Canadian State Air Services
This is not an air force and it is not one service either. It is the flying the Canadian state does outside the Canadian Armed Forces: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with about thirty aircraft at nineteen air sections, a federal flight department that has just moved from Transport Canada to National Defence and flies the Coast Guard’s twenty-three helicopters, and — the real weight of it — nine provincial and three territorial air services that between them own almost every water bomber in the country. Canada designed the water bomber, built 220 of them at Cartierville and North Bay, and is building the next one outside Calgary; and yet nobody commands any of this. The RCMP commissioner cannot task an Ontario CL-415, no premier can call on Ottawa’s Dash 8s, and the border service and the customs service own no aircraft at all.
Canadian state aviation: forty-five provincial water bombers, a Coast Guard that does not fly its own helicopters, and no one in charge
1924: thirteen Curtiss flying boats and the first government air service of its kind
Canadian state aviation begins in Ontario, not Ottawa. In 1924 the province stood up the Ontario Provincial Air Service with thirteen Curtiss flying boats to spot forest fires from the air, and it is still flying a century later as Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services out of Sault Ste. Marie. The federal services came later and separately: Transport Canada raised what became the Aircraft Services Directorate in 1936, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police established Air Services on 1 April 1937 with four de Havilland DH.90 Dragonflies, registered CF-MPA to CF-MPD, flying the first patrol out of Moncton on 22 May 1937. The war took all four aircraft and their crews into the Royal Canadian Air Force. Nothing about this was planned as a system, and it never became one.
The water bomber is a Canadian answer to a Canadian problem
The water bomber is the part of this story that the rest of the world bought. Canadair began project studies as the CL-43 and then the CL-204 in 1962; Québec’s forestry service, tired of converted Canso flying boats, asked for something better; the CL-215 programme was authorised on 1 February 1966 and the prototype flew from Cartierville on 23 October 1967. The first production aircraft went to the French Sécurité civile in June 1969 and Québec ordered fifteen. One hundred and twenty-five were built to 1990. A turbine conversion, the CL-215T, first flew on 8 June 1989, and the new-build turbine aircraft, the CL-415, flew on 6 December 1993 and was assembled at North Bay in Ontario from 1998. Ninety-five were built before Bombardier closed the line in October 2015.
Who owns the water bombers, and who only rents them
Which province owns its water bombers and which merely hires them is the single most misunderstood thing on this page. Ontario owns nine CL-415 and flies them with its own crews. Québec owns fourteen scoopers — eight CL-415, two CL-215T and four piston CL-215 — flies them with government pilots of the Service aérien gouvernemental, and lends them to SOPFEU, a non-profit forest protection society, to task. Saskatchewan owns six CL-215T, three Convair 580A and seven Turbo Commander bird dogs. Newfoundland and Labrador owns five CL-415. Alberta owns four CL-215T and contracts everything else. Manitoba owns seven Canadairs but handed their operation to Air Spray and Babcock in 2018. British Columbia, with the largest aerial firefighting effort in the country, owns not one aircraft: all forty or so are contractors’. Conair and Coulson are companies, not air services.
Ottawa’s tangle: the Coast Guard’s helicopters, Transport Canada’s pilots, National Defence’s payroll
The federal picture is a tangle that readers get wrong almost every time. The Canadian Coast Guard owns sixteen Bell 429 and seven Bell 412EPI. Until 2026 it did not fly them: Transport Canada’s Aircraft Services Directorate supplied the pilots and the engineers, which is why the aircraft appeared on Transport Canada paperwork while wearing Coast Guard red. Then the machinery of government moved twice. An order in council of 2 September 2025 transferred the Coast Guard itself from Fisheries and Oceans to National Defence, and on 1 April 2026 the Aircraft Services Directorate followed it out of Transport Canada into the Coast Guard. Transport Canada kept the National Aerial Surveillance Programme, flying three Dash 8s and about 3,500 hours a year hunting oil on the water since 1991.
Police and patients: the RCMP, the provincial forces and the air ambulances
The police flying is mostly federal, because the RCMP polices eight provinces and all three territories under contract. Its air sections fly Pilatus PC-12s on the long northern legs, light Cessnas for surveillance and about nine helicopters, and in 2025 it chartered three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks from two Ontario operators to patrol the American border. Only two provinces run their own police air arm: Ontario, whose Provincial Police fly from Orillia, and Quebec, where the Sûreté du Québec’s three helicopters are owned and flown for it by the government air service at Saint-Hubert. Air ambulance is different again. Saskatchewan has flown patients since 1946, the oldest organised civil air medical service in North America; Ontario’s Ornge is a provincially funded charity with twenty aircraft of its own; STARS in the prairie provinces is a donor-funded charity with ten Airbus H145.
