The Canadian Forces Snowbirds made an unscheduled emotional pass over five small Saskatchewan towns yesterday, giving rural communities a rare—and possibly final—glimpse of the iconic CT-114 Tutor before the team’s historic retirement at season’s end.
On July 15, the red and white formation jets conducted low-level flyovers of Craik, Davidson, Kenaston, Hanley, and Dundurn while en route to a fuel stop in Saskatoon, then onward to Cold Lake, Alberta. These weren’t aerobatic displays—just simple formation runs designed to honor rural veterans and communities that have rarely, if ever, seen the Snowbirds in person.
“Veterans and people that serve in the military don’t just come from big cities; they come from small towns like Davidson and Craik, Hanley and Kenaston,” said Brian Swidrovich, organizer for the Canada Remembers Air Show and honorary Snowbird who coordinated the tribute flyovers. “It is great that the team was able to show a little bit of love to small towns on the way here.”
A Farewell at Saskatoon Aviation Museum
After the small-town passes, the squadron landed at Saskatchewan Aviation Museum, where roughly 1,000 spectators had gathered for a meet-and-greet. Pilots signed autographs and posed for photos. Spectators—many signing postcards to government officials urging reconsideration of the retirement—watched the Tutors sit on the ramp, accessible from about 100 feet away. The museum charged a $10 donation, with burger sales helping to fund the event.
“There are kids here today that aren’t even eight years old. They have never experienced Snowbirds in Saskatoon,” Swidrovich noted. Saskatoon has hosted the squadron 20 times since 1995, but the last aerobatic performance in the city was 2017—making yesterday’s visit particularly poignant for a generation with no living memory of the team’s displays.
The End of 55 Years in Red and White
The Tutor retirement marks the close of an era. Since 1971, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds have flown the single-engine CT-114, performing nearly 2,900 official shows and over 1,000 flyovers before an estimated 150 million spectators across North America. It’s the only aircraft the team has ever flown.
LCol Guillaume Paquet, commanding officer of 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, acknowledged the bittersweet reality of what’s ahead. “This season is, quite frankly, pretty special. The best analogy I can find is watching your children go to university. One part of you is sad to see them leave, just like we’re going to be sad to see the Tutor leave.”
Defence Minister David McGuinty announced the retirement decision on May 19, citing the aircraft’s age and maintenance burden. The Tutors have reached the end of their operational lifespan after 55 years of continuous service. The Department of National Defence will replace them with the Swiss-made CT-157 Siskin II (Pilatus PC-21), already in service with Canadian pilot training programs. Deliveries of air demonstration variants are expected in the early 2030s—creating a multi-year gap in Canadian aerobatic capability.
Season Finale in October or November
The 2026 season runs through October, with a final confirmed Tutor performance scheduled for Sacramento on October 11. However, RCAF Commander Lt. Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet indicated the location may shift to allow the iconic jets to be retired at home—potentially at the Grey Cup in Calgary in November, if negotiations succeed.
Spectators at yesterday’s Saskatoon stop voiced what many Canadians feel. “It is a symbol of Canadian pride, a symbol of our sovereignty and a symbol that we are one of the greatest nations on the planet,” said attendee Arianna Plummer. “It is going to suck not having an aerobatic team for the next couple of years.”
Details on remaining show dates are available at the Canadian Forces website.
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