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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is limiting the use of its 973 Chinese-made drones to non-sensitive operations, saying the devices pose “a high security risk, primarily due to their country of origin.”
Chinese drones make up about 80 percent of the federal police fleet of 1,230 remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) used for surveillance along the Canada-U.S. border and in various police operations.
In a written response to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, the RCMP said replacing the drones would cost more than $30 million, approximately $35,000 per device. The high cost is due to the fact that non-Chinese drones cost almost twice as much, the RCMP noted.
The RCMP's concerns stem from the potential risks posed by drone communications and data systems, experts say.
“Any connected device raises questions about security vulnerabilities,” said Yigal Bendavid, a professor specializing in operations management at the University of Quebec at Montreal.
Wesley Wark of the Center for International Governance Innovation said the RCMP appears to have found the right solutions to the use of Chinese drones, adding that “mitigation after the fact is always the second best option.”
For now, the RCMP limits drone data transmissions in flight to “non-sensitive operations” such as those related to missing persons, car thefts and community policing.
The RCMP said it never uses Chinese drones for operations involving emergency response teams, protection of VIPs such as ministers and foreign dignitaries, border integrity operations and investigations with U.S. authorities.
For these more critical operations, the RCMP uses 112 French drones, 96 from the United States and 24 from Belgium. According to a Q&A with Conservative Senator Claude Carignan, he is not using any Canadian drones.
The RCMP say the Chinese drones were purchased before restrictions on their use began in 2023. The RCMP say the devices provide significant savings in time and money, especially compared to airplanes and helicopters.
“Using RPAS is a cost-effective alternative to using a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft to conduct investigative operations, and they can access hard-to-reach locations, saving time and money by directing police resources to the right locations,” the RCMP said in its response to the Senate committee.
Experts say the RCMP should be careful when it comes to Chinese drones because it cannot vouch for the origin of thousands of parts, software and storage systems.
“The concerns are legitimate and they should exercise caution as a precaution,” Bendavid said.
Wark said the RCMP appeared to have purchased the drones “without much thought to strategic needs or security issues.”
“In the future, all federal agency drone purchases for security purposes should be centralized and, of course, testing for security vulnerabilities should be conducted,” Work said.
“Priority when purchasing small drones for safety purposes should be given to Canadian manufacturers and supply chains.”