2024–2026: the DHC-515 revival, Black Hawks on the border and a bad fire year
The present is a procurement wave and a hard fire record. De Havilland Canada, which bought the type certificate through Viking Air in 2016, is building the DHC-515 Firefighter at a new plant in Wheatland County east of Calgary, ground broken on 15 May 2026; the first 22 aircraft go to six European countries, and the Canadian orders behind them — three for Manitoba, six for Ontario, five for Alberta — will not arrive before 2031. Meanwhile the old fleet works. On 25 June 2026 a Northwest Territories bird dog, a Turbo Commander out of Hay River, crashed west of Fort Simpson and killed three people, and Saskatchewan grounded three of its own of the same model. In July 2026, with nearly 200 fires burning, two of Ontario’s nine CL-415 were down for repair.
The Canadian State Air Services in numbers
Service
- What this is
- Three layers of flying, no single serviceA federal police air branch under the RCMP; a federal flight department that moved from Transport Canada to the Canadian Coast Guard, and so to National Defence, on 1 April 2026; and the air services of nine provinces and the Northwest Territories, which own almost all of Canada’s water bombers. None of it is part of the Canadian Armed Forces and none of the aircraft is armed.
- Founded
- 1 April 1937 (RCMP Air Services)The date the largest of these services was raised, with four de Havilland DH.90 Dragonflies and a first patrol from Moncton on 22 May 1937. It is not the oldest: the Ontario Provincial Air Service began in 1924 with thirteen Curtiss flying boats and is still flying, and Transport Canada’s aircraft service dates from 1936.
- Departments and ministries
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- Royal Canadian Mounted Police — Air Services Branch, the largest single fleet
- Transport Canada — the National Aerial Surveillance Program and the civil aviation fleet
- National Defence, through the Canadian Coast Guard — the Coast Guard’s 23 helicopters and, since 1 April 2026, the former Transport Canada Aircraft Services Directorate
- National Research Council — the Flight Research Laboratory at Ottawa
- Nine provincial governments and the Northwest Territories — wildfire, police and air ambulance flying; Yukon and Nunavut contract everything
Fourteen or more separate procurement routes. There is no common training pipeline, no common registration block and no body that speaks for the whole of it; the nearest thing is the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre in Winnipeg, which brokers aircraft between provinces rather than commanding any.
- Heads of service
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- Commissioner of the RCMP, Ottawa — answerable for the Air Services Branch
- Director General, RCMP Air Services
- Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard — owner of the helicopters, and since September 2025 part of National Defence
- The deputy minister of each provincial natural resources or transportation ministry — for that province’s water bombers
Nobody commands Canadian state aviation as a whole, and that is a constitutional fact rather than an oversight: forest fire protection is a provincial responsibility under section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867, and policing is shared. Ottawa can fund aircraft and it does, but it cannot order a provincial water bomber into the air.
- Registrations and liveries
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- Canadian civil marks in the C-F and C-G blocks — there are no military serials on this page
- RCMP: white with a blue cheatline and the force’s name in both official languages
- Canadian Coast Guard: red hull with a white stripe, the same scheme as the ships
- Provincial water bombers: yellow and red in Ontario, yellow and black in Quebec, each province its own
Because everything is civil-registered, these aircraft appear in the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register alongside bush operators and flying clubs, which is one reason the fleet totals published for them vary so much.
- What they do not do
- Fight, and carry the prime ministerThere is no combat record on this page. Canadian federal executive transport is not civil either: the prime minister and the governor general fly in CC-144 Challengers of 412 Transport Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, from Ottawa. The only government executive jet outside the armed forces was provincial and lasted days — Ontario bought a Challenger 650 in April 2026 and announced on 20 April that it would sell it again.
Strength
- RCMP aircraft
- 31Twenty-two fixed-wing and nine rotary-wing at nineteen air sections in every province and territory, with 180 staff, on the force’s own figures published in September 2024. An industry profile of July 2023 counted 34 and gave a type breakdown whose sub-totals do not add to its own total, which is why the force’s figure is used here. Three chartered Black Hawks are additional to it.
- Coast Guard helicopters
- 23Sixteen Bell 429 and seven Bell 412EPI, all built at Mirabel in Quebec and delivered between 2015 and 15 September 2021 under a renewal programme worth more than 338 million Canadian dollars. They replaced sixteen MBB Bo 105 and six Bell 212 that were 26 to 30 years old.
- Water bombers owned by provinces
- 45Nine CL-415 in Ontario; eight CL-415, two CL-215T and four CL-215 in Quebec; six CL-215T in Saskatchewan; four CL-415 and three CL-215 in Manitoba; five CL-415 in Newfoundland and Labrador; four CL-215T in Alberta. Add Saskatchewan’s three Convair 580A and one Q400AT and the provincially owned tanker fleet is 49. British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Nunavut own none.
- Aircraft on order
- 14 DHC-515Six for Ontario at more than 500 million dollars, five for Alberta at 400 million and three for Manitoba at 80 million down. None of them will fly a Canadian fire before about 2031, because the first 22 aircraft off the Calgary line are contracted to Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
- Air ambulance aircraft
- about 38 state or state-fundedTwenty at Ornge in Ontario — twelve Leonardo AW139 and eight Pilatus PC-12 NG, owned outright by a provincially funded charity; ten Airbus H145 at STARS across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, funded by donations and provincial grants; four King Air B200 at Saskatchewan Air Ambulance, which is a government programme; and Quebec’s two Challengers and two Dash 8s, which are government aircraft outright.
