Canadian RPAS Exam Guide 2021: Basic & Advanced

If you were to operate a drone that is over 250g outside in Canada, you would be violating a law. While you are still permitted to fly indoors and underground, you will need to get a pilot license to operate freely outdoors.

Why Should you Get a Drone License?

As of June 1st, 2019, new rules came into place in Canada for drone pilots to require an operator certificate to fly a drone over 250g. Whether you are looking to get recreational or want to become a drone pilot, you need to have the license to do so!

Basic or Advanced?

For small Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS; i.e. drone) operation, there are two types of licenses offered by Transport Canada: Basic and Advanced.

Note: these rules only apply to drones over 250g and over 25kg.

SMALL BASIC OPERATION LICENSE

With a basic operation license:

• You can fly your drone in uncontrolled airspace (ex. away from Airports, etc.)
• You can fly your drone more than 30 meters (100 feet) away from bystanders (measured horizontally)
• You cannot fly not over bystanders

To operate with a basic operation license, you must:

1. Be 14 years of age or older
2. Pass the basic pilot exam on the Transport Canada Website
3. Register your drone with Transport Canada
4. Have your pilot certificate and proof of registration when you fly

SMALL ADVANCED OPERATION LICENSE

With an advanced operation license:

• You can fly in both controlled airspace (with permission) and uncontrolled airspace
• You can fly within 30 meters (100 feet) of bystanders
• You can fly over bystanders

To operate with an advanced pilot license, you must:

1. Be 16 years of age or older
2. Pass the advanced pilot exam on the Transport Canada Website
3. Pass an in-person flight review conducted by a licensed flight reviewer
4. Register your drone with Transport Canada
5. Have your pilot certificate and proof of registration when you fly

Where to Take an Exam?

A set of RPAS online Exams for Pilot Certifications (Basic and Advanced) can be found on the Transport Canada website. For Advanced Operation Certification, you are also required to pass a Flight Review conducted by an accredited Flight Examiner after passing the online exam for Advanced Pilot.

What to Expect

The basic exam has 35 multiple choice questions with 90 minutes to complete the exam. You must get 65% or higher to pass. I curated resources and tips for your reference in this post.

As for the advanced exam, there are 50 multiple choice questions with 60 minutes to complete the exam. You must get 80% or higher to pass.

The exams cover a range of topics covering a diverse range of topics, including Air Regulations and Laws, RPAS Technology and Operations, Weather, Human Factors, and Manned Aviation. While some of these topics may not be relevant at all to operating a drone, these exams are packed with important knowledge (mostly, regulations) that are required for you to fly a drone in Canada.

To sum up, the exam covers the following topics:

• 01 Air law, air traffic rules, and procedures
• 02 RPAS airframes, power plants, propulsion, and systems
• 03 Human factors
• 04 Meteorology
• 05 Navigation
• 06 Flight operations
• 07 Theory of flight
• 08 Radiotelephony

The advanced operation exam covers many more topics than the basic operation exam. More details can be found on Transport Canada’s website here.

How much does it cost?

Online exams: $10 per attempt for the basic and advanced pilot exam

Flight Review for Advanced: Varies from $200 – $350 per attempt depends on the flight reviewer. A list of flight reviews can be found here.

If you have failed an RPAS online exam or a flight review, you may re-take it after 24 hours.

How long is my license valid for?

Once you obtained your license, you need to keep your knowledge up to date. If you do not keep up to date with your knowledge for over 2 years, Transport Canada may invalidate your result. Based on Standard 921.04 – Recency Requirements, you can meet the recency requirement by:

• Attending a safety seminar endorsed by Transport Canada Civil Aviation
• Completing a recurrent drone training program
• Completing a self-paced study program endorsed by Transport Canada Civil Aviation

Once you attend one of these training activities, you must keep proof that you have completed the training activity with you whenever you fly.