Snowbirds to be grounded following the 2026 season until new aircraft arrive
Replacement planes are expected to arrive in the early 2030s, but no precise date or numbers have been given.
Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: May 19, 2026 8:19 AM PDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago
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The Canadian Snowbirds fly during the Fleet Week Air Show in San Francisco on Oct. 10, 2025. (Godofredo A. VásquezAP)Social Sharing
Canada’s iconic Snowbirds demonstration squadron will be grounded following the 2026 flying season until new aircraft arrive, the country’s defence minister said Tuesday.
Speaking to the media at the home of 431 Squadron in Moose Jaw, Sask., David McGuinty did not say precisely how long it will take to replace the outdated CT-114 Tutor jets, which have been part of the Royal Canadian Air Force inventory since the 1960s.
Nor did the minister say how many new aircraft will be ordered.
The Swiss-made, turbo-prop CT-157 Siskin II has been chosen to replace the Snowbird squadron. The planes are already on order and are being delivered for use as the air force’s initial pilot training aircraft.
McGuinty said a contract for the Snowbird replacement has yet to be negotiated.
"Negotiations are underway with the manufacturer and we intend to procure those aircraft as quickly as we possibly can," he said.
The intention appears to be to tack on extra aircraft to the existing order, which means it could be the early 2030s before the Snowbirds are reformed and back performing at air shows.
WATCH | Carney says he 'inherited' aging Snowbirds:
Carney says he 'inherited' aging Snowbirds as Ottawa moves to sideline fleet after 2026 season
May 19|
Duration1:13Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada's iconic Snowbirds demonstration squadron will be grounded after the 2026 flying season for safety purposes until new aircraft arrive. 'I inherited a situation where the planes literally had come to the end of their lives,' Carney said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking at a separate event in Quebec on Tuesday, said he understood the place the squadron occcupies in the hearts of most Canadian, but added the aircraft should have been replaced a long time ago.
"They're extraordinary, but I inherited this situation where the planes are literally at the end of their lives," Carney said. "The Snowbirds will continue and new planes are being commissioned and will arrive. Sometimes you inherit things that, you know — you move as fast as you can."
Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, acknowledged that temporarily standing down the squadron was a tough call to make.
"This is a significant moment, and it is an emotional one because of the extraordinary connection that this team has built with Canadians over more than five and a half decades," Speiser-Blanchet said. "This decision was not taken lightly."
The lull in operations coincides with the introduction of the F-35 fighter fleet, and comes as the air forces also faces a major pilot shortage.
Federal defence minister says Snowbirds' future secure, Canadians can 'rest assured'
McGuinty said that during the downtime, the air force will continue to support air shows across the country, but will likely have to draw from operational fleets.
An association representing former Snowbird pilots said that while it understood the federal government's decision, it was still "profoundly disappointing," and members worried how the gap will affect the unique expertise required to perform the demonstration flights.
After a few years' hiatus, the air force could be forced to start from scratch to rebuild the team, said retired colonel Dan Dempsey, a former commander of the squadron.
"While the [Snowbirds Alumni] Association acknowledges the government's commitment to equip the Snowbirds with the new aircraft platform in the future, concerns remain regarding the loss of operational expertise and the prolonged interruption of one of Canada's most important military outreach programs during the transition," Dempsey sa
Dempsey also praised the technicians and contractors who've kept the CT-114 Tutor jets flying throughout the decades.
The association is also unhappy that a turbo-prop plane has been selected rather than a jet. Other G7 countries maintain air demonstration teams, but they fly jet aircraft.
'Engineering challenges' prevent extension
Two years ago, former defence minister Bill Blair ordered a review of military ships, aircraft and other items that have become difficult and costly to maintain — including the Snowbird squadron.
At the time, he said the six-decade-old CT-114 Tutor jets had been in service too long.
In 2020, work began to extend the life of the Tutor jets until 2030, but Speiser-Blanchet said that while most of the upgrades were delivered, it simply wasn't possible to carry on beyond this year.
WATCH | Snowbirds to be grounded for years after 2026:
Iconic Snowbirds to be grounded after 2026 season
10 hours ago|
Duration2:47Canada’s iconic Snowbirds will be grounded after the 2026 season until their outdated jets get replaced, possibly by the early 2030s, marking a turning point for Canada's iconic aerial ambassadors after more than five decades.
"Some of the airframe, engine and escape system program feasibility studies [that] were done ... [revealed] some engineering challenges because of the age of the aircraft that have changed that situation, and this is why it will be retiring in 2027 instead of 2030."
Military officials and aviation experts have warned for decades that the Tutors were operating far beyond their intended lifespan.
The jets were first ordered by the military in 1961 as training aircraft, a role from which they were retired in the early 2000s. Of the 191 planes originally ordered, roughly 26 are thought to remain in inventory or in storage.
The CT-114s began their demonstration career in 1967. They adopted the name Snowbirds in 1972 after a national competition among school children to name the squadron, and were formally designated as an aerobatics team in 1975.
In 2003, the air force was told that it needed to quickly replace the Tutors, which were considered well-maintained but ancient.
A study by the Defence Department's director of major service delivery procurement warned at the time that their lifespan would expire in 2010, but could be extended for another decade if absolutely necessary. Keeping the Tutor would pose "significant" risks, the 2003 report warned.
The Snowbirds kept flying, however.
A DND report in the fall of 2014 cleared the fleet as "technically airworthy," but noted significant concerns including some caused by financial restraints. That same evaluation said the Tutors could have had their lives extended to 2025.
Dave Perry, a defence analyst, said the decision to suspend the Snowbirds isn't surprising given the mutiple pressures the air force in facing, including introducing a wide range of new aircraft, and doing so with a shortage of personnel.
"You have to make some tough calls," said Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. "And I think this is probably one of those things, if they're really knuckle down, you could have kept that fleet going. But does it really make that much sense?"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Murray Brewster
Senior reporter, defence and security
Murray Brewster is senior defence writer for CBC News, based in Ottawa. He has covered the Canadian military and foreign policy from Parliament Hill for over a decade. Among other assignments, he spent a total of 15 months on the ground covering the Afghan war for The Canadian Press. Prior to that, he covered defence issues and politics for CP in Nova Scotia for 11 years and was bureau chief for Standard Broadcast News in Ottawa.