Ottawa has long been a hub for aviation innovation, so it's worth paying attention to a new experiment happening just down the highway in Kingston, Ont. Nav Canada, the country's air navigation services provider, is testing a digital aerodrome air traffic control program that could let controllers direct the movement of planes remotely — even from a city away.
How it works
Instead of controllers sitting in a physical tower overlooking the runway, the digital aerodrome system relies on high-definition cameras, sensors, and screens to recreate the view of an airfield from a remote location. A controller could theoretically be stationed hundreds of kilometres from the airport they're managing, watching live camera feeds and radar data to guide takeoffs, landings, and ground movement just as they would from a traditional tower.
Kingston was chosen as the testing ground, giving Nav Canada a real-world environment to work out the kinks before considering a wider rollout. It's the kind of pilot project that could eventually influence how airports of all sizes — from small regional strips to busier hubs — staff and operate their control towers.
Why Ottawa should care
Ottawa is only about two hours down Highway 401 from Kingston, and the two cities are closely linked when it comes to aviation and tech talent. The National Capital Region is home to a significant cluster of aerospace and defence companies, along with Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, one of the busier mid-sized airports in the country. If remote air traffic control technology proves reliable in Kingston, it's not hard to imagine Ottawa either supplying some of the remote controllers for other airports, or eventually benefiting from the same kind of system itself — particularly useful for managing traffic during off-peak hours or at satellite airfields in the region.
The shift could also matter for the local job market. Ottawa's tech and aerospace sectors have increasingly leaned into remote and hybrid work models, and a technology like this fits that broader trend — potentially allowing air traffic controllers to work from a centralized hub rather than being tied to a single airport's physical tower. That could open the door to new specialized roles based right here in the capital.
What's next
Nav Canada hasn't laid out a firm timeline for when — or if — digital aerodrome technology might expand beyond the Kingston trial. These kinds of pilot programs typically run for an extended period before regulators sign off on wider use, given the safety-critical nature of air traffic control.
Still, for a city with as much invested in aviation and aerospace as Ottawa, it's a development worth keeping an eye on. Whether it's future job opportunities or changes to how nearby airports are staffed, the ripple effects of what happens in Kingston could eventually be felt here at home.
Source: CBC Ottawa
