City of Vaughan to start drone delivery pilot project

Globalnews.ca
April 21, 2016
By Nicole Bogart

Drones may soon take to the skies north of Toronto in the City of Vaughan to deliver packages from local businesses.

The City of Vaughan and Toronto-based Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) announced Wednesday they are developing a drone delivery service pilot project for the area’s local business network. While the drone delivery service is still merely a concept, the pilot project is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada.

“We will look to develop and build, and when ready and able, implement a fleet of delivery drones within the central business district in the City of Vaughan that will deliver mail, books, and parcels, in a clean, green, environmental friendly way,” said CEO of Drone Delivery Canada Tony Di Benedetto in a press release.

The city will help DDC facilitate testing of its drone delivery technology through the Vaughan International Commercialization Centre, which provides assistance to small businesses and startups.

“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,” said Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua.

According to DDC, package carrying drones could take to the skies as early as 2018, depending on government regulations.

Transport Canada plans to have new rules for regulating drones by 2017.

Right now Canada’s rules are very different depending on whether your drone is “recreational” or “commercial” - depending essentially on whether you’re using it for fun, or to make money. Commercial drones tend to be more tightly-regulated.

In 2013, Amazon announced the development of its drone delivery system called Prime Air. The company has been testing its package delivering drones in Canada over the last year.