Coastal Drone launches Canada’s first Remote Pilot Network, connecting businesses with drone pilots and aerial data.

For Immediate Release

Vancouver (06/11/2021) Coastal Drone Co, a part of the Westlund Group of Companies, have launched Canada’s first Remote Pilot Network (The RPN \ remotepilotnetwork.ca) on June 10th 2021.

On June 1st, 2019 Transport Canada enacted new regulations for flying drones in Canada requiring all pilots of drones weighing over 250g to acquire a pilot certificate. Coastal Drone has become one of Canada’s leaders in the drone education space training thousands of registered students in less than 2 years to pass their Transport Canada drone pilot certification requirements. The company was founded by Kate Klassen, Alec Wilson, Adam Besse and Vancouver entrepreneur Andrew Westlund in 2016. The company originally was founded to service the growing demand for professional drone consulting but transitioned to also include online training as its primary service offering. It has now expanded into an additional vertical; connecting drone pilots with clients and assisting in delivering valuable data, quickly and in an optimized manner.

 “Throughout our work in the sector, we have assisted in educating so many drone pilots who have the desire to utilize their skills to earn additional income. As we grew our presence and authority in the Canadian Drone sector, naturally clients were coming to us for consulting, education, and feet-on-the ground related drone services. It just made sense for us to develop a network of our best pilots and connect them with some of Canada’s leading businesses.” said Alec Wilson, Coastal Drone’s President. 

Not every pilot will be accepted into the RPN. Coastal Drone’s launch into the market is focusing on ensuring educated pilots who have trained through their programs and have passed all necessary exams with Transport Canada have the opportunity to work with the business community and network Coastal Drone has developed throughout the years. The RPN doesn’t function as a marketplace, but rather an operational hub that assists with technology, client relations and ensuring the right pilots are on the right jobs.

“We know thousands of flights are happening across Canada, and we know that both clients and pilots were experiencing problems. Our job at Coastal was to solve that problem and we believe we have. We believe that we are going to not only assist our clients in acquiring high quality data, but also help pilots increase their personal income”, said Andrew Westlund, the CEO and Founder of Coastal Drone & The Westlund Group of Companies.

Pilots and Businesses can learn more about the RPN here:

https://remotepilotnetwork.ca/

About the Westlund Group of Companies and Coastal Drone Co

Andrew Westlund founded Apex Wireless, one of Canada’s leading wireless dealers 20 years ago and grew the group of companies to 12. The diverse group also includes Sky Helicopters, Vinyl Labs, Agency Media, Your Workspace (The Westlund Building), Fluid Spa, Apex 365, and Designed By Agency. Coastal Drone Co has become Canada’s go to source for drone regulation information with pilots Alec Wilson (Drone & Helicopter pilot) and Kate Klassen (Drone & Airplane Pilot) leading the team. The company offers free webinars and Q&A’s on social media so that Canada’s Drone Pilots can connect, have their questions answered and fully understand Canada’s legislation when it comes to piloting drones.

More information about Coastal Drone Co can be found at www.coastaldrone.co

Media contact

Ian Wills
Business Development
[email protected]

Addendum: Where the RPN Stands in 2026

Five years on from this announcement, the Remote Pilot Network is still active and still growing. What launched as a way to connect our best-trained pilots with Canadian businesses has become an established route to work for certified pilots, and an established source of aerial data for clients who would rather not build a drone programme of their own.

The model has not changed: the RPN is an operational hub rather than a marketplace, and not every pilot is accepted. That selectivity is the point — it is what lets clients rely on the data they receive.

If you are a certified pilot looking for work, or a business that needs aerial data captured properly, you can find out more at remotepilotnetwork.ca. If you are not yet certified, our training courses are the place to start — RPN pilots come through them.