Quebec drone laws: Sépaq, Law 25, image rights and the French-language rules
Quebec is the most legally distinctive province in Canada for drone work, and almost none of the difference is about flying. There is no trespass statute — landowner disputes are civil, not ticketable. Privacy is by a wide margin the strictest regime in the country: Law 25 carries administrative penalties up to 2% of worldwide turnover or $10 million, and the Civil Code separately protects the right to one’s own image even in non-commercial use. And if you sell into Quebec, the Charter of the French Language imposes real obligations on your website, contracts and invoices. Sépaq does not allow recreational drone use in the parks it manages.
Sépaq and the parks
Sépaq — the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec, which runs the parcs nationaux du Québec, wildlife reserves and tourist establishments — states that it does not allow recreational drone use at the establishments it manages. Non-recreational use requires prior authorization from the establishment director, assessed on location, season and purpose. Scientific research, security and inventory work by recognized authorities are considered on direct application. Filming and photography run through a separate shoot-authorization stream.
Authorization comes with an explicit revocation clause: it may be revoked in the event of a disturbance to on-site peace and quiet or non-respect of the privacy of other users. That second limb is characteristically Quebec.
One thing to understand about the mechanism: this is a management policy, not a regulation. The Regulation respecting parks (CQLR c. P-9, r. 25) contains no aircraft or drone provisions at all. The Parks Act s.9(f) empowers regulations to prohibit or regulate the use of boats, aircraft or any type of vehicle, and s.11.3 sets fines of $125 to $3,125 for infringing regulations made under those paragraphs — but no drone-specific offence has been made. So the practical consequence of flying recreationally in a Sépaq park is being removed and losing access, not a published tariff.
There is no trespass statute in Quebec
No Petty Trespass Act, no Trespass to Property Act. Launching or landing on land you do not own is a civil matter under the Civil Code of Québec, reinforced by s.6 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms: every person has a right to the peaceful enjoyment and free disposition of their property.
Do not read that as leniency. It means a landowner’s remedy is an injunction and damages rather than a ticket — a slower process with a much higher ceiling. A summary-conviction fine in Alberta is $2,000. A civil claim in Quebec is whatever the plaintiff can prove.
Privacy: the part most operators underestimate
Law 25
Quebec’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (CQLR c. P-39.1), as modernized by Law 25 (SQ 2021, c.25, formerly Bill 64), is one of only three provincial private-sector laws declared substantially similar to PIPEDA — and it is far stricter than the other two. The core obligations sit in ss.4–6: determine your purposes before collecting, for a serious and legitimate reason; collect only what is necessary for those purposes, by lawful means; and collect from the person concerned unless they consent to third-party collection.
Aerial video that captures identifiable people, licence plates, or property tied to identifiable individuals is personal information under this Act. The penalties are the highest in Canadian privacy law: administrative monetary penalties up to 2% of worldwide turnover or $10 million, and penal fines for enterprises from $15,000 up to the greater of $25 million or 4% of worldwide turnover for the preceding fiscal year.
The right to one’s image
Separately and independently, article 35 of the Civil Code gives every person a right to respect for their reputation and privacy, and article 36 enumerates invasions of privacy expressly including keeping a person’s private life under observation by any means, and using their name, image, likeness or voice for a purpose other than the legitimate information of the public.
This is the line of authority that produced Quebec’s distinctive image-rights jurisprudence, and it applies to drone footage of identifiable individuals even for non-commercial use. In practice: a wide establishing shot of a Montreal street corner raises questions in Quebec that the same shot in Halifax does not.
Municipal
Montreal prohibits operating a drone recreationally in city parks, and says so in exactly those terms — the City’s guidance justifies the rule on the privacy and tranquility of park users. Three separate regulatory regimes cover parcs urbains, parcs-nature and parcs métropolitains d’agglomération, so which by-law governs depends on which park you are standing in. I have not been able to fetch the underlying by-law numbers directly, so I am not going to cite section numbers I cannot verify.
Ville de Québec requires authorization to use land under its jurisdiction for a drone take-off or landing during an audiovisual production. The filming permit application is substantial: dates and times, operator and company credentials, take-off and landing maps, flight trajectories, Transport Canada pilot certificate and drone registration, and $2,000,000 in liability insurance naming the Ville de Québec as additional insured. If you are bidding Quebec City work, price the insurance and the lead time in.
