Drone Delivery Canada approved to transport dangerous goods

Canadian aviation authorities have issued a Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) certificate to drone logistics firm Drone Delivery Canada. The Toronto-based company says it is the only drone service provider in Canada approved to deliver dangerous goods using drones.

In Canada, the transportation of dangerous goods is strictly regulated under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992. Transport Canada has over 100 inspectors (including engineers and remedial measures specialists), who conduct close to 6,000 planned and reactive inspections every year under the government agency’s TDG program.

Drone Delivery Canada is being allowed to transport dangerous goods for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine’s Drone Transport Initiative (DTI) for remote communities. Gaining the TDG certification was important for the company because in its absence its drones wouldn’t have been able to transport some medication and lab specimens that are classified as dangerous goods.

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It’s worth highlighting that the DTI program is already using Drone Delivery Canada’s Sparrow drone and DroneSpot takeoff and landing zones to transport a variety of cargo for the benefit of the Stellat’en First Nation and the Village of Fraser Lake, located in Central Northern British Columbia.

Steve Magirias, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada, says:

We’re very happy to further support our customer, UBC, with the flexibility of transporting dangerous goods via our drone solutions. This makes DDC the only RPAS operator in Canada to conduct beyond visual line of sight and dangerous goods operations simultaneously. We want to thank Transport Canada for its continued support of the industry. We continue to demonstrate our leadership and innovative approach by offering the flexibility of transporting any type of goods, including medication and lab specimens classified as dangerous goods, for our customers.

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