Foreign Pilots
The TP 15263 Course for Foreign Pilots
Ground school built around Canadian airspace, weather and regulations, for pilots certified elsewhere.
Updated August 2026. This page previously said the Canadian pilot exams could only be taken by Canadians, and that a ground school certificate plus an SFOC was the route for visitors. Transport Canada’s current guidance requires a Canadian pilot certificate for foreign pilots flying drones of 250 grams or more. The page has been corrected.
Canada attracts thousands of visitors a year, and plenty of them want to fly while they are here. The rules are manageable once you know them — but they are not the rules that applied a few years ago, and a good deal of advice still circulating online is out of date.
What Transport Canada Requires Now
If you are flying a drone of 250 grams or more in Canada, you need a Canadian drone pilot certificate, whatever authorisation you hold at home. Transport Canada gives no credit for foreign qualifications and runs no separate certification process for visiting pilots — you take the same exams Canadians take.
Depending on your aircraft, your purpose and where you fly, you may also need a Foreign SFOC-RPAS on top of the certificate. Our article on flying as a foreign operator sets out when that applies and when it does not.
Where This Course Fits
Ground school is not itself a certificate, but it is how you pass the exam. The Canadian exams test Canadian airspace structure, Canadian meteorology and the Canadian Aviation Regulations — none of which your training at home covered, however experienced a pilot you are.
This course is built to the TP 15263 knowledge requirements, runs about 20 hours, and is entirely online, so you can complete it before you travel rather than losing days of your trip to study.
Flying something under 250 grams? No pilot certificate is required, and no Foreign SFOC-RPAS either, unless you are flying at an advertised event. The reckless-operation rules still apply: do not create a hazard to other airspace users or to people below.
If You Need Advanced, Book the Flight Review Early
Flying near people or in controlled airspace means the Advanced certificate, and the Advanced flight review is conducted in person in Canada. Build it into your itinerary rather than hoping to fit it in. get in touch to arrange one with us.
Flying in Canada on your next trip?
Take the foreign pilot course online before you travel.