City of Vaughan to start drone delivery pilot project

Mobilesyrup.com
April 21, 2016
By Ian Hardy

Brace yourselves, the drones are coming - and they’re delivering packages.

Last year, Amazon reportedly started testing its often-discussed drone delivery service in Canada, and then online retailer Shop.ca jumped onboard the unmanned aerial vehicle option with a partnership with Toronto-based Drone Delivery Canada (DDC).

Today, DDC has announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Vaughan, specifically the city’s Vaughan International Commercialization Centre (VICC), where the company will develop a pilot program that will see local packages delivered by drones. This agreement and pilot project is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada.

City of Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said in a statement, “as an innovation and research-based city we welcome this opportunity to collaborate with Drone Delivery Canada through our Test City program at the Vaughan International Commercialization Centre. We believe that this cooperation will bring about successful results.”

According to the release, the possible drone delivery pilot project “creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to test, demonstrate, and prove their products in Canada ... Qualified VICC members will have an opportunity to demonstrate their utilities, healthcare, and environmental/green technologies in real-life settings across Vaughan.”

The company notes that it will implement a fleet of delivery drones that will deliver mail, books and parcels “in a clean, green, environmental friendly way.” Tony Di Benedetto, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada, believes this will happen in conjunction with government regulations “sometime as early as 2018, if not sooner.”

The Government of Canada recently introduced new certification exemptions for commercial drones. Between 2010 and 2013, the government handed out over 1,500 Special Flight Operations Certificates and the number of certificates issued annually is continually growing as the popularity for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, increases.