Jets roared over downtown Toronto on Saturday as the Canadian International Air Show featured one of the final flights of the Snowbirds over Ontario’s capital until at least the 2030s.
Crowds whistled and waved their hats as the Snowbirds appeared in the skies overhead, flying in tight formation and trailing clouds of smoke behind them. Some broke into applause as two of the jets flew in a barrel roll, tracing a corkscrew path over the lakeshore in tandem.
The nine-jet aerobatic team of the Canadian Armed Forces will be grounded at the end of the 2026 season as their signature CT-114 Tutor jets are replaced by the CT-157 Siskin II.
The team is scheduled to perform twice more at the Canadian International Air Show, hosted annually on the Toronto’s lakeshore, over the Labour Day long weekend before heading to northern Ontario.
Pierre Gionet, an aviation enthusiast at the air show on Saturday, said the Snowbirds are a symbol of Canadian pride.
“I do stream a lot of air shows online and whenever the Snowbirds are there, I get a little feeling I don’t get for the other acts,” he said.
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds pass the CN Tower as they perform during the Canadian International Air Show in Toronto, on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
While Gionet has mixed feelings about the grounding of the Snowbirds, he said it’s more important for the Canadian military to update its aging equipment than prioritize the air force’s flight demonstration team.
Sandy Seymour, an air show spectator decked out in a Snowbirds hat and shirt, said she’s disappointed the federal government didn’t find a way to replace the Snowbirds’ jets without grounding them.
She said the Canadian National Exhibition fair, whose final weekend coincides with the air show, won’t be the same without the Snowbirds performing their high-flying stunts. She said it’s a yearly tradition for her to go to the fair and watch the jets soar over the exhibition grounds.
Seymour was joined by hundreds others on the CNE grounds who had their eyes and cameras trained to the sky as fighter jets dating from the Second World War to the modern day careened over the banks of Lake Ontario.
Other air show demonstrations featured military and police aircraft and performances by civilian aviators, including a father-and-son duo piloting homebuilt planes.
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds perform during the Canadian International Air Show in Toronto, on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
The exact timeline of the Snowbirds’ return is unclear. Defence Minister David McGuinty said in May negotiations are underway with the manufacturer of the team’s new Siskin jets.
The Snowbirds have performed some 2,700 times in the Tutor jets since 1971, becoming staples of national events and celebrations.
The Snowbirds’ final show is set for Nov. 15 at the Grey Cup in Calgary.
Canada rapidly increased its military spending last year before announcing the Snowbirds would be grounded.
After years of criticism from allies, Canada met its NATO commitment to spend two per cent of GDP on defense by shelling out over $63 billion on national security in 2025.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has also said Canada will spend five per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, a commitment the NDP has criticized as an “extraordinary” sum better spent on affordable housing and healthcare.
The commander of the Canadian Army, Lt.-Gen. Michael Wright, said earlier this year that the military will forge ahead with investments to modernize the Armed Forces, including purchasing new weapons and air defense systems and recruiting more soldiers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2026.
By Kathryn Mannie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.