By Jared Ho, founder & brand strategist, Storimatic Studio
No Alberta law bans a drone from passing over a neighbour’s property, but that is not permission to film the people on it. Transport Canada sets how close you may fly to people; privacy, trespass and Criminal Code rules set what you may record and publish. On a job site: take off from land you may use, keep the camera on your site, tell the neighbours first.
We fly that way on every shoot, including the drone progress footage on Bright Home’s Calgary custom home build. The Drone Video service page lists the paperwork for each flight. Below: overflight, do’s and don’ts, neighbour notice, pilot requirements.
Can a drone fly over the neighbour’s property in Alberta?
Usually yes, briefly and at height, but it settles nothing about privacy. The Canadian Aviation Regulations govern where a drone may fly in relation to people and airspace, not in relation to property lines. Transport Canada’s own guidance adds that pilots must respect trespass laws and other people’s privacy rights on top of the aviation rules. In other words, the aviation permit is not a privacy permit.
Three sets of rules apply at the same time on a job site next to houses or another business.
| Rule set | What it controls | What it means next to a neighbour |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Aviation Regulations (Transport Canada) | Distance from people, airspace, pilot certificate, drone registration | Basic operations must stay more than 30 m horizontally from any person and out of controlled airspace. Flying within 30 m of, or over, bystanders needs an advanced certificate and a drone that meets the safety assurance for that operation |
| Privacy law (Alberta PIPA for businesses operating in Alberta; PIPEDA elsewhere) | Collecting, using and publishing images of identifiable people | Footage of a neighbour in their yard is personal information. Collect only what the job needs, and blur or cut what you do not |
| Criminal Code and provincial trespass law | Surreptitious recording where privacy is expected; entering land without permission | Never hover at windows or over private yards. Take off and land only where you have the owner’s permission |
Sources: Transport Canada on advanced operations and privacy guidelines for drone users.
One Alberta detail: Transport Canada notes that PIPEDA, the federal privacy law, does not apply to an organization operating entirely within Alberta, because Alberta has its own private-sector law, the Personal Information Protection Act. Complaints about a business filming people go to Alberta’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (Government of Alberta, PIPA). Transport Canada also says the pilot is responsible for all personal information the drone collects.
Whether a low overflight is a civil trespass in Alberta has not been settled by a court. Treat the question as one you never need answered: plan the flight path over the site you are contracted to film and keep the lens pointed at it.
Drone privacy on a job site: the do’s and don’ts
Keep the drone over your own site, the camera on the work, the people on the ground informed, and the files tidy. Most complaints come from four moments: a drone hovering near a house, a face or plate in a published reel, a worker who was not told, or a flight nobody on site approved. Each has a fix.
| Situation | Do | Don’t |
|---|---|---|
| Flight path | Plan it over the site boundary, written down and shared with the superintendent before the day | Cut across neighbouring yards to save a battery |
| Camera angle | Tilt down over the work; frame out backyards, windows and balconies | Hover at eye level with a house, even for a second |
| People on site | Brief the crew at the toolbox talk; keep the flight more than 30 m from anyone not part of it unless the pilot is cleared for advanced operations | Fly over a crew that has not been told |
| Published footage | Blur faces and plates you did not get consent for; cut neighbours out | Post the full raw flight to social media |
| Files | Keep raw footage where only the project team can reach it | Share a drive link with the whole company |
| Complaints | Land, listen, explain the flight plan, offer to delete the frames that bother them | Argue the aviation rules on the sidewalk |
The published-footage line is where contractors slip: the flight was legal, the owner approved it, and then a progress reel goes on LinkedIn with the neighbour’s kids visible next door. Transport Canada’s guidance is direct: where you capture people without consent, make them anonymous by blurring faces or licence plates, and store recordings so no one else can access them.
The penalty side is not trivial. Transport Canada lists fines of up to $3,000 for an individual who flies where prohibited and up to $15,000 for a corporation, and up to $5,000 and $25,000 respectively for an unregistered or unmarked drone (Transport Canada, Flying your drone safely and legally). Those are aviation fines. A privacy complaint, or a Criminal Code voyeurism charge for surreptitious recording where privacy is expected, which carries up to 10 years (Criminal Code, s. 162), is a separate problem.
How do you tell the neighbours before a drone shoot?
Deliver a one-page notice to every property that shares a boundary or a sightline with the site, two to five days before the flight. State the date, the time window, the purpose, what the camera will and will not film, who is flying, and a phone number. A notice turns a stranger’s drone into scheduled site work, and it is the cheapest way to prevent a complaint.
What goes on the notice:
- Who and why. “A licensed drone pilot will film construction progress at 123 Example Street for the project team.”
- When. The date and a window of no more than two hours. Add the rain date.
- Where the drone will be. “Over the construction site only. The flight path does not cross your property.”
- What is filmed. “The building and the site. Faces and licence plates that appear by accident are blurred before anything is published.”
- Who to call. A site phone that someone answers that morning.
On City of Calgary land, the notice is only half the paperwork. Taking off or landing on City property, including any park or green space, requires a City permit, which needs a minimum of 10 business days plus proof of drone registration, the pilot certificate and a flight path map. Drones of 250 g or more in a park also need a Calgary Parks Green Space Application, which the City says can take up to eight weeks, and bylaw fines run from $250 to $3,000 (City of Calgary, Drones in Calgary parks; City of Calgary, Film services: drones). Launching from the site itself, with the owner’s written permission, avoids all of it.
Weather-postponed flights are rescheduled at no additional cost on our shoots, so a notice with a rain date saves a second round of letters. For a monthly progress series on a fixed path, send the notice once with the full schedule and a reminder the week of each flight. The method for that series is in our guide to aerial progress reporting with drones.
What should you require from the drone pilot you hire?
Require four documents before the first flight: proof of the pilot certificate, proof of liability insurance, a written flight plan for your site, and a flight log afterwards. A pilot who can produce those on request has already thought about the neighbours; a flight plan that stays inside the site boundary is what makes the privacy answer easy.
At a glance: a construction drone flight that respects the neighbours
- Pilot: Founder Jared Ho holds an advanced RPAS licence certified by Transport Canada
- Advanced operations cover flight in controlled airspace and near people; airspace authorization is arranged before each flight where required, including near YYC
- Paperwork provided: proof of licence, proof of liability insurance, a written flight plan shared with your general contractor, and a flight log after the flight
- Flight path: planned over the site boundary and around overhead lines, the crew below and an emergency landing area
- Weather: a postponed flight is rescheduled at no additional cost
- Timeline: drone shoots vary by scope; a monthly progress series is flown on the same fixed path each visit
The certificate level is the detail most buyers miss. A basic-certificate pilot must stay more than 30 m horizontally from anyone not part of the operation and out of controlled airspace. Sites near YYC sit in controlled airspace, and a tight urban infill site puts the public sidewalk well inside 30 m. That flight needs an advanced certificate and a drone that meets the safety assurance for flying near people. Our drone videography regulations guide walks through the categories.
Ask one more question: “What happens to the raw files?” The answer should name where they are stored, who can open them, and what gets blurred before publication.
With privacy handled, the same flight does more than a progress record: an opening shot for a company film, a bid-package still, a recruiting clip. Our article on drone footage for corporate videos covers planning those extra shots on the same battery.
FAQ
Is it legal to fly a drone over someone’s property in Alberta? There is no specific law against passing over private land, and the aviation rules set distances from people rather than property lines. You still need the owner’s permission to take off or land there, and privacy and Criminal Code rules apply to anything you record.
Can a neighbour complain about a drone filming a construction site? Yes. They can call the police if they believe they are being watched, or complain to Alberta’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner if a business filmed them. A flight plan over the site, advance notice and blurred faces in anything published are what keep that complaint from going anywhere.
Do I need consent to film workers on my own site with a drone? Tell them, at a minimum. Transport Canada’s guidance is to take reasonable steps to inform people you are likely to capture and get their consent. A line at the toolbox talk and a sign at the gate on flight days is the standard practice.
Does the drone pilot need a licence to film my job site? Yes. Any drone of 250 g or more needs a registered drone and a certified pilot. Filming near people or in Calgary’s controlled airspace needs the advanced certificate, not the basic one.
What do we do with footage that accidentally shows the neighbour’s yard? Cut it from anything published, blur anything identifiable that must stay in, and keep the raw file restricted to the project team. If the neighbour asks for the frames to be deleted, delete them.
Send us the site address
Tell us the address, the flight dates you have in mind and who the neighbours are. On a free 15–30 minute call we will tell you which airspace the site sits in, what the City needs if any take-off touches public land, and what the notice to the neighbours should say. Book the call or start with the Drone Video service page.
Storimatic Studio, 118 Waterfront Ct SW, Calgary, AB T2P 1K8. Monday–Friday, 09:00–23:00 Mountain Time, +1 587-215-9103. We fly across Calgary and all of Alberta; Calgary shoots carry no travel fee.
