Métis Drone program delivers professional level RPAS pilots at Métis Crossing, strengthening Indigenous-led tech training and Canada’s advanced drone workforce

This program is helping build one of Canada’s strongest pipelines of skilled, motivated, professional drone pilots. Organizations looking for trained, job-ready pilots should be talking to this group.”
— Chris Healy, President and CEO of IN-FLIGHT Data

METIS CROSSING, ALBERTA, CANADA, November 20, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Canada’s future drone industry just gained a powerful new talent pipeline. The second cohort of the Rupertsland Emergency and Industry Skills Program (REISD), aka Métis Drone, has officially graduated at the nationally acclaimed Métis Crossing, marking another milestone in Indigenous-led innovation, advanced technology training, and economic development.

Funded in partnership with Rupertsland Institute, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, the Government of Canada, and IN-FLIGHT Data, the Métis Drone program provides Métis Citizens with full Advanced RPAS pilot certification, extensive hands-on training, and real-world operational experience. The program is offered to Métis Citizens for free through Rupertsland Institute.

At the graduation ceremony, each graduate also received a trove of Métis cultural learning and technology resources, launching them directly into new careers in emergency management, land stewardship, utilities, energy, environment, cultural monitoring, and digital mapping.

A CAPSTONE MISSION THAT MATTERED

Using advanced RPAS procedures developed during the course, students of the REISD program executed a full EVLOS mapping, and intelligence mission; the type of operation typically performed by established commercial drone teams. This required comprehensive pre-flight planning, formal detailed procedures, coordinated airspace communication, autonomous flight programming, and on-site mission management supported by real-time situational awareness.

The capstone mission covered the entire Métis Crossing property and area, including:

• the main Lodge and surrounding buildings
• the white buffalo and animal paddocks
• the Victoria Settlement graveyard
• the North Saskatchewan River corridor
• the adjacent bridge and natural landscape

Students were responsible for the complete operational lifecycle: mission design, risk assessment, air and ground safety planning, data acquisition, quality control, and final post-processing. These workflows align directly with the standards used in energy, utilities, environment, and emergency-response industries across Canada.

The final high-resolution maps, data, and intelligence deliverables:

• enhance guest and visitor experience
• assist future land-use planning and infrastructure development
• document culturally significant areas
• support wildlife and environmental stewardship

For prospective clients, this capstone demonstrates that graduates have already operated at a professional commercial standard, producing deliverables that are directly useful to a major national tourism and cultural research site.

Métis Crossing (www.metiscrossing.com) is Alberta’s premier Métis cultural destination and one of Canada’s most celebrated Indigenous tourism sites. Located on traditional Métis land along the North Saskatchewan River, Métis Crossing served as both the classroom and living laboratory. Métis Crossing blends cultural preservation, land-based learning, architectural excellence, diverse wildlife habitats, an elevated guest experience, and an expansive natural environment to create an ideal space for training future Métis RPAS professionals using real missions, real stakeholders, and real deliverables.

A WORKFORCE READY FOR INDUSTRY

Graduates of the REISD Program emerge with the competencies, discipline, and situational awareness required in Canada’s rapidly expanding drone workforce. This is not a hobby-based or introductory program, these pilots are trained using IN-FLIGHT Data’s nationally-acclaimed RPAS training program, professional-grade operational standards, and building to the same standards and protocols used by government and industry clients nationwide.

Each Métis Drone graduate leaves the REISD program with:

• Advanced RPAS Pilot Certification recognized across Canada
• Practical flight hours on both multirotor and fixed-wing platforms
• Experience conducting full mission cycles, from planning to data delivery
• Emergency and Industry Skills training aligned with real-world deployments
• VLOS and EVLOS-readiness and foundational BVLOS competencies
• A professional-grade RPAS platform for immediate employment
• A strong understanding of environmental, industrial, cultural, and emergency-response applications

These capabilities align directly with workforce needs in:

• energy and utilities
• forestry and wildfire agencies
• environmental monitoring and wildlife management
• emergency response and search and rescue
• construction, inspection, and infrastructure development
• agriculture and land stewardship
• cultural monitoring and heritage protection
• municipal, provincial, and federal operations

Graduates have been taught to follow structured operational workflows, respect chain-of-command, document missions professionally, perform risk assessments, manage airspace responsibilities, and execute data-quality checks. They are trained for operational reliability, technical accuracy, and workplace professionalism.

For employers, this means pilots who onboard quickly, work safely, and contribute immediate value to field operations and project teams.

Organizations looking to hire pilots, or wishing to present their innovative drone applications to the next cohort may contact [email protected]

ABOUT THE REISD (MÉTIS DRONE) PROGRAM

The Rupertsland Emergency and Industry Skills Program (REISD) Program (www.metisdrone.ca) is a national, first-of-its-kind initiative designed to create high-quality, fully certified, Métis RPAS pilots trained to industry and emergency-response standards. Funded in partnership with Rupertsland Institute, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, the Government of Canada, and IN-FLIGHT Data, the program provides Métis Citizens with free access to Advanced RPAS certification, hands-on flight training, Advanced EVLOS and BVLOS-readiness skills, and real-world industrial mission experience.

The program empowers Métis Citizens with cutting-edge technology skills that support economic opportunity, community safety, cultural preservation, environmental stewardship, and Indigenous participation in Canada’s fast-growing drone sector. Graduates enter the workforce as highly trained, motivated, and job-ready RPAS professionals. Organizations wishing to hire pilots or engage with future cohorts may contact [email protected], and learn more at www.metisdrone.ca.

ABOUT IN-FLIGHT DATA

IN-FLIGHT Data is one of Canada’s most trusted, loved, and experienced advanced drone operations and training companies, specializing in Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), complex airspace operations, emergency management, industrial inspection, and national-scale RPAS training programs. As one of Canada’s first Transport Canada Certified RPAS Operator (RPOC) and a national leader in RPAS curriculum development, IN-FLIGHT Data delivers world-class training grounded in safety, regulatory compliance, and mission-ready operational expertise.

With more than a decade of operational experience and thousands of incident-free missions, IN-FLIGHT Data works with government, industry, Indigenous organizations, and academic partners to build Canada’s next generation of professional drone pilots, engineers, and technicians. Learn more at www.inflightdata.ca.

Chris Healy
IN-FLIGHT Data Inc.
[email protected]

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