A major Canadian delivery-drone firm is teaming up with remote Canadian villages to bring needed services and jobs to the residents.

Drone Delivery Canada has built new UAV infrastructure in the towns of Moosonee and Moose Factory, Ontario as part of its Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) Pilot Project.

“We intend to deploy our technology to support remote communities in Canada.”, commented Tony Di Benedetto, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada.  “DDC has created an innovative logistic solution for outlying communities which experience on-going and difficult infrastructure challenges. To address these challenges, we intend to deploy our technology, with the aim of establishing a ‘railways in the sky’ connecting communities to provide a just in time, cost effective means of delivery.”

Around 1,000 communities are classified as “remote” across Canada and are described as facing “infrastructure and logistics challenges that contribute to a high cost of living.”

“Living in Canada’s north comes with challenges. We are excited to see the benefits of DDC’s drone delivery solution in our community as a means to help mitigate these challenges, improve logistics, lower costs and bring employment to the region”, commented Stan Kapashesit, Director of Economic Development Moose Cree First Nation.

DDC’s BVLOS Pilot Project will take place on a soon to be approved set of flight paths that will connect the communities of Moosonee and Moose Factory.

DDC’s Sparrow X1000 cargo drone and DDC’s proprietary FLYTE management system will be utilized for these flights which are intended to include the transportation of; medical supplies, food, automotive parts and general parcels.  Transport Canada is seeking to develop its regulations while NAV Canada is actively supporting this effort.  This ongoing set of trials is anticipated to last into the month of October.

The announcement comes at an opportune time for DDC following the company’s successful rollout of its Raven and Condor drones, which are expected to complement the Sparrow drone lines and add bulkier payloads and better distance capabilities. The Raven is expected to have a payload capacity of 20 lbs. and offer a distance of more than 12 miles. The Condor will boast a payload capacity of 400 pounds and boasts a distance of more than 62 miles.