Several years ago, when I first applied to get my advanced certification as a drone operator, the training program itself cost $5,000. I submitted an application under short course funding, because that was the amount they had available for it. I had no idea that I might qualify for a formal course. Following that submission, VAC contacted me and said that I should really put that under formal course funding. Part of the concern was that I would be out of pocket, but they said that once you use that short course funding, it's gone and you can't have access to it anymore. That was the way that initial certification for me took place in 2022.
It was a year later, when I was putting in an application for more advanced training—that coursework was in the neighbourhood of $20,000—that VAC sat on it for several months and then came back with a decision saying, “No, we're not doing this anymore.” Since then, it has been limited for any veteran who wants to apply to that short course envelope.
To add to your question, conceivably, as this industry is currently expanding and these devices are becoming more complex—these are not toys that are being funded; they have many applications inside and outside of the regular business world, as the world has seen—that training cost will tend to increase because of the training level the instructors have to acquire before they can take it on. I don't think it would ever burn up the entire envelope of $80,000, but it could certainly use a good portion of it.