- Customs and border aircraft
- NoneThe Canada Border Services Agency operates no aircraft. Border air work is done by the RCMP, which chartered three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks in 2025 and bought 60 drones, with more than 40 more lent by the Canadian Armed Forces. Where the French Douane and the Italian Guardia di Finanza fly their own fleets, Canada’s border and customs agency asks the Mounties.
Infrastructure
- Provincial and territorial air services
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- Ontario — Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services, Sault Ste. Marie, 28 aircraft
- Quebec — Service aérien gouvernemental, Québec City, 21 aircraft and more than 250 staff
- Saskatchewan — Public Safety Agency, Prince Albert and Regina, 17 aircraft
- Manitoba — ten provincially owned aircraft, operated under contract by Air Spray since 2018
- Newfoundland and Labrador — five CL-415 at Gander
- Alberta — four CL-215T at Slave Lake plus a large contracted fleet
- Northwest Territories — ten air tankers and four bird dogs in four groups
British Columbia runs the largest aerial firefighting operation in the country, around forty aircraft at full season, and owns none of them. New Brunswick works through Forest Protection Limited, a company the province is the majority shareholder of, which is neither quite state nor quite private.
- Coast Guard helicopter bases
- nineShearwater, St. John’s, Stephenville, Charlottetown and Saint John in the Atlantic region; Québec City and Parry Sound in the central region; Victoria and Prince Rupert on the Pacific. Two aircraft deploy aboard icebreakers in the Arctic each summer.
- Federal flight department
- 40 aircraft, an Ottawa headquarters and fourteen other bases, about 325 staffThe figures published for Transport Canada’s Aircraft Services Directorate in 2018, the last full public account: six Cessna Citation 550, five King Air C90A, two Dash 8-100, one Dash 7 ice reconnaissance aircraft, four Bell helicopters and the 22 Coast Guard machines it then flew, about 15,000 hours a year. The whole directorate moved to the Coast Guard on 1 April 2026.
- Water bomber production
- 220 built in Canada, and countingOne hundred and twenty-five CL-215 at Cartierville in Montréal between 1969 and 1990, ninety-five CL-415 to October 2015 with final assembly at North Bay in Ontario from 1998, and the DHC-515 now being assembled at Calgary. No other country has ever built a purpose-designed amphibious water bomber in series.
How the Canadian State Air Services is organised
One federal police air branch, one federal flight department that changed department twice in seven months, and the provincial and territorial air services. No single commander, no common training pipeline, and a border agency and a customs service that own no aircraft at all.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Owns the largest single state aviation fleet outside the armed forces: 31 aircraft at 19 air sections in every province and territory, with 180 staff. Air Services was established on 1 April 1937. It also runs the border Aerial Intelligence Task Force and more than 200 drones.
RCMP Air Services Branch
Nineteen semi-autonomous air sections under central policy direction. Pilatus PC-12s carry the northern work; Airbus H125s do the helicopter work; three chartered Black Hawks patrol the American border.
Transport Canada
Runs the National Aerial Surveillance Program and writes the Canadian Aviation Regulations under which every aircraft on this page flies. It lost its own flight department on 1 April 2026.
National Aerial Surveillance Program
Three Dash 8s at Ottawa, Moncton and Vancouver, about 3,500 hours a year, flying pollution patrol with side-looking radar and infrared and ultraviolet line scanners since 1991.
Department of National Defence
Since 2 September 2025 the department responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard, and since 1 April 2026 for the former Transport Canada flight department as well. The Coast Guard remains civilian.
Canadian Coast Guard
Owns 23 helicopters — sixteen Bell 429 and seven Bell 412EPI — at nine bases on three coasts, and since 1 April 2026 employs the pilots and engineers who fly them.
Aircraft Services Directorate
Founded 1936, about 40 aircraft, an Ottawa headquarters and fourteen other bases, and 325 staff at its last full public accounting, flying for eight client organisations. Transferred from Transport Canada to the Coast Guard on 1 April 2026.
National Research Council of Canada
The Flight Research Laboratory at Ottawa: ten research aircraft including a Convair 580 atmospheric laboratory, two fly-by-wire variable-stability helicopters, a Global 6500 defence testbed and the last government T-33 in Canada.
Canada Border Services Agency
Operates no aircraft. Border air work is done for it by the RCMP.
Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre
Owned by the federal, provincial and territorial wildfire agencies, it moves aircraft and crews between jurisdictions. From 2026 ten federally leased aircraft under a 316.7 million dollar programme are requested through it. It has no command authority.
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services: 28 aircraft including nine CL-415, dispatched from Sault Ste. Marie since 1924. Six DHC-515 on order. The province registered a Challenger 650 in April 2026 and announced its sale the same month.
Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable du Québec
The Service aérien gouvernemental: 21 aircraft and more than 250 staff at Québec City, covering firefighting, aeromedical evacuation and police flying in one organisation. Founded 1960.
Société de protection des forêts contre le feu
Tasks Québec’s fourteen water bombers without owning any of them. Funded by the province and the forest industry.
Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency
Created in 