A Restriction Is Confirmed. A Complete Fleet Retirement Is Not.
Ontario has announced restrictions on Chinese-made drones for the Ontario Provincial Police, beginning with highly sensitive operations, alongside action on future procurement and a broader phase-out. The sources reviewed do not establish whether particular OPP DJI aircraft remain in service today.
That is the important distinction behind the question “Is the OPP still using DJI drones?” A policy announcement tells us what is being restricted. A current fleet inventory and implementation update would tell us which aircraft are still operating, under what limits and on which missions. Those are different forms of evidence.
Here is what the provincial announcement and OPP annual reports establish, and what they leave unanswered.
Confirmed policy direction
Restrictions on highly sensitive OPP operations, action to prohibit future procurement and a planned transition away from Chinese-made government drones.
Not confirmed by these sources
A current DJI-specific fleet count, an aircraft-by-aircraft retirement schedule, completion of the phase-out or a single replacement manufacturer.
What Ontario Says Is Changing
Ontario’s release, Ontario Restricting Government Use of Chinese-Made Drones, explicitly includes the provincial government and the OPP.
It describes an immediate ban on Chinese-drone use for highly sensitive OPP operations. It also describes action to ban future procurement and begin phasing out existing Chinese-made equipment without interrupting or compromising critical frontline services.
The release states that replacement equipment would come from Canada and other approved jurisdictions. It does not supply an approved-model shopping list in the evidence reviewed for this article.
Three measures, not one blanket statement
| Measure | What the announcement establishes | What remains unresolved here |
|---|---|---|
| Sensitive operations | An immediate ban on Chinese-drone use for highly sensitive OPP operations. | The detailed operational categories, internal instructions and any subsequent updates. |
| Future procurement | Action to ban future Chinese-made drone purchases by the government and the OPP. | The current implementation documents applicable to a particular purchase. |
| Fleet phase-out | A transition away from broader government use while maintaining critical frontline services. | The current retained fleet, retirement dates and completion status. |
Why wording matters: “Ontario announced a phase-out” is supported. “Every OPP DJI aircraft has already been grounded” is not established by that announcement.
What the OPP’s Fleet Figures Actually Tell Us
The OPP’s 2025 annual report describes a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System fleet of 160 units deployed throughout the province. It identifies four primary application areas: search and rescue, tactical support, forensic identification and collision reconstruction.
The 2024 annual report overview described a fleet of 90 units. These are historical annual-report observations, not a real-time inventory.
160 RPAS units does not mean 160 DJI drones
The cited fleet statements do not provide a manufacturer-by-manufacturer breakdown in the evidence reviewed. Neither number should be relabelled as a DJI fleet count.
Nor should the 2025 figure be used to calculate how many aircraft remain affected by the current transition. That would require a current inventory identifying manufacturers, models, status and applicable restrictions.
Mission categories explain why continuity matters
The reported roles show that the RPAS program supports several different policing functions. The government’s commitment to maintaining frontline services belongs in that context. It does not, however, establish that any particular model continues to fly or that exceptions exist for a specific mission.
Why Ontario Is Restricting Chinese-Made Drones
The province frames its policy around protecting provincial data and security. Its announcement raises concerns about potential access to sensitive information and disclosure obligations affecting companies incorporated in China.
A stated risk rationale is not a documented incident
That rationale explains why the province says it is acting. It does not, by itself, demonstrate that a named OPP drone has sent information improperly, identify a particular compromised flight or establish that every aircraft and software configuration presents the same technical risk.
Equally, the absence of a specific incident in these sources is not proof that security concerns are unfounded. A defensible article should distinguish policy, risk assessment and evidence of an actual incident instead of collapsing them into one claim.
Past use is not a permanent approval
An agency can operate equipment and later change its requirements. Historical use is therefore not a reliable guarantee of future eligibility. The same principle applies when a supplier points to a public-safety deployment as proof that another organization should buy the equipment.
Technical controls and policy approval are separate
Offline workflows, connectivity choices and access controls may be questions for a technical review. This article does not verify a particular mitigation or claim that a setting overrides Ontario’s restrictions. The responsible authority must determine whether a configuration meets its requirements.
