A Camp Morton entrepreneur with extensive flying experience is seeing his drone photography business take off as more people discover the unique perspectives and detail that aerial imagery can deliver.
Steve Bannister, a retired Royal Canadian Air Force senior officer and pilot, launched Interlake Drone Services (IDS) in 2020 and has seen steady demand for real estate, agricultural land, construction-related sites, cemeteries and environmental monitoring.
“The real estate work has been fairly steady and it’s been the backbone of what I’ve been doing in the last year or so,” said Bannister, who is well versed in Transport Canada’s drone rules and sits on the steering committee of the Drone Pilot Association of Canada. “But I have been asked for novel pieces of aerial imagery, so it’s been interesting and challenging in that regard.”
His files range widely: a municipality asked him to photograph sandpits so volumes could be assessed; he’s flown over ice on the Red River to gauge the potential for jams and flooding; and he’s captured wooded land, farmsteads and Gimli’s Viking Statue.
Bannister’s aviation background dovetails neatly with drone work. He became interested in 2019 after seeing a drone at his niece’s wedding and was soon “hooked.” He has served as vice-president of the Gimli Glider Exhibit and helped build its cockpit simulator. He is a past commandant of three Canadian Forces flying schools, a former commanding officer of the Gimli Cadets’ gliding program, and has taught veterans to fly drones for Veteran Elite Drone Training Services.
For most projects he operates solo, but environmental jobs can require trained visual observers because flights may go beyond the operator’s line of sight. Those missions demand special procedures, a risk assessment and a Special Flight Operations Certificate from Transport Canada.
Clients span the Interlake and beyond. In St. Laurent, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 250 hired IDS to create images of veterans’ banners mounted on community light standards. In Winnipeg, St. John’s Cathedral brought him in to map its cemetery.
“They wanted to compare a current, high-resolution map to dated paper maps,” said Bannister. “Google Earth didn’t have the resolution. We scheduled before the leaves came out because it’s heavily treed, and I was able to map about 98 per cent of the cemetery.”
In Canada, drones are referred to as remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and fall under Transport Canada’s aircraft rules. There are two broad categories of flying: visual line of sight (the drone remains visible to the pilot) and beyond visual line of sight. Both must comply with federal regulations.
Bannister boils safe operation down to two fundamentals: keep drones away from aircraft — regardless of size — and don’t put people at risk.
“Transport Canada is very concerned about drones because they can, potentially, operate in the same airspace as manned aircraft and they want to mitigate hazards,” he said. “It’s the same idea with people: you have to keep your drone away from them.”
Good airmanship starts on the ground: survey the area for people and obstacles such as towers and confirm the drone’s capabilities match the mission. The regulatory framework continues to mature.
“It’s quite a process,” said Bannister. “There are new regulations coming out in November that will potentially open up more flying for beyond visual line of sight. Transport Canada is taking baby steps. As confidence grows in pilots’ capabilities, drone capabilities and airspace management, I think we’ll see activities such as flying medical supplies to northern communities.”
Most mishaps stem from operators who don’t know — or ignore — the rules. Micro-drones under 250 grams don’t require a pilot certificate, but they are still considered aircraft and are subject to Canadian Aviation Regulations.
“One of the worst offenders are the drones that weigh less than 250 grams,” said Bannister. “They’re still subject to Regulation 900.06, which says you can’t endanger aircraft or people. Some think the rules don’t apply because the drone is small. They might get away with it — until they don’t. If you create an incident or get caught, you’re facing stiff fines.”
He points to recurring wildfire incidents where hobbyists chase “cool shots,” despite widely publicized no-fly restrictions around fire zones. Flights near major airports carry similar risks and penalties.
Privacy questions also arise. Airspace above private property belongs to the federal government, not the landowner, and shooting at a drone is a criminal offence because it’s an aircraft. In the United States, some states recognize limited private airspace interests, but Canadian rules are clear: enforcement is federal. Authorities can track unlawful flights using airport-based detection systems, police anti-drone tools, Wi-Fi signal analysis and, in the U.S., Remote ID signals broadcast by newer models.
Bannister said transparency goes a long way. He has been approached on job sites and recommends telling nearby residents what you’re doing — ideally before you fly.
“Where you run into trouble is when you don’t tell people what you’re doing,” he said. “Drone flying is a lot of fun, but you have to keep safety in mind at all times.”
For more information, visit Interlakedrones.com or call Steve Bannister at 204-802-0181.
