Drone Fines and Penalties in Canada: What Breaking the Rules Costs

Drone rules in Canada are enforced with administrative monetary penalties issued by Transport Canada, and police can get involved when other laws are broken. Fines are counted per violation, so one careless flight can add up quickly.

Maximum fines

Figures based on Transport Canada’s published penalties; always check the latest amounts on the official flying safely and legally page. If you break more than one rule, you can receive several penalties at once.

Penalties beyond Transport Canada

• Criminal charges are possible in serious cases, such as endangering an aircraft, and can include jail time.
• Parks: flying in a national park can lead to charges under park regulations, with fines up to $25,000. See drones in Canadian parks.
• Wildfires: provinces have their own laws. In British Columbia, interfering with wildfire control, including with a drone, can bring fines of up to $100,000 and a year in jail. See drones and wildfires.
• Municipal bylaws can impose fines for launching in city parks — see our provincial and city laws guides.
• Privacy and trespass claims can follow intrusive filming — see drone privacy.

How enforcement happens

1. Someone reports a flight (Transport Canada has an online incident form), or police observe it.
2. Inspectors investigate: photos, video, witness statements and sometimes drone detection data.
3. A notice of assessment of monetary penalty may be issued for each violation found.

Transport Canada publishes summaries of enforcement actions, and cases with several violations have resulted in fines totalling thousands of dollars for a single pilot.

The violations that catch people most often

• Flying a 250 g+ drone without a certificate or registration.
• Flying in controlled airspace near a city airport without authorization — see controlled airspace.
• Flying over crowds or advertised events.
• Flying near emergency scenes or wildfires.
• Flying higher than 122 m (400 ft).