City of Vaughan, Ontario to test drone delivery service

Vaughan, Ontario’s Drone Delivery Canada has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Vaughan, in cooperation with the Vaughan International Commercialization Centre (VICC), which will see the company launch a pilot program that will serve the city’s local business network for the purpose of developing a functional drone delivery service.

“We are delighted to work with the City of Vaughan and to be recognized as industry leaders in Drone Delivery Technology. The City of Vaughan is pioneering this opportunity with us as we collaboratively move from a concept to a reality employing the highest standards Canadian technology offers,” said Drone Delivery Canada CEO Tony Di Benedetto. “We will look to develop and build, and when ready and able, implement a fleet of delivery drones within the central business district in the City of Vaughan that will deliver mail, books, and parcels, in a clean, green, environmental friendly way. We see this happening with regulations in place sometime as early as 2018, if not sooner.”

The VICC Test City program encourages the use of Vaughan as a testing ground for entrepreneurs to demonstrate their utilities, healthcare, and environmental or green technologies.

“As an innovation and research based city we welcome this opportunity to collaborate with Drone Delivery Canada through our Test City program at the Vaughan International Commercialization Centre,” said City of Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua. “We believe that this cooperation will bring about successful results.”

In January, Drone Delivery Canada announced a reverse takeover involving 2500527 Ontario Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Asher Resources Asher Resources Corporation (ACN: TSX-V), which will see the company going public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in June 2016.

Last month, Canada’s Public Services Minister Judy Foote promised an independent review that “will consider all viable options and provide Canadians with an opportunity to have a say in the decisions about Canada Post’s future.”
Australia Post is already testing drones for mail delivery.

Last September, DDC announced a partnership with Shop.ca, with the goal of starting a drone delivery service for Canadian consumers set to be underway by 2018, which would function by a DDC drone being sent out from one of Shop.ca’s fulfillment centres which then hovers approximately 20 above the point of delivery, at which point the package will be lowered down on a tether.

Drone Delivery Canada’s R&D operation has several design patents pending that involve the integration of next generation materials like graphene and carbon fiber, and also make use of 3D printing techniques to speed up concept design.