Basic or Advanced?
You need Advanced if any one of these is true: you'll fly in controlled airspace; you'll fly closer than 30 metres horizontally to bystanders; you'll fly directly over people; or your drone weighs 25 kg or more. If none apply, Basic is enough. Whether you're paid has nothing to do with it.
Why "commercial licence" isn't a thing here
The single most common misconception in Canadian drone regulation is that being paid requires more certification. It doesn't. CARs Part IX is risk-based, not purpose-based — it cares about where the aircraft is and who's underneath it, not about whether money changed hands.
A hobbyist photographing a downtown building needs exactly the same certificate as a professional doing identical work. Conversely, a paid agricultural survey over an empty field in uncontrolled airspace is a Basic operation.
The three tiers
| Basic | Advanced | Level 1 Complex | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum age | 14 | 16 | 18 |
| Written exam | 35 questions, 90 min, 65% | 50 questions, 60 min, 80% | Advanced exam, then the Level 1 Complex exam |
| Ground school | Not required | Not required | Minimum 20 hours |
| Flight review | Not required | Required | Required (Level 1 Complex) |
| Operator certificate | No | No | RPOC required for complex operations |
| Certificate issuance fee | Included in exam fee | CA$25 | CA$125 |
| Controlled airspace | No | Yes, with NAV CANADA authorization | Yes |
| Near bystanders | 30 m minimum | Closer than 30 m permitted | Closer than 30 m permitted |
| Over people | No | Yes | Yes |
| Medium drones (25–150 kg) | No | Yes | Yes |
| EVLOS | No | Yes | Yes |
| BVLOS | No | No | Yes, lower-risk operations |
Work through it honestly
Question 1 — Where will you actually fly?
Not where you plan to fly next weekend; where you'll fly over the next two years. Most Canadian towns and cities of any size have controlled airspace overhead or nearby, and the moment you want to work in one you need Advanced. Check your area on a VFR chart or the NRC drone site selection tool before deciding.
Question 2 — How close will people be?
Thirty metres is further than it feels. A residential street, a parking lot, a construction site with a crew on it — these routinely put bystanders inside 30 metres. If your intended work involves anywhere people are, assume Advanced.
Question 3 — How heavy is the aircraft?
Under 250 g needs no certificate at all. From 250 g to 25 kg is standard Basic or Advanced territory. From 25 kg to 150 kg is a medium drone, which since 4 November 2025 is automatically an advanced operation or higher.
Question 4 — Will you ever need to fly beyond sight?
If the answer is a genuine yes — long linear infrastructure, large-area survey — you're looking at Level 1 Complex. That's a substantial step: you must be 18, pass the Advanced exam first, complete at least 20 hours of ground school at a flight school, pass a separate Level 1 Complex exam and flight review, then pay a CA$125 certificate issuance fee. Complex operations must also be flown under an RPAS Operator Certificate. Most operators don't need any of this.
A practical bias: if you're genuinely torn, go Advanced. There's no requirement to hold Basic first, Advanced supersedes it entirely, and the common regret is discovering mid-project that a site is inside controlled airspace. The cost difference is the flight review and a harder exam, not a different category of effort.
Questions
Do I need Basic before I can take Advanced?
No. You can go straight to Advanced. It supersedes Basic privileges entirely, so holding both is unnecessary.
I only fly for fun. Does that change anything?
No. The rules don't distinguish recreational from commercial flight. A 900 g camera drone flown for pleasure needs the same certificate and registration as one flown for hire.
What if I already have Basic and now need Advanced?
Sit the Advanced written exam, then complete a flight review. Your Basic certificate isn't wasted — the material overlaps substantially, and you've already learned the operating rules. The new ground is meteorology, airspace and theory of flight.
How much does each one cost?
Transport Canada charges a fee per exam attempt, listed in the Drone Management Portal, plus a per-drone registration fee. On top of that there's a certificate issuance fee: nothing extra for Basic (it's included in the exam fee), CA$25 for Advanced and CA$125 for Level 1 Complex. Advanced and L1C also require a flight review, charged by the reviewer — ours is CA$300. Study materials are extra and optional.
Decided on Basic? Our free Basic course covers the whole exam, with practice questions. Going Advanced? The 44-page operations guide covers the full syllabus for CA$29, and we run the flight review too.