The Questions That Determine the Real Fleet Transition
The most useful follow-up is an implementation record, not a more dramatic headline. A current OPP or provincial update would need to answer questions such as:
- Which aircraft and software configurations remain in the fleet?
- Which missions are restricted, and how are those categories defined?
- What are the effective purchasing instructions and transition dates?
- Which replacement configurations have been approved?
- What training, support and maintenance arrangements accompany replacement?
- How is service continuity being evaluated during the transition?
These are questions for verification, not claims that the OPP has adopted any particular answer. The reviewed sources do not provide a complete current implementation record.
Replacement is a program decision
For any organization reviewing alternatives, replacing an aircraft may also affect batteries, charging, accessories, software, procedures and crew training. Those are practical evaluation categories, not evidence of the OPP’s specific costs or replacement plan.
We should not name a replacement brand as the OPP’s choice without an award notice or direct agency confirmation. A domestic manufacturing claim alone also does not establish an approved purchasing status.
What This Means for Other Canadian Buyers
Public-sector procurement teams
Obtain the current requirements applicable to your organization. Do not infer your own procurement eligibility from a historical OPP fleet report or assume the same implementation instructions apply across all agencies.
Private operators and contractors
Check your client’s written equipment and data requirements before quoting a job or buying hardware. A government-client condition and the rules for conducting a flight are separate questions.
Do not generalize the OPP announcement to the RCMP
The Ontario announcement expressly names the OPP. It does not establish the RCMP’s current national fleet policy. Agency-specific claims need agency-specific evidence.
Do not rewrite it as a civilian flight ban
The announcement’s stated scope is government and OPP use and procurement. It is not evidence that every Canadian DJI owner must stop flying. For the broader distinctions, read Are DJI Drones Being Banned in Canada? What Buyers Need to Know.
Put approval before the equipment quote
Before committing to a platform, document the intended work, applicable procurement rules, security requirements and any outstanding approval. Then compare technically suitable configurations. That order avoids buying equipment first and discovering a client restriction later.
Supplier disclosure: Unmanned Canada sells DJI equipment. This article is an evidence-led explanation of public sources, not an OPP endorsement, a security certification or a determination of your organization’s eligibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the OPP still using DJI drones today?
The sources reviewed establish restrictions and a planned transition, but do not provide a current manufacturer-specific operational inventory. We cannot confirm a blanket yes or no for all OPP DJI aircraft from those sources.
Did Ontario ban every OPP drone immediately?
The release describes an immediate Chinese-drone restriction for highly sensitive operations, plus procurement action and a broader phase-out. It does not establish an immediate grounding of every OPP RPAS.
Are the OPP’s reported 160 drones all DJI?
The 2025 annual-report figure is for the RPAS fleet. The cited evidence does not break it down by manufacturer, so it should not be presented as a DJI count.
Which manufacturer is replacing DJI at the OPP?
The provincial announcement refers to Canada and other approved jurisdictions. The sources reviewed do not identify a complete approved replacement fleet or establish one exclusive replacement manufacturer.
Does this prove DJI drones were spying?
No such incident is established by the cited announcement. It presents the province’s security concerns and policy response, which should not be rewritten as proof of a specific compromised aircraft or flight.
Does the same announcement determine RCMP policy?
No. It names the OPP and Ontario government. Current RCMP fleet and purchasing claims require separate evidence.
Start with the Requirements, Then Choose the Aircraft
Share your mission and procurement constraints with Unmanned Canada. We can discuss equipment configuration and identify the approvals and technical questions your organization needs to resolve before purchasing.
Primary Sources and Editorial Notes
- Ontario: Restricting Government Use of Chinese-Made Drones, official scope and stated policy rationale.
- OPP 2025 Annual Report: Programs & Services, historical 160-unit RPAS fleet and mission roles.
- OPP 2024 Annual Report: Overview, historical 90-unit RPAS fleet figure.
- Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026: backgrounder, additional government policy context; not treated here as proof of completed fleet replacement.
Reviewed November 7, 2026. Annual-report counts are historical, not a current inventory. The distinction between announced measures and completed implementation is deliberate. No current OPP DJI count, comprehensive retirement schedule or exclusive replacement vendor is asserted.
General information, not legal advice, security certification or aviation authorization. Requirements can change. Confirm current purchasing and operational instructions with the authority responsible for your organization.
