Phase I

What We’ve Done (DTI Phase 1, 2020-2023)

Phase one of the DTI was launched through a generous commitment from the 2020 TD Ready Challenge, with additional support from the Government of Canada, Canfor, LifeLabs, and the Air Canada Foundation. and conducted in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority, the Rural Coordination Centre of BC, the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and LifeLabs. Drone technology and services were procured from Drone Delivery Canada to execute phase 1.

This phase of the project, which ran for 12 months between October 2021 and October 2022, resulted in the completion of over 1200 flights and the successful delivery of a variety of medications to Stellat’en First Nation community members (the project also underwent accreditation review to transport laboratory specimens, which was tested with mock samples but not implemented at the time). In doing so, phase one demonstrated the potential for drones to strengthen patient access and support agile and responsive delivery between locations, pointing the way to a future where the technology could become an integral part of BC’s healthcare landscape.

The DTI was selected to present at the BC Health Innovation Symposium held by the Ministry of Health as an innovative project hosted in the Northern Health Region. As well, this project is one of few of its kind that has received approval for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operation and that has been certified to transport cargo classified as ‘Dangerous Goods’ by Transport Canada. The project also hosted a policy analyst from Transport Canada in-community for a tabletop exercise with rural first responders to inform upcoming policy development. Further, in recognition of the collaboration with the Stellat’en First Nation and its contribution to the advancement of aviation, the project was honoured with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2023 by the BC Aviation Council.