UAV Academy · 26.4 enrolling

Trained pilots.
Real flight hours.

Transport Canada RPAS certification, A70 type ratings, and DJI Enterprise workflows — taught by the same engineers who build the aircraft. Two-month career programmes and short specialist tracks, in-person at our Alberta fields.

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480 graduates 98% TC pass RDAR-eligible
Now boarding · next 03 cohorts Refreshed 14:22 MT · Live · seat counts
Gate Date Course Location Seats
T-09 JUN 032026 RPAS-101 Basic Operations CalgarySpringbank · CYBW 5 left Enrol
T-23 JUN 172026 RPAS-201 Advanced Operations CalgarySpringbank · CYBW 6 left Enrol
T-44 JUL 082026 RPAS-AG Agricultural Drone LethbridgeField site · McRae 4 left Enrol
§ 01 · Flagship · Two-month program

Industry-ready
in eight weeks.

The Applied Drone Technology Program turns out commercial pilots qualified to be hired on Day 9: RPAS Basic + Advanced, a full agricultural type rating, mapping & LiDAR fundamentals, and 120 logged flight hours.

Next intake · Sep 08, 2026 TC-recognized
ADTP-08W Applied Drone Technology Program · auav.ca/applied-drone-technology-program
8weeks 120logged hrs 3certs 92% placement
Program timeline · CH 26.4 Week 03 in progress
01 WK · 01 RPAS · Foundation 12flight hrs TC-101
02 WK · 02 Advanced Operations 14flight hrs TC-201
03 WK · 03 A70 type training 18flight hrs AG
04 WK · 04 Mapping + RTK 16flight hrs MAP
05 WK · 05 Thermal · inspection 14flight hrs IR
06 WK · 06 Specialist deployment 15flight hrs SPEC
07 WK · 07 Capstone mission 18flight hrs SOLO
08 WK · 08 Placement + handoff 13flight hrs JOB
Next intake · Sep 08, 2026 · Cohort size · 18 seats · Site · Springbank · CYBW · Tuition · $11,800 CAD
Apply now
§ 02 · Specialty tracks

Pick the specialty
your operation runs on.

Four short tracks for working pilots adding a capability — spraying, mapping, thermal inspection, or the RPAS licence itself. Take one at a time, or sequence them as a custom programme over the season.

§ 03 · Schedule

Cohorts open
through Q4 · 2026.

Eight cohorts on the calendar across three sites. Seats are released eight weeks ahead — corporate group bookings open earlier through your advisor.

Live · seat counts
Date Course Location Seats
Jun 03
RPAS-101Basic Operations
Calgary
5 of 16 open
Jun 17
RPAS-201Advanced Operations
Calgary
6 of 12 open
Jul 08
RPAS-AGAgricultural Drone
Lethbridge
10 of 14 open
Jul 22
RPAS-MAPDrone Mapping & LiDAR
Edmonton
1 seats left
Aug 05
RPAS-IRIndustrial Thermal
Calgary
5 of 12 open
Sep 08
ADTP-08WApplied Drone Technology
Calgary
13 of 18 open
Oct 06
RPAS-101Basic Operations
Edmonton
14 of 16 open
Nov 03
RPAS-AGAgricultural Drone
Lethbridge
14 of 14 open
§ 04 · Outcomes

Track record.
Five years and counting.

Graduate placement is the metric we run on. The numbers below are end-of-year 2025 — refreshed annually, audited by RDAR for the agricultural cohorts.

Graduates 480+ Since 2021
TC pass rate 98% Advanced flight review
Placement 92% Hired within 60 days
Flight hours 14klogged Across the cohort fleet
Cohorts / yr 12 Across three Alberta sites
§ 05 · Instructors

The people
in front of the room.

Nine in-house instructors — engineers, examiners, and former operators. No contracted floaters. The person who teaches you on Day 1 is the same one who hands you your certificate on Day 5.

Lead instructor · A70
Jordan Chen

Designed the A70's spray controller. Spent eight seasons in the field before he taught the first cohort how to fly it.

2,400 Flight hrs
TC Advanced · RDAR-AG Credentials
RPAS examiner
Maya Strömberg

Transport Canada designated flight reviewer since 2019. Former search-and-rescue pilot · 8,000 manned hours.

5,100 Flight hrs
TC Examiner · CPL Credentials
Mapping & geomatics
Robert Hawthorne

ALSA geomatics engineer. Built the AUAVGC LiDAR pipeline and the GCP network used across our 18 reference sites.

1,800 Flight hrs
P.Eng · ASPRS-CP Credentials
Thermal · inspection
Émilie Dubois

Twelve years of utility thermography for Hydro-Québec. Wrote the powerline inspection module — and the report-writing one too.

3,200 Flight hrs
ITC Level III · TC Adv. Credentials
§ 06 · Locations

Three campuses.
All in Alberta.

Hangar classrooms beside our service centres — so the aircraft you train on is the one our techs service. No travel-grants required for in-province pilots.

§ 07 · FAQ

Common questions,
straight answers.

Anything missing? The advisor team replies within a business day — and you can book a 20-minute call before you commit.

advisor@auav.ca
Only for the specialty tracks — Agricultural, Mapping, and Thermal all require RPAS Advanced as a prerequisite. RPAS-101 and the 2-month Applied Drone Technology Program both start from zero; we run you through Basic and Advanced as the opening two weeks.
$11,800 CAD total, billed in three instalments. RDAR funding covers up to 70% for eligible Alberta producers and ag-services operators; talk to your advisor before applying for a streamlined approval letter.
Every cohort flies AUAV-issued aircraft. A70, Matrice 350 with L2 and H30T payloads, Mavic 3E, plus the AUAVGC ground stations. You don't touch your own kit until the type-rating fly-off — and even then we'll loan one if yours is in service.
Yes. Our flight reviewer is a TC-designated examiner; pilot training, Basic and Advanced, runs to the published TKE and flight-review standard. Specialty tracks issue an AUAV-authorized credential plus continuing-education credit through RDAR.
Remediation is included. You get one free re-test scheduled within 90 days, with a one-on-one coaching block beforehand. Historic pass rate on second attempt is 100% — we've had three students need it since 2021.
Yes — we run private cohorts down to six seats, on-site at your operation or at one of our campuses. Curricula can be tailored: e.g. a thermal track focused on solar-farm assets rather than transmission lines. Talk to the advisor for a quote.

Cohort 26.4 enrolling. 14 seats open.

Applications close 14 days before the start date. Talk to an advisor first if you're unsure which track fits your operation.

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