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Drone Delivery Canada Corp. recently announced that with the assistance of Air Canada and the Pontiac Group, it has entered into a commercial agreement, dated June 4, 2020, with The David McAntony Gibson Foundation operating as GlobalMedic (GM) to deploy DDC’s patented drone delivery solution to provide service to the Beausoleil First Nation Community (BFN) in Ontario. Funding for the project was received by donors, including from OEC Group (Canada), a leading global logistics provider servicing clients in all major industries including aerospace, healthcare, global retail, automotive and manufacturing.
Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, DDC will enable a defined two-way delivery flight route from/to BFN mainland to/from the BFN Christian Island utilizing the Sparrow drone and its DroneSpotTM takeoff and landing zones as well as additional drone flight infrastructure as required. All operations will be conducted in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and Transport Canada flight authorizations. Flights will be remotely monitored by DDC from its new commercial operations centre located in Vaughan, Ont. DDC will commence deployment of site infrastructure shortly and expects to begin providing drone delivery services under the agreement in Q3 of 2020.
BFN will use DDC’s Sparrow drone solution to limit person-to-person contact on its island ferry service by transporting COVID-19 related cargo such as personal protective equipment (PPE), hygiene kits, test kits, test swabs, etc.
The agreement provides for the payment of an up-front, fixed-fee for managed services for the project. The term of the agreement is six months.
“We are pleased to announce GlobalMedic as another paid commercial drone logistics customer. The Beausoleil First Nation community will benefit from our drone delivery solution during the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting person-to-person contact between the mainland and Christian Island, while keeping their supply chain open. Our solution is ideal for this application and we look forward to seeing the benefits for the community,” said Michael Zahra, president and CEO of DDC. “To our knowledge this is the first announced COVID-19 related drone logistics project working with a humanitarian aid agency in Canada. We are grateful to GlobalMedic, OEC Group and other generous donors for their sincere concern for First Nations communities, involvement in this project and embracing our drone technology as a solution.”
“GlobalMedic is proud to be part of this program using drones to deliver desperately needed aid to an isolated First Nations Community. Through consultation with the community, we understand that supply chain issues exist and have been exacerbated by COVID-19. We are excited to use drones as part of the solution to overcome these challenges. We have a well-known history of using drones to respond to crisis zones having deployed our drone teams to dozens of countries using our award winning RescUAV program. We thank the OEC group and other donors to help fund this project and look forward to seeing DDC drones in the air delivering lifesaving aid to our friends in Beausoleil First Nation,” said Rahul Singh, executive director at GlobalMedic.
“DDC and OEC have been looking for an opportunity to partner. When the chance popped up to help the Beausoleil First Nation community, it was an easy decision to make,” said Landon Bibeau, CMO of the OEC Group. “The community is in a remote area where medical resources and services are limited. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where human to human contact is sometimes difficult. We are truly grateful to be part of this project and look forward to bringing essential goods to the Beausoleil First Nation.”