Selling into Quebec: the French-language obligations
This one catches drone service businesses and resellers who have never thought about it. The Charter of the French Language, as amended by Law 14 (Bill 96), applies to any business selling into Quebec:
- Websites and e-commerce — a business with a Quebec address selling to Quebecers must have a French version of its site, and all purchase-related information — product descriptions, order forms, invoices, receipts — must be available in French. An English-only quoting portal for aerial survey work is non-compliant.
- Catalogues, brochures, order forms, invoices, receipts and warranties must exist in French, online and offline.
- Adhesion contracts — standard-form contracts whose essential clauses are not negotiable, which describes most drone-services agreements and software terms — must be presented in French first. Another language only at the client’s express request, after the French version has been presented.
- Product inscriptions — text on products sold in Quebec, their packaging and accompanying documents must be in French. This reaches anyone reselling hardware.
- Public signage — French must be markedly predominant.
- Service to the public — businesses employing five or more people must be able to serve the public in French.
New obligations on trademark signage, trademarks on products, and adhesion contracts came into force on 1 June 2025. Penal exposure under the Charter runs from $600 to $6,000 for a natural person and $1,500 to $20,000 for a legal person on a first offence, rising on repeat conviction within five years.
The certification side has no language barrier. Transport Canada runs the full drone pilot licensing stream in French, including the online exam, for both Basic and Advanced, with French study resources. Fees on the French pages are no charge for Basic, $25 for Advanced and $125 for Level 1 Complex operations. The Quebec-specific burden is entirely commercial and consumer-facing — it is about how you sell, not how you get certified.
Wildlife
Quebec is the one province where the word “drone” appears expressly in a statute. Article 1 of the Loi sur la conservation et la mise en valeur de la faune (CQLR c. C-61.1) defines aéronef as any device that can sustain itself in the atmosphere through the reactions of the air, including a drone. Wildlife protection officers may inspect and immobilize an aéronef and seize one used to commit an offence.
If you are working toward certification
Nothing on this page changes the exam or the flight review. The Advanced written exam is 50 questions in 60 minutes at an 80% pass mark, written online through Transport Canada’s Drone Management Portal from anywhere in Canada, and the certificate is valid nationally. What the material here changes is the operational judgement you are assessed on: a reviewer will expect you to distinguish airspace authorization from land-use permission, and to say which one you actually hold for the site you are standing on.
If you are preparing, the free practice exam and the Canadian RPAS Operations Guide cover the written side, and I conduct in-person Advanced flight reviews across southern Ontario.
Related reading
- All 13 provinces and territories compared — parks, permits, trespass and privacy side by side
- The Advanced RPAS certificate — exam, flight review and the November 2025 privileges
- Where can I fly a drone in Canada? — airspace authority versus land-use authority
- Canadian drone rules at a glance — every federal limit on one page
Questions
Can I fly a drone in a Quebec national park (Sépaq)?
Not recreationally. Sépaq does not allow recreational drone use at any establishment it manages. Non-recreational use requires prior written authorization from the establishment director, assessed on location, season and purpose, with filming and photography running through a separate permit stream. Authorization can be revoked for disturbing on-site peace and quiet or the privacy of other users.
Is the Transport Canada drone exam available in French?
Yes. Transport Canada runs the full drone pilot licensing stream in French, including the online exam for both Basic and Advanced certificates, with French study resources. There is no language barrier on the certification side — the Quebec-specific obligations are commercial, affecting how you sell rather than how you qualify.
Does my drone business website need a French version for Quebec?
If you have a Quebec address and sell to Quebecers, yes. Under the Charter of the French Language as amended by Law 14, the site must have a French version and all purchase-related information — product descriptions, order forms, invoices and receipts — must be available in French. Standard-form service contracts must be presented in French first, with another language only at the client's express request afterwards.
What are the privacy penalties for drone footage in Quebec?
Law 25 carries administrative monetary penalties up to 2% of worldwide turnover or $10 million, and penal fines for enterprises from $15,000 up to the greater of $25 million or 4% of worldwide turnover. Separately, Civil Code articles 35 and 36 protect the right to one's own image and apply even to non-commercial footage of identifiable individuals.
Is trespassing to launch a drone an offence in Quebec?
Not a ticketable offence — Quebec has no trespass statute. It is a civil matter under the Civil Code of Québec, supported by s.6 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees peaceful enjoyment of property. The landowner's remedy is an injunction and damages rather than a fine, which means a slower process with a much higher potential ceiling than a summary-conviction fine elsewhere in Canada.
Written by Chris Jones, Transport Canada certified RPAS pilot and flight reviewer. Last reviewed 8 August 2026. Spot an error? Tell me and I'll fix it.