Autonomous aerial taxis operating without assistance from a human operator may be the next innovation phenomenon, and Canada is poised to be at the forefront in advancing autonomous engineering and manufacturing for vertical flight.
On April 16, 2018 the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada announced that the Federal Government would be investing $49.5 million in an aerospace consortium for autonomous aerial systems development. This consortium, led by Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd., involves an additional 18 industry and academic partners who will be developing technologies for helicopter and UAV operations both with, and without, crewmembers. In addition to the Government's investment, the Consortium will also be investing $125 million into the project.
The Federal Government's announcement was made during this year's Aéro-Montréal's Aerospace Innovation Forum, and the announcement lends itself to the projection that the aerospace consortium will create or maintain more than 300 jobs in Canada and contribute to almost $178 million to Canada's DGP over the next five years.
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