Silence or Safety for Ground-based RPAS SAR? The Regulatory Catch-22, Endangering Saving Lives in Canada

By: Colonel (ret) Bernie Derbach, KR Droneworks, December 14, 2025

To: The Honourable Steven MacKinnon Minister of Transport), The Honourable Mélanie Joly Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development) CC: The Minister of National Defence, The Prime Minister of Canada

Imagine a search for a missing child in dense woodland. The clock is ticking, and the temperature is dropping. A volunteer Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) team launches a thermal-equipped drone (RPAS), scanning the canopy from above—a task that used to take hundreds of hours on foot.

Suddenly, the hum of a rescue helicopter approaches. The drone pilot needs to coordinate immediately to ensure the airspace is safe for both aircraft. But under current Canadian regulations, that pilot faces an impossible choice: break the law to communicate, or remain silent and risk a collision.

This is not a hypothetical scenario; it is a regulatory "Catch-22" that threatens the safety of first responders and the subjects we rescue.

Image 1: A Ground SAR RPAS pilot in a tense moment, needing to communicate with an incoming rescue helicopter but facing a regulatory barrier.

The Regulatory Disconnect

As of November 2025, Transport Canada’s modernized aviation regulations (SOR/2025-70) have rightly recognized the value of drones, allowing routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations to save lives. These regulations effectively mandate that RPAS pilots in search zones communicate with manned aircraft—like C F SAR Aircraft, CASARA, the RCMP, OPP, Ornge, SQ etc — to ensure deconfliction and safety of life.

However, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) creates a roadblock. While Transport Canada says "communicate," ISED’s current policy framework has no clear mechanism to license the necessary handheld air band radio for a RPAS pilot standing on the ground.

• Transport Canada: Requires the pilot to talk for safety.

  
  

• ISED: Classifies the pilot's radio as a "Land Station" rather than an "Aircraft Station," effectively blocking the license required to operate it legally.

  
  

This disconnect is visually represented by the two separate pieces of equipment a pilot must use, which are currently treated under different, conflicting regulatory frameworks.

Image 2: A drone controller and a handheld air band radio side-by-side. Two essential tools for a single mission, separated by red tape.

The Consequence: Landing Instead of Saving

The result is a "safety silence". Conscientious GSAR pilots are left with a dangerous option: remain mute to stay legal, or transmit "illegally" to prevent an imminent mid-air collision.

Worse, under strict adherence to Transport Canada's conflict avoidance rules, if a drone pilot cannot establish positive two-way communication with an incoming aircraft, they must yield the right of way—often meaning they must immediately land the drone or terminate the flight, causing the drone to crash.

This regulation forces a vital search asset to be taken out of the mission at the exact moment it is needed most, potentially delaying the location of a missing person when seconds count.

The Solution: A Simple Policy Fix

We are not asking for new legislation, but for a logical administrative adjustment that prioritizes human life over red tape.

We urgently appeal to Ministers Anand and Champagne to grant a Joint Exemption Order or create a specialized "Portable RPAS Aeronautical Station" license for authorized Search and Rescue organizations.

• Recognize the System: Classify the RPAS Ground Control Station as an integral part of the "Aircraft System," thereby extending the existing Aircraft Station exemption to the pilot's handheld radio.

  
  

• Ensure Competence: Restrict this exemption to recognized Public Safety Agencies (e.g., SARVAC, CASARA, Police/Fire) and require all operators to hold a valid Restricted Operator Certificate - Aeronautical (ROC-A).

  
  

A Call to Leadership

We call upon the Minister of National Defence and the Prime Minister to support this initiative. Ground based SAR operations often function in concert with Canadian Armed Forces assets; interoperability is not just a convenience, it is a requirement for the safety of your crews and ours.

The technology to save lives exists. The volunteers are trained and ready. They simply need the government to cut the red tape that keeps them silent. Let us talk, so we can bring them home.

The image below shows the future we are striving for: seamless, safe cooperation between all SAR assets, where communication is a given, not a legal risk.

Image 3: A coordinated SAR operation in action. A drone pilot communicates directly with a helicopter crew, demonstrating the seamless interoperability that saves lives.