Snowbirds aerobatic team grounded until early 2030s while new planes purchased

MOOSE JAW —

Canada’s famous military aerial ambassadors – the Snowbirds – will soon be grounded.

Defence Minister David McGuinty announced Tuesday that after this upcoming season, the nine-jet aerobatic team will be mothballed until the early 2030s.

The pause is to allow the team’s signature but aging CT-114 Tutor jets to be replaced by the CT-157 Siskin II.

It’s the end of an era. The Snowbirds have never flown anything but the Tutors. There were 190 built in the mid-1960s and the Snowbirds began performing in them in 1971 all over North America, from the Far North to Guadalajara, Mexico.

They have performed 2,700 times for well over 140 million people, becoming staples of national events and celebrations, roaring over Parliament Hill on Canada Day and the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup.

“The sound of (the Tutor) engines and the trails of the white plumes of smoke behind them have become part of our national story,” McGuinty told a news conference at the team’s home base, 15 Wing Moose Jaw in southern Saskatchewan.

“Canadians remember watching the Snowbirds as children. They remember looking up at the sky with awe. They remember seeing them and seeing something that made them proud of this country.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Snowbirds are a part of Canada’s heritage, like the RCMP musical ride.

“I have, like many Canadians, enjoyed the demonstrations over the years,” Carney said at a news conference in St-Michel-des-Saints, Que.

“It’s absolutely extraordinary and a source of pride.”

This year will be the final one for Snowbird shows in the Tutor, and the team is to remain based in Moose Jaw. The schedule features 27 shows and flybys across Canada and the United States, starting next week in Quebec.

Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, said it’s possible there will be a final performance in Moose Jaw in the fall.

She said the squadron members will eventually be reassigned to other roles in the meantime.

Saskatchewan Justice Minister Tim McLeod said he is concerned where the pilots, technicians and others will end up.

“We’ve been assured that efforts are being made to make sure that those individuals will stay right here in the community because they are a part of our community,” said McLeod.

Moose Jaw Mayor James Murdock said it’s reassuring to hear the Snowbirds’ home will stay in Moose Jaw. “The Snowbirds are very cherished here in our community,” Murdock said.

Future timelines are not clear. McGuinty wasn’t able to provide a date for when he expects the new fleet to arrive. He said negotiations are underway with the manufacturer.

“We’ll obtain them as quickly as we can,” he said, “It will take some time for them to roll off the production line.”

McGuinty said it also hasn’t been determined if the new fleet would have the same colour scheme.

The current planes are red and white, with a blue stripe that’s a nod to the Snowbirds’ predecessors, the Golden Centennaires Centennial Aerobatic Team.

The Snowbirds had their first show in Moose Jaw on July 11, 1971.

Their name came from the successful entry of a school contest. Later that year, the squadron went international for the first time, appearing at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona.

In 1974, they became the first aerobatic team to perform north of the Arctic Circle. In 1988, they used coloured smoke for the first time during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Calgary.

The Tutors were adapted for low-level manoeuvres, trailing distinctive white smoke from diesel fuel stored in two underside tanks.

The jets would perform about 60 times a year, carving the sky at speeds sometimes approaching 600 kilometres per hour, with stunts including the double diamond roll, where the wings on side-by-side craft overlap by a metre.

There has also been tragedy. Ten air force members have died in service of the Snowbirds, and each show is dedicated to their memory.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2026.

Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press