Thank you, Madam Chair, and committee members for the opportunity to appear today.
As a proud Canadian and a small business owner, I'm very excited about the potential for unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, both in Canada and globally. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and insights on how Canadians can benefit from this technology and harness its potential for both social and economic benefit.
In a world with too many industry-specific acronyms, I'm going to use “drone” in place of “UAV” for the purpose of today's discussion.
How do we increase the confidence of the Canadian public in the safety and viability of drone operation? I ask this question because I believe we cannot realize the economic potential of drone operation if the Canadian public doesn't become more comfortable with drones, or more specifically with drone operators and their credentials.
For the past 15 years, Fresh Air Educators, a company with global headquarters in Ottawa, has been at the forefront of online education and innovation in the outdoor recreation field. Our leadership began in power boat safety courses through a very successful partnership with Transport Canada to provide the federal pleasure craft operator card program, and with the United States Coast Guard to deliver the state specific boater education card programs, both commonly referred to as a boat licence.
Building on that leadership, Fresh Air Educators has worked to bring innovations from online boating education to other outdoor activities, such as hunting and firearms, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, and sailing. Establishing partnerships with dozens of federal, provincial, and state agencies to make effective, engaging online education available to their residents, Fresh Air Educators has certified more than two million outdoor enthusiasts through our 125 online courses delivered on behalf of more than 50 government agencies in Canada, the United States, and Australia.
Most recently, through our involvement with the Small UAV Coalition in Washington, D.C., we have been working with experts in the field of drones to leverage online training as a key tool for providing safety and ethics training to the millions of new recreational and commercial drone operators in North America.
It's difficult to get definitive sales data for this industry in Canada to quantify the opportunity. However, by comparison, the U.S. is expected to sell more than two million drones in 2016, the fourth year in a row in which sales have doubled. Sales are expected to reach 10 million drones by 2020, granted commercial drones are expected to provide much of that additional growth.
Major global drone manufacturers have confided that Canada is a very significant market. Given our geography, it should surprise no one in this room that drone ownership in Canada is growing at a similar rate. We need to capitalize on the economic opportunity that drones provide both to Canadian citizens and to small businesses. We must ensure that certification and training is done properly to ensure safe and ethical operation while increasing public confidence in drones.
Canada was once viewed as perhaps the most drone forward country in the world, and had a huge head start on many countries in terms of the legal ability to operate drones for commercial purposes. As such, Canadian companies have been able to grow their businesses nationally and to export their skills and expertise globally.
Moreover, Canada has been able to attract significant U.S. investment for drone testing and training, but that head start has been completely wiped out in the last several months. The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States enacted new streamlined drone regulations in 2016 that have paved the way for commercial drone operation in the United States. Canada must respond if we hope to remain relevant in this growing, international industry.
Luckily, Transport Canada has some thoughtful, well-researched updates to the current drone regulations. These updated regulations include three critical elements, namely, registration, education, and certification. Registration provides accountability, but let's not stop there. Let's ensure that registration leads to education. After you register your drone, we'll teach you how to operate it safely, legally, and ethically. Moreover, let's work with commercial operators to ensure that they have the proper training needed to secure the necessary legal certification and requisite skills to succeed in their field.
These new drone regulations present a tremendous opportunity for Canada to regain a position of leadership on this issue on a global scale. Allow me to specifically address four key ingredients in the proposed regulations where we believe the details matter most.
First is registration. We will increase compliance if we can protect the registrant's personal information and avoid unnecessary fees.
Second is interactive, engaging education for all operators. Most high-profile drone incidents are simply caused by a lack of education and information for safety and regulatory requirements. There is no malice. It is pure ignorance. Let's also give all operators a strong ethical foundation so they can be proper stewards for drone technology. This is also the group that will become future commercial operators. Let's pave that path.
Third is in-person testing. While the FAA's new part 107 rule is much more streamlined than the previous 333 exemption process, it is needlessly cumbersome for commercial operators to travel to one of 700 testing centres to take a knowledge test that can easily be administered online. Moreover, that in-person test costs $150, whereas online testing can be much more affordable.
Fourth is curriculum. It is very easy for this kind of curriculum to include aeronautical knowledge that is more appropriate for airline pilots than drone pilots. Let's ensure the curriculum and testing is specific to the activity, with topics and language that are relevant to the audience. Our 15-year track record with Transport Canada's office of boating safety has Fresh Air Educators well positioned to provide Canadians the online training and certification needed to ensure public confidence in drones.
I thank you for your time. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.