About Drone's View Canada
Drone's View Canada is a one-person operation run by Chris Jones, an Advanced RPAS pilot and Transport Canada recognised flight reviewer based in Guelph, Ontario. It does three things: commercial aerial imaging, in-person Advanced RPAS flight reviews across southern Ontario, and plain-English regulatory writing — most of it given away free.
Who is actually behind this
My name is Chris Jones. I've been flying remotely piloted aircraft commercially in Canadian airspace since 2017 — long enough to have operated under the old exemption regime, watched Part IX arrive in June 2019, and then worked through the substantial 2025 amendments that brought in Level 1 Complex, medium RPAS and routine EVLOS.
I hold an Advanced RPAS pilot certificate and the flight reviewer rating. That second one matters for the material on this site: I am the person who sits across from candidates at their Advanced flight review and decides whether they pass. Almost everything written here about how reviews actually go is a first-hand account rather than a summary of somebody else's summary.
The commercial side of the business is aerial photography, video and site documentation for municipal and regional government, federal agencies and universities, industrial and manufacturing sites, agricultural operations, construction and development, and property marketing. That's not incidental — it's the reason the regulatory writing here is practical. I have to file the same site surveys and airspace authorisations I'm telling you about.
What qualifies a flight reviewer
It's a fair question to ask of anyone assessing you, and the requirements are public. To hold the flight reviewer rating in Canada you must:
- be at least 18 years old;
- hold an Advanced or Level 1 Complex RPAS pilot certificate;
- have at least six months of experience while holding that certificate;
- have no outstanding enforcement actions;
- pass the flight reviewer exam — 30 questions, 90 minutes, 80% to pass; and
- be associated with a drone flight school.
Drone's View Canada is listed on Transport Canada's drone flight school directory. If you'd like the full picture of what the rating involves — including whether it's worth pursuing yourself — I've written it up in detail.
Verify me. You're entitled to. Ask to see the reviewer credential before your review, and check Transport Canada's own flight school and reviewer listings. A reviewer who's cagey about their credentials is a reviewer to walk away from.
How this site is written
Three rules, and I'd rather state them than let you guess.
Everything is checked against the regulation, not against other websites. A remarkable amount of Canadian drone content online is recycled from pre-2025 sources and is now simply wrong — particularly on BVLOS, medium RPAS, and what an Advanced certificate does and doesn't authorise since November 2025. Where a page here states a number, it came from the CARs, TP 15263, or Transport Canada's published guidance.
Where the rules are ambiguous, the page says so. Some things genuinely are unsettled or depend on facts nobody can assess for you. Manufacturing false certainty about aviation regulation is how people end up on the wrong side of an enforcement action.
Free material stays free, and I'll tell you when you don't need to buy anything. The entire Basic certificate course is published at no cost, with no email wall, because the Basic exam is not hard enough to justify charging for. Transport Canada's free self-paced program satisfies your recency requirement in full, and the recency page says exactly that even though I sell a refresher. The paid material exists for the Advanced syllabus, which is substantially harder and where a good reference genuinely saves time.
Corrections
If you find something on this site that's wrong, out of date, or misleading, tell me and I'll fix it — dronesviewcanada@gmail.com. Regulatory writing has a shelf life, and I'd rather be corrected than cited incorrectly. Pages carry a last-reviewed date so you can judge for yourself how fresh the material is.
What this site is not
It isn't a Transport Canada publication and it isn't legal advice. I'm a working pilot and reviewer explaining regulations I have to comply with myself. For anything consequential — an SFOC application, an enforcement matter, an operation you're not sure about — go to the source, and where the stakes justify it, get advice from someone qualified to give it.
Questions
Are you affiliated with Transport Canada?
No. Drone's View Canada is an independent operator. Flight reviewers are recognised by Transport Canada to conduct the Advanced flight review, and every reviewer must be associated with a drone flight school, but reviewers are not Transport Canada employees and this site is not a government publication. Always verify regulatory detail against tc.canada.ca and the Canadian Aviation Regulations themselves.
What certificates do you hold?
An Advanced RPAS pilot certificate and the flight reviewer rating, which requires an Advanced or Level 1 Complex certificate, at least six months of experience while holding it, a clean enforcement record, and a pass on the 30-question flight reviewer exam at 80%.
Who writes the content on this site?
All of it. Every guide, article and study page here is written from working experience conducting reviews and flying commercially, then checked against the Canadian Aviation Regulations as currently amended. Nothing on this site is syndicated or ghostwritten.
How current is the regulatory material?
Content reflects the CARs as amended by the RPAS Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight and Other Operations amendments, in force in two phases on 1 April 2025 and 4 November 2025. Every page carries a last-reviewed date. Where a rule is genuinely ambiguous, the page says so rather than inventing certainty.
Can I quote or cite this site?
Yes. Quote it, link to it, cite it in course material. The only thing worth asking is that you link back so readers can check the current version — regulations move, and a stale copy of a rule helps nobody.