The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which carried out the controversial mass cull of healthy research ostriches in Edgewood, B.C., is among the growing list of federal agencies that own Chinese-made DJI drones.

A newly released response to an order paper question from Conservative MP Eric Melillo reveals the CFIA owns four DJI drones: a Mavic Mini 2, Phantom P4, Matrice 200 Series and Mavic 2 Zoom. The parliamentary inquiry asked 32 federal institutions to disclose their Chinese-manufactured drones, their uses and what measures were taken to prevent information collected by the devices from ending up in the hands of Chinese government-connected entities.

According to the CFIA, the drones were purchased for a pilot project testing their usefulness during inspections, including crop and plant-health inspections, ship inspections in difficult or hazardous areas, aerial observation and even creating three-dimensional maps.

That is a potentially invasive set of capabilities for an agency whose inspectors can enter properties and oversee enforcement actions involving Canadian farmers.

The CFIA says the drones were only used in controlled testing environments and were not connected to agency networks. It also says testing involved non-sensitive information and that the devices were kept isolated from its corporate systems.

But the revelation comes as DJI faces significant security scrutiny south of the border.

Go Ad Free

The U.S. Department of Defense continues to list Shenzhen DJI Technology as a Chinese military company. Its June 2026 assessment says DJI is affiliated with Chinese government entities and describes the company as a contributor to China's military-civil fusion industrial base.

The Pentagon has also previously said DJI systems pose potential threats to U.S. national security.

And the CFIA isn't alone.

As previously reported, the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency also acknowledged possessing Chinese-made drones. The Mounties declined to disclose what theirs are used for, citing national-security concerns.

That connection is particularly noteworthy in light of what unfolded at Universal Ostrich Farms last fall.

During the lengthy 45-day, federal legal seizure of the farm and flock, leading up to the November 6, 2025, slaughter, large drones were repeatedly hovered over the farmers and their supporters. Most if not all of the drones are believed to have been operated by the RCMP.

The farm family maintains that low-flying drone activity contributed to frightening the already stressed flock and that one such incident caused a hen named Spirit to panic and re-injure herself. Spirit later died while the farm was under CFIA control and questionable care.

DISTURBING OSTRICH FARM NEWS:

The farm has released new footage exposing more CFIA incompetence.

Consistent with statements farmer Dave Bilinski previously told Rebel News, the video shows him warning the CFIA that Spirit, an injured hen who later died in the agency’s care,… pic.twitter.com/GJ5JNkpOFH

— Drea Humphrey (@DreaHumphrey) October 14, 2025

The newly released records do not establish that any of the CFIA's four DJI drones were used at the ostrich farm.

But they do reveal that both federal agencies at the centre of the Edgewood enforcement operation possessed Chinese-made drone technology while Ottawa's own allies were raising security concerns about that very equipment.

For more on the extraordinary federal operation at Universal Ostrich Farms and the controversial killing of its research flock, watch Rebel News’ tell-all documentary, Culling the Cure: The Aftermath of Canada’s Ostrich Slaughter, at CullingTheCure.com.