodrome tower operators can be worse -- they really don't know what the laws are.

Honestly, I almost never fly locally, and rarely in Canada. My drone is mostly for shooting while traveling, and I do travel a lot.

 

[Static8]

Interesting. So what are we to conclude? -- part of the TC website says that these are current regs, while another part says they are merely proposed. The same set of proposals says that they will be requiring 100k of liability insurance for all users, too, but no mention of that on the page you linked. They also say of the new: "We’ll publish the final regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II in 2018." The exact publication date is undecided. As usual, Transport Canada is clear as mud.

If I was still doing commercial work in Canada I'd call my local TC office for a clarification. But I don't know if they'd be any help to be honest -- the law is has always been subject to interpretation by the various enforcement officers. And aerodrome tower operators can be worse -- they really don't know what the laws are.

Honestly, I almost never fly locally, and rarely in Canada. My drone is mostly for shooting while traveling, and I do travel a lot.

WIth all the new laws and soon to be completely illegal to fly drones without giving away your entire personal history , why should we be buying drones from any company. There are zero regulations for the manufacturers, and yet we get labelled as criminals (In Canada). I was approached by 3 Park Ranger telling me its illegal to fly in BC’ parks. I educated them by showing them the federal government (Transport Canada) law and I was not breaking any law.., I was flying legally but the city is already priming their Rangers to stop all operators from flying...in other words the CIty of Vancouver will soon post “NO FLY Zones For DRONES” in all parks, (just a gut feeling). Right now they are abiding by Transport Canada law and today I won...The silver lining here, I educated the Park Rangers and they thanked me because they are not provided with any direction from the City, only DRONES are illegal to fly ...for me that speaks volumes on future of drones at least in my city....No education for the city workers, to general public and I blame our Transport Minister. This will only get worse and if they are going to impose so much BS on the operators but yet place no rules on the manufacturers, retailers...then they need to rethink their entire plans for this hobby and let us fly responsibly..

 

[TheManx]

Hi,
I offer this in the hope it’s useful to someone.
I am a real life pilot and a recent Mavic owner (haven’t flown it yet). As I’m reading this forum i’m Seeing questions that have pretty easy answers since much of this is just the basics from the pilot license exams. Your pilots now so the rules your hitting are very old rules for pilots. Welcome!

1 - people are quoting distances from control zones in KM. Everything in Flight is communicated in imperial so all controlled airspace’s start at 5 nm (nautical miles) radius

2 - technically you can fly in any class G airspace that doesn’t require radio contact and there are pockets of class G between airport and heliport control zones. You can ALSO fly UNDER terminal control areas outside of the 5nm radius, so Pearson has multilevel control zones that covers the ENTIRE city from Hamilton to Pickering and almost as far north as Aliston. The airspace outside the 5nm control zone is Class G airspace up to a varying altitude depending on where you are so the next airspace base should be around the 1000 foot mark outside the initial 5nm.

3 - this is VITAL. The laws I’ve seen quoted so far make no reference to AGL or ASL (above ground/sea level). You are restricted to 90 feet in Ontario if memory serves so if that’s AGL, you can never know if your at the right atitude because you can’t set the pressure BUT if it’s ASL, the folks buried at the local cemetery are already above the 90 foot limit!!

4 - “20 feet shouldn’t make a difference.” I tend to agree but it’s not laws for drones, your being made pilots. These are the laws I had to learn for my pilots license. This became needed because of morons wanting to fly drones along the shore of Toronto taking photos within less then a km of a flight school, commercial airport, 3 hospital heliports, people and property without regard. Sadly with idiots like that, it’s ball busting time and we all pay for it.

Pilot training is almost all about avoiding emergencies and dealing with emergencies, “where are you landing if you engine quits RIGHT NOW?” Was a common question, especially during takeoff when I was taking my flight lessons.
Risking other aircraft, passengers and property for a stupid video will generally yield a fast and harsh reaction from your new pilot community.

If your interested in learning, go to Buttonville or Brampton airport or Island airport flight school and look for the “prop shop” (nick name for pilot store). Buy a VNC (visual navigation chart) and a book, “from the ground up” - the only book student pilots need. It explains all the charts and airspace zones and the legal responsibilities pilots, like you, are now, have.

Once again, welcome to the fraternity of Pilots

 

[pixl]

It's 90 meters

 

[TheManx]

It's 90 meters

Thx.

 

[Sloth469]

online version...

Canadian Airspace Viewer

 

[genesimmons]

online version...

Canadian Airspace Viewer

wow very cool but hard to view as so congested, i to have been struggling with areas to fly kinda, seems every where i go i see a low flying private plane or small jet flying by, all the primo shooting spots are in the flight path of planes haha, why cant they fly over the ugly areas of the province haha

 

[Sloth469]

wow very cool but hard to view as so congested, i to have been struggling with areas to fly kinda, seems every where i go i see a low flying private plane or small jet flying by, all the primo shooting spots are in the flight path of planes haha, why cant they fly over the ugly areas of the province haha

yes, there is a lot of info on that map but once you filter out the ones that don't apply and only look at CZ and TCA or below 700' feet it clears it up quite a bit. Also not flying within 30 meters of buildings pretty much rules out any urban flying anyways..

 

[FUTURE_PRODUCTIONS]

Hey CanIFly, I am also in the6ix, whereabouts are you from in Toronto? I know a few spots I have been training at for my Mavic related Youtube vlog. PM me and maybe we can arrange some flights...

 

[pinoydrone]

Can you pm me pls,where are those spots I’m from Markham bought my mavic 2 weeks now never tried it yet,so can you tell me where you fly please,thanks