Bill C-15 and Counter-Drone Law in Canada

For most of the past decade, Canadian organizations facing drone threats had a narrow set of lawful options. Detection — passively sensing and tracking a drone — was available. Doing anything about a detected drone was not. Jamming radiocommunication is prohibited under the Radiocommunication Act, and interfering with an aircraft in flight, which a drone legally is, is an offence under the Aeronautics Act. In practice, interdiction was reserved for a small number of federal agencies.

On March 26, 2026, Bill C-15 received royal assent. The legislation establishes a policy framework for managing drone security risks, doing two things at once: it more clearly prohibits unlawful interference with legitimate drone operations, and it enables Transport Canada to issue authorizations to certain entities to interdict drones that present security risks. The first part protects the growing population of lawful commercial drone operators. The second part opens a door that was previously closed to almost everyone.

The practical effect is a market split into two tiers.

Detection is open. Passively sensing, identifying, and tracking drones does not require a Transport Canada interdiction authorization. Correctional facilities, critical infrastructure operators, airports, and public venues deploy detection systems today.

Mitigation is authorized-only. Jamming, protocol takeover, capture, and any other means of interdicting a drone remain unavailable to organizations that do not hold an authorization under the new framework. Who will qualify, under what conditions, and through what application process are questions the implementing regulations will answer.

The legislation contemplates authorizations for entities responding to drones that present security risks, with law enforcement and other agencies as the anticipated primary users. The full scope — whether it extends, for example, to correctional services, designated critical infrastructure operators, or contracted security providers acting under an authorized entity's direction — will be defined as Transport Canada implements the framework. This tracker follows those developments as they are published.

Nothing in the current state of implementation rewards waiting passively, and nothing rewards buying mitigation hardware you cannot lawfully switch on. The defensible middle path: establish detection now, because airspace awareness is legal today and every response plan starts with knowing what is in your airspace; document incidents in a form your legal counsel and local police can act on; and if your organization is a plausible candidate for authorization, begin the policy groundwork — governance, training plans, use-of-force-adjacent procedures — that any authorization regime will almost certainly require. Monitor Transport Canada guidance, and obtain legal advice before any mitigation procurement.