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Canada · Drone pilot exam

Transport Canada drone exam: Small Basic and Advanced

A drone pilot certificate in Canada starts with an online exam. Transport Canada runs two drone exams: the Small Basic Exam for the basic certificate, and the Advanced Exam for the advanced one, which you follow with a flight review. The rules for remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) behind both are in Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs).

  • 35Small Basic Exam questions, in 90 minutes
  • 50Advanced Exam questions, in 60 minutes
  • Within 12 monthsApply for advanced after the flight review
Where to studyHow the test works

Updated November 2026 · Written from the Knowledge Requirements for Pilots of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, 250 g up to and including 150 kg, Basic and Advanced Operations (Transport Canada, TP 15263, fourth edition, March 2025)

Key facts

At a glance

Run by
Transport Canada, under Part IX of the CARs
Minimum age
14 for the basic certificate, 16 for the advanced one
To keep flying
The certificate doesn’t expire, but you need an exam, flight review or training activity in the 24 months before each flight
Lower-risk beyond visual line of sight
A Level 1 Complex certificate: 18 or older, the Advanced Exam plus the Level 1 Complex Exam, 20 hours of ground school and a flight review, and you fly under an RPAS Operator Certificate
Certificates issued
141,956 basic and 23,427 advanced, as of August 13, 2026

How it works

How the Transport Canada drone exam works

Small Basic Exam
65%
Advanced Exam
80%
To pass you need at least 65% on the Small Basic Exam, and at least 80% on the Advanced Exam.
  1. Start by finding your category of operation. It tells you whether you need the basic or the advanced certificate, and so which exam to take.
  2. Make an account in the Drone Management Portal, then pay for and take the exam online. You have to be able to read the questions in English or French without help.
  3. All the questions are multiple choice. If you run out of time, the exam is marked on the answers you gave, and your result shows in the portal right after you finish.
  4. Pass the Small Basic Exam and Transport Canada issues your pilot certificate for basic operations, which you download and print from the portal.
  5. Pass the Advanced Exam and keep the reference number you’re given. You book the flight review directly with a drone flight school, and it will ask for that number.
  6. At the flight review, a Transport Canada-approved flight reviewer checks that you can fly safely. The reviewer submits your results online within 24 hours, and you get an email with a link to them.
  7. Then apply for the pilot certificate for advanced operations in the portal and pay its fee. It’s issued right after payment.

Topics

What the drone exams cover

Transport Canada bases the exam questions on these eight sections of TP 15263, its knowledge requirements document. The points under each come from TP 15263, Part IX of the CARs and Transport Canada’s drone pages.

01

Air law, air traffic rules and procedures

The Aeronautics Act and the parts of the Canadian Aviation Regulations a drone pilot works under, from definitions to Part IX.

Key points (4)
  • A drone gives way to power-driven heavier-than-air aircraft, airships, gliders and balloons at all times (section 901.17).
  • Without a special flight operations certificate, you stay at or below 400 feet (122 metres) above ground, or 100 feet (30 metres) above a building you’re flying within 200 feet (61 metres) of (901.25).
  • When visual observers help spot traffic, the pilot must keep reliable and timely communication with each of them (901.20).
  • Any drone at an advertised event, a microdrone included, needs a special flight operations certificate.
02

Airframes, power plants, propulsion and systems

How a drone and its control station work, and what can go wrong with them.

Key points (3)
  • Operating weight includes anything attached or carried, such as a camera or safety cage, but not the remote control.
  • Batteries are a topic of their own: capacity, parallel and series setups, charge cycles, storage and carrying them under the dangerous goods rules.
  • Software version control, for the drone and the control station, is on the list for both exams.
03

Human factors

Your own limits as a pilot, and how they affect your decisions.

Key points (3)
  • No one may act as a crew member within 12 hours after drinking alcohol, or while fatigued or otherwise unfit (901.19).
  • Pressure from family, friends or an employer is a listed topic, along with stress, attitudes and complacency with automation.
  • Standard operating procedures and the correct use of checklists and manuals are on both exams.
04

Meteorology

Weather near the ground, where drones fly.

Key points (3)
  • For a visual line-of-sight flight, the weather has to let the pilot or a visual observer keep the drone in sight for the whole flight (901.34).
  • Local wind effects such as land and sea breezes, katabatic and anabatic winds and terrain are part of the knowledge list.
  • Frost and ice matter for the drone and for launch and recovery systems.
05

Navigation

Reading aeronautical charts and the publications that tell you what’s around your flying area.

Key points (3)
  • Before a flight you survey the site, including the type of airspace and anything a notice to airmen specifies for the area (901.27).
  • You should be able to convert Coordinated Universal Time to local time and back.
  • Charts covered are the visual flight rules (VFR) Navigation Chart and VFR Terminal Area Chart, and you use the Canada Flight Supplement to find aerodrome details.
06

Flight operations

Planning a flight, flying it and handling emergencies.

Key points (3)
  • After an injury needing medical attention, a fly-away or a risk of collision with another aircraft, you stop flying until you’ve found the cause and acted on it (901.49).
  • Sheltered operations keep a small drone no more than 100 feet (30 metres) above a building or structure and within 200 feet (61 metres) of it horizontally.
  • Extended visual line-of-sight flights stay within 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometres) of the pilot, control station and visual observer, in uncontrolled airspace.
07

Theory of flight

Why fixed-wing drones, multi-rotors and helicopters fly the way they do.

Key points (3)
  • The forces covered are lift, drag (induced and parasite), thrust and weight, and how they balance.
  • Where the centre of gravity sits changes how stable the aircraft is.
  • Rotorcraft topics include cyclic, collective, tail rotor, settling with power and recirculation.
08

Radiotelephony

Talking on aviation radio, and the radios a crew uses between themselves.

