How to register a drone in Canada
Any drone weighing 250 g or more must be registered with Transport Canada through the Drone Management Portal before it flies, and marked with the registration number it's issued. The number looks like C-XXXXXXX. It takes about twenty minutes, there's a small per-aircraft fee, and registration doesn't expire — but it's tied to you, so a drone you sell must be re-registered by its new owner.
Do you actually need to?
Weigh the aircraft as you'll fly it — batteries, camera, any payload or attachment. That's the operating weight, and it's what the 250 g threshold applies to. Some popular drones sit deliberately just under 250 g in their base configuration and cross it the moment you add anything.
Under 250 g: no registration, no pilot certificate. You're still prohibited from flying recklessly or endangering other aircraft.
The five steps
- Confirm it applies. 250 g or more, as flown.
- Create a Drone Management Portal account on Transport Canada's site. The same account handles registration, exams and your certificates.
- Enter the aircraft details — manufacturer, model and serial number. The serial is usually printed on the airframe or inside the battery bay. Have the drone in front of you.
- Pay the fee. It's per aircraft and shown in the portal. Your registration number is issued immediately.
- Mark the aircraft before it next flies.
Marking it properly
The requirement is that the number is clearly visible and legible on the aircraft. Transport Canada doesn't prescribe an exact size or position, which trips people up — they assume there's a spec and go looking for it.
What matters in practice:
- Readable without dismantling anything. Inside a battery compartment that comes off in seconds is generally accepted; buried under a shell is not.
- Durable. A label that peels off on the first cold morning doesn't count as marking. Engraving, a decent printed label, or permanent marker on a clean surface all work.
- Legible. Someone should be able to read it and write it down.
This is the detail that fails flight reviews. Not the flying — a registration number that's worn away, was never applied, or can't be found. It costs nothing to fix and it's checked every single time.
Buying, selling and multiple aircraft
Registration is per aircraft and tied to the owner. Three consequences:
- Every drone needs its own registration. A fleet of four means four registrations and four numbers.
- Selling transfers nothing. The buyer registers it themselves and gets a new number. Remove or update the old marking.
- Buying used? Don't assume the seller's registration carries over. It doesn't.
What to carry when you fly
You must be able to produce, on request:
- Your pilot certificate
- The aircraft's certificate of registration
- Proof of recency — evidence you've completed a recurrent activity within 24 months (details here)
Digital copies on a phone are fine. Being unable to produce them is its own problem, separate from whether you're otherwise flying legally.
Questions
Does registration expire?
No, and there's no annual renewal. It stays valid as long as you own the aircraft.
Do I register once as a pilot, or once per drone?
Per drone. Your pilot certificate is yours; registration belongs to each individual aircraft. Four drones, four registrations, four numbers.
What if I lose the registration certificate?
Log into the Drone Management Portal and download it again. Your registrations live in your account.
My drone is exactly 249 g. Do I still need to register?
Not at 249 g as flown — but check what you're adding. Prop guards, a bigger battery, a filter or a payload can push it over, and the threshold applies to operating weight at takeoff, not the manufacturer's headline spec.
Registered and ready to certify? Our free Basic course covers the whole Basic exam, and the certification pathway lays out the full sequence.