Canadian company to service remote Canada using self-flying plane in one-year deal with feds

A Canadian startup has received a yearlong contract with the federal government to deliver cargo to remote areas of Canada using a self-flying airplane.

Ribbit, an autonomous plane service company founded in 2020, and the federal government have agreed to a one-year, $1.3-million contract to test the airline’s self-flying technology.

Jeremy Wang, chief operating officer of Ribbit and a graduate of the University of Waterloo, says the airline uses a conventional fixed-wing airplane retrofitted with software and hardware so it can fly fully autonomously.

“You can sort of think of it like a really advanced autopilot, so from gate-to-gate the airplane will do everything by itself,” he told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday.

This includes taxi, takeoff and landing, Wang said. His co-founder, Carl Pigeon, told CTV News Kitchener in May that the company had been approved to fly without a pilot on board at a test range in Alberta.

The goal, Wang says, is to make transportation more accessible and reliable for everyone.

“So with small, autonomous planes flying frequently and doing so in a really cost-effective manner, we hope to make a difference for these communities for things like food, medicine and other time-sensitive supplies,” he said.

Public records show that Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada awarded a one-year contract worth more than $1.3 million to Ribbit on May 18.

A spokesperson for Transport Canada told CTVNews.ca in an email on Thursday that the contract is through a program called Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC), described as helping Canadian startups and small- or medium-sized businesses “develop their innovations to stimulate technology research, development and commercialization of Canadian innovations.”

“The contract will enable Ribbit to test and demonstrate the capabilities of their pilotless cargo aircraft system,” the spokesperson said. “Transport Canada is participating in reviewing the results of these tests as a supporting department of the ISC program to help inform departmental knowledge of the company’s proposed technology.”

The company also announced in a news release on Thursday further details of its contract with the federal government.

Ribbit says it will provide Transport Canada with a single aircraft, as well as a remote crew and maintenance services, for autonomous cargo flights for one year.

The news release from Ribbit says it has completed more than 200 hours of “hands-free flight” on a two-seat airplane and received a Special Flight Operations Certificate in 2022 allowing uncrewed flight tests.

The company also says it has received letters of intent from “leading retailers” worth $42 million a year.

Ribbit will aim to show that its technology is safe and works in a northern environment, Wang said, with data from these flights used to guide future policy and regulation.

Wang also sees potential for this technology in other remote regions of the world, including in Alaska, central Australia, areas of continental Africa and island nations, with a long-term goal of carrying passengers.

Watch the full interview with Jeremy Wang at the top of the article. With files from CTV News Kitchener Videographer Krista Sharpe.