Key points (2)
  • You should be able to give an example of an advisory about a possible conflict with another aircraft, and describe a positive transfer of control by voice.
  • Crew member radios, including what limits their reception range, are on both exams.

Test day

What you need for the exam and the flight review

  • A computer with an internet connection, for the online exam
  • A pencil and paper for diagrams and calculations, which TP 15263 suggests having nearby
  • For the flight review, the results page of your passed exam, on paper or on screen
  • Valid government-issued ID with your name and date of birth
  • The Certificate of Registration for the drone you’ll fly at the review

Before you go

  1. Check your drone’s operating weight. Anything attached or carried counts, but the remote control doesn’t.
  2. If you need extra time, email TC.RPASInfo-InfoSATP.TC@tc.gc.ca to ask for an accommodation before you pay for the exam.
  3. From abroad and using your own foreign-owned drone at the flight review? You need a special flight operations certificate for drones first, and processing can take up to 30 working days.
Go to the Drone Management PortalTransport Canada’s portal page has the sign-in, its help line and its office hours.

Study options

Where to study

Transport Canada’s own reading, ground schools that teach to its knowledge list, and the general guide RPAS 101 are side by side here. The study page explains which topics are for the Advanced Exam only.

OptionPriceFree to useLinks
Official
Transport Canada Aeronautical Information Manual (TC AIM)Transport Canada’s manual of rules and procedures in Canadian airspace, with a Remotely Piloted Aircraft chapterTransport Canada says it’s updated twice a year, and TP 15263 lists it as recommended study material.
PDF chapters on Transport Canada’s site; printed copies from retailersPDF chapters to download on its page
See the TC AIM chapters ↗
Transport Canada’s list of drone flight schoolsSchools that have self-declared that they train to TP 15263Transport Canada says the schools set the fees for courses and flight reviews. You can filter the list by city.
Set by each schoolThe list
Find a drone flight school ↗
Guides
RPAS 101, from the Aerial Evolution Association of CanadaA general knowledge guide for Canadian drone pilots, made with Transport CanadaThe association describes it as an education booklet, like a driver’s handbook, for new and seasoned pilots.
No price on its pageDownload links in English and French
Get RPAS 101 ↗
Online ground schools
Coastal DroneOnline ground school and exam prep for the basic, advanced and Level 1 Complex certificatesThe basic bundle has a 70-lesson ground school, a 16-lesson exam prep course and an operating procedures guide. The advanced ground school is 20 hours. For the flight review, Coastal Drone points to its Advanced Pilot Bundle. The advanced bundle’s own page shows $379; its course list shows $397.95, in Canadian dollars.
Basic $99.75; Advanced $379 to $397.95Not listed
See Coastal Drone’s courses ↗
Volatus Academy: Advanced RPAS Ground School BundleAdvanced ground school with flight training and a flight reviewThe bundle page doesn’t say where the flight training and review happen.
Not listed on the bundle pageNot listed
See the Volatus bundle ↗

Prices and ratings checked November 2026.

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FAQ

Common questions

Do you need a drone licence in Canada?

You need a drone pilot certificate, which is what Transport Canada calls it, to fly a drone with an operating weight of 250 g up to 150 kg. Drones of 250 g or more must also be registered and marked. Microdrones under 250 g need neither, but their pilots must follow the microdrone rules. Someone without a certificate can fly under the supervision of a certified pilot, for example at a club or camp.

How much does the Transport Canada drone exam cost?

The CARs set a charge of $10 for each try at the Small Basic or Advanced Exam. It’s adjusted each April 1 by the yearly change in Canada’s Consumer Price Index, unless that change is under 1%, so the amount on Transport Canada’s exam pages is a little more than $10. The Small Basic Exam fee includes the basic certificate. The advanced certificate has its own charge, $25 in the regulations and adjusted the same way. Flight reviewers set their own price for the review.

Can you retake the drone exam in Canada if you fail?

Yes, as many times as you wish. You wait 24 hours after a failed exam, and each attempt costs the same fee. A failed flight review works much the same: you can book another a day later, with no limit on attempts, though the reviewer may charge each time.

What can an advanced certificate do that a basic one can’t?

A basic certificate covers a small drone of 250 g to 25 kg, flown where you can see it, in uncontrolled airspace, at least 30 metres from bystanders, more than 5.6 km from the centre of a certified airport and more than 1.9 km from a heliport. With an advanced certificate and the right drone for the operation, you can also fly in controlled airspace with air traffic control’s permission, closer to or over people, medium drones up to 150 kg, and sheltered and extended visual line-of-sight flights.

Is there a commercial drone licence in Canada?

Not a separate one. Transport Canada issues three drone pilot certificates, basic, advanced and Level 1 Complex. Which one you need depends on what you fly, how you fly it and where.

Do Ontario, British Columbia or Alberta have their own drone licence?

No. Drone pilot certificates come from Transport Canada, and the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over aeronautics. Provincial, territorial and municipal laws also apply to drone pilots, for example on privacy and trespassing.

Are Canada’s drone rules changing?

Transport Canada published a proposed amendment on June 8, 2026, covering remote identification, community-based organizations and designated RPAS airspace, and public comments closed on September 9, 2026. It’s a proposal, not a rule. These pages follow the CARs as consolidated to October 19, 2026, which include the changes that let advanced pilots fly sheltered and extended visual line-of-sight operations from November 4, 2025.

Sources: Transport Canada · Justice Laws Website and 16 more. Checked November 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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