Canadian Lawyer

to provide information on applicants or even the number of certificates issued when requested by Canadian Lawyer. A spokeswoman said: "Provided an applicant can demonstrate that they are capable of conducting a safe operation, by ensuring the safety of persons and property on the ground and other airspace users, the minister will approve the SFOC." The department is not currently considering the approval of "fully autonomous UAVs," meaning operations that "would not per- mit/allow the pilot to intervene in the management of the flight," she added. While applicants must apply for certificates 20 working days before the proposed UAV operation, Transport Canada is not obliged to review an application or issue a SFOC within those 20 working days. The uncertainty about when a SFOC will be issued is a problem, according to Sarah Fitzpatrick and Kenneth Burnett, who practise at Miller Thomson LLP in Vancouver. In an article published on the SPECIALIZATION IN BUSINESS LAW Part-time, Executive LLM program for corporate counsel and practising lawyers Taught by U of T Faculty of Law professors, together with top international faculty from MIT-Sloan School of Management and expert practitioners. TIME: EVENT: For more information, call 416-978-1400 or visit: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/programs/GPLLM.html Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) - Ontario Chapter and in partnership with Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business. 40 ntitled-1 1 F e b r uary 2014 www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m Canadian Bar Association's web site, they wrote: "A lot of jobs are date-specific and if each job requires a separate SFOC, then there is a possibility that a SFOC will not be issued in time." The requirement for a certificate to be issued each time a drone is to be deployed, and the absence of any guarantees as to when, or whether, the application will be granted, would undoubtedly thwart Amazon's idea to deliver last-minute purchases within 30 minutes. Transport Canada's web site admits: "While the ultimate goal is to 'normalize' UAV operations within civil airspace, the industry technology is not mature enough, and the regulatory structure is not in place, to support routine operations." Despite the apparently sketchy guidance, UAV industry groups are determined to press ahead. A group of UAV operators are developing a restricted airspace of 800 square nautical miles in Foremost, Alta, as a training and development area, with the aim of encouraging Transport Canada to allow more people to use drones out of sight. Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems chief executive officer Sterling Cripps says this would help energy firms monitor pipelines more effectively. "If you have 30 kilometres of pipelines you can maybe only get five km at a time. Some are taking small bites at a time. The day is coming where the regulatory bodies will allow us to fly beyond line of sight," he says. Tellingly, he states, while UAV operators must meet certain requirements, "at this point in time there aren't any regulations." The scarcity of aviation safety laws covering UAVs is also highlighted by the CQFA, or Services aux enterprises Air Carrier Training, which operates just outside Montreal and provides training to the aviation industry. Its web site states: "UAV flying has not yet been clearly defined in the Aeronautics Act. Neither the courses' content, the requirement to take such courses, or even the legal status of UAV pilots are addressed in the Canadian Aviation Regulations." There is no age criteria for UAV pilots, it adds, and no requirement to obtain a pilot medical certificate. There has been some recognition the situation needs to improve. In 2007, a federal government working group produced a report stressing the future importance of drones to the Canadian economy 14-01-08 3:17 PM

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