11 ALPHA DRONE
Utility & energy · Regulatory report

Transport Canada issues BVLOS drone operations waiver for power line inspections

Reporting on a Transport Canada waiver granted to MVT Geo-Solutions permitting beyond visual line of sight power line inspection using onboard detect-and-avoid technology from Iris Automation. It is one of the earliest Canadian regulatory precedents for routine BVLOS work along a linear utility corridor.

Key takeaways

  • Detect-and-avoid hardware was the pivot the approval turned on, not the airframe.
  • Linear infrastructure corridors were treated as a lower-risk BVLOS case.
  • The operator carried the burden of proving its concept of operations.

Why it matters for pilots in training

The safety case in this waiver is the same structure students build in our BVLOS course: define the corridor, characterise the airspace risk, and show the mitigation that closes the gap.

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