In anticipation of continued growth in drone traffic in Canada, NAV Canada has announced plans to launch NAV Drone in spring 2021. This is NAV Canada’s official application for drone flight authorisation applications. NAV Drone will be available both on desktop and mobile devices and will provide pilots and drone operators with the tools they need to safely fly their drones in Canadian airspace.
Currently, all applications for authorization to fly drones in controlled airspace are manually approved by NAV Canada employees and, depending on their complexity, can take up to 48 hours to be approved. With NAV Drone, NAV Canada predicts that approximately 70% of requests will be approved automatically in the app, reducing wait times for pilots and drone operators.