Josh Ogden Thinks Canada’s Drone Industry Can Gain some Altitude

Why It Matters

The reliance on imported drone tech threatens Canada’s strategic autonomy and hampers the scaling of home‑grown innovators, risking both economic and security outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• Canada has <20 drone manufacturers, mostly assemblers
• AVSS designs and builds parachute safety systems domestically
• Lack of procurement programs hinders scaling Canadian drone firms
• Foreign component reliance creates national security risks
• R&D tax credits help prototyping but not long‑term growth

Pulse Analysis

Canada’s unmanned‑aircraft ecosystem has shifted from pioneering hardware to a patchwork of foreign‑sourced parts. Early innovators such as Aeryon Labs and Deep Trekker once owned both design and manufacturing, but a wave of acquisitions transferred critical intellectual property abroad. Today, fewer than twenty firms label themselves drone manufacturers, and most act as integrators, importing motors, batteries, and sensors while contributing little original technology. This erosion of domestic IP undermines Canada’s ability to control its own aerial capabilities and diminishes the country’s appeal as a source of truly Canadian innovation.

AVSS stands out as a rare example of a vertically integrated Canadian drone company. Founded in 2017, the firm created a parachute safety system that earned a unique FAA Means of Compliance, allowing drones to operate over people under strict regulations. By keeping design, testing, and production in‑house—including sewing parachutes—the company safeguards its intellectual property and demonstrates export viability, serving markets in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. AVSS’s dual‑use technologies, from supply‑drop rigs to avalanche‑mitigation devices, illustrate how domestic R&D can address both civilian and defence needs while reducing exposure to supply‑chain disruptions heightened by geopolitical tensions and U.S. protectionism.

The policy gap lies in Canada’s lack of a sustained procurement mechanism akin to the U.S. “programs of record.” While federal SR&ED tax credits support early‑stage development, they stop short of guaranteeing long‑term contracts that enable scale‑up and export growth. Introducing multi‑year defence procurement pathways would give Canadian firms the revenue certainty needed to retain talent, invest in full‑stack development, and keep profits and data within national borders. Coupled with Canada’s cold‑weather testing environment, strong engineering talent pool, and regulatory openness, such support could reposition the country as a leader in resilient, domestically owned drone technology.