In June the Board created the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Committee to provide advice on matters regarding current and future spectrum requirements of UAV’s applications. The Board then sought volunteers to Chair the new committee. This month, Martin McCulloch (Waterloo Regional Police Service/Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) was appointed Chair of the UAV Committee. Martin is a Transport Canada licenced (advanced) RPAS Pilot and Flight Reviewer for issuing licences.
A kick-off meeting is planned for November. It is anticipated the committee will perform a comprehensive review of available technical and non-technical information pertaining to the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (PAS) market, including radio frequencies used, spectrum management approaches, market size, use cases and regulatory issues. The information review could also be enhanced to include recommendations to ISED on ways to move forward in assisting to the development of spectrum and technical regulations for the use of UAVs in Canada. It is anticipated that ISED will issue a consultation regarding frequencies used by UAVs.