3.3 RPAS Flight Authorization (NAV Drone)

3.3 RPAS Flight Authorization (NAV Drone)

Quick Answer: For Advanced RPAS operations in controlled airspace (typically Class C, D, and E), you need a written RPAS Flight Authorization from NAV CANADA, obtained primarily through the NAV Drone app/process. That authorization is specific to the approved operation—location, times, altitudes, and conditions—not a yearly free pass. Near military aerodromes, obtain the required Department of National Defence (DND) permission. Sequence is always authorize, then fly within the written limits.

Holding an Advanced certificate answers “are you qualified to request controlled-airspace privileges?” Authorization answers “are you allowed to use those privileges here, now, under these limits?” The exam and the field both punish pilots who collapse those two questions into one.

Why Written Authorization Exists

Controlled airspace is a shared resource managed for safety and efficiency. NAV CANADA provides air navigation services for civil aviation in Canada. When an RPAS needs to operate in controlled airspace, ATC and airspace managers need a controlled process to:

• Know who is operating and how to contact them
• Know where and when the RPAS will be active
• Impose altitude, lateral, and operational limits that protect approaches, departures, and circuits
• Refuse or modify requests that conflict with traffic or procedures

A verbal “sounds fine” over a random phone call does not create the durable, auditable safety record modern airspace management expects. Written authorization does.

NAV Drone: Primary Path to NAV CANADA Authorization

NAV Drone is NAV CANADA’s dedicated digital pathway for RPAS flight planning and RPAS Flight Authorization requests. It replaced fragmented ad-hoc phone and email coordination as the primary process for civilian operators seeking controlled-airspace approvals. For exam purposes:

• Know the organization: NAV CANADA issues civil RPAS flight authorizations for the controlled airspace it manages.
• Know the channel: NAV Drone (app/process) is the standard request and tracking interface.
• Know the output: a written authorization (electronic written form counts) with operational conditions.
• Know the pilot duty: operate only inside those conditions; keep evidence available for inspection with your other aviation documents.

Official planning information and RPAS resources are published by NAV CANADA (search NAV CANADA RPAS / NAV Drone flight planning materials). Treat the live portal and NAV CANADA guidance as authoritative for current submission fields, lead times, and map layers—exam questions test the regulatory concept, while real jobs require the current tool workflow.

Authorization Is Specific — Not a Blanket Annual Permit

A common field myth is: “I got authorized once this year, so Class C is open.” That myth fails both law and ATC practice.

Written RPAS Flight Authorization is typically bounded by:

If your client moves the job 2 km, raises the mapping altitude, or shifts to night, re-check whether the existing written approval still covers the operation. When in doubt, request an amended or new authorization. Flying “close enough” to an old approval is still unauthorized flight if you leave the approved envelope.

DND Permission Near Military Aerodromes

Military aerodromes and associated airspace are not casual civilian playgrounds. Operations in proximity to Department of National Defence aerodromes require the appropriate DND permission process. Do not assume a civilian NAV CANADA authorization automatically covers a military field’s requirements, and do not assume military permission replaces every civil airspace rule outside that context. Advanced pilots must identify military aerodromes during site survey (charts, CFS, planning tools) and follow the permission path that applies before launch.

Later aerodrome chapters reinforce distance-based standoff rules (for example certified airport and military aerodrome proximity expectations). Authorization and standoff rules work together: even outside a control zone, published distance rules and NOTAMs may still constrain you.

Authorize-Then-Fly Sequence

Use this sequence on every controlled-airspace job:

1. Plan the site

Define the pad, operating area, altitudes, times, contingency landing areas, observer positions, and lost-link behaviour. Include buffers for wind and navigation error.

2. Check the airspace

Using VNC/VTA and planning tools (including NAV Drone map layers), determine classes, control-zone boundaries, Class F, aerodromes, and NOTAMs. Decide whether controlled-airspace authorization is required for any part of the intended volume—including contingency climb.

3. Request authorization

Submit through NAV Drone (or the applicable DND process for military proximity) with accurate location, times, altitudes, contact information, and aircraft/pilot details. Incomplete or vague requests delay approvals and can produce authorizations that do not match the real job.

4. Receive written approval

Do not launch on a hoped-for future approval. Wait for the written authorization. Read every condition. If conditions make the job impossible (altitude too low for the deliverable, time window wrong), renegotiate the client task or amend the request—do not “wing it.”

5. Fly within the limits

Brief the crew on the approved envelope. Set aircraft maximum altitude and geofences conservatively inside the authorization. If ATC issues instructions that affect the operation (Section 3.4), comply. If conditions deteriorate or authorization limits would be exceeded, land or cease rather than improvise a new airspace use.

What Authorization Does Not Replace

Written RPAS Flight Authorization is powerful, but it is not a master key. It does not replace:

• An Advanced pilot certificate and required recency
• RPAS registration and marking rules
• Required safety assurance declarations for the aircraft and privilege
• VLOS, weather, altitude, right-of-way, and other Part IX operating rules
• Site survey and safe operating procedures
• Any additional permissions (property owner, municipal rules that do not conflict with federal aviation law, event organizers, etc.)

Think of authorization as the airspace access ticket for a defined operation—not as a substitute for being a competent Advanced operator.

Exam Scenarios to Expect

• Pilot flies in Class D after verbal chat with a friend who “knows someone at the airport” → non-compliant without written RPAS Flight Authorization.
• Pilot holds Advanced certificate and 922.04 declaration but never requested NAV Drone approval for a Class C job → non-compliant under controlled-airspace rules.
• Pilot receives written approval for 200 ft AGL and climbs to 350 ft AGL for a better photo → exceeds authorization (and may breach other rules).
• Pilot operates near a military aerodrome with only a civil authorization mindset and no DND permission check → incomplete planning / non-compliant if DND permission was required.

Internalize the slogan: plan site → check airspace → request → receive written approval → fly within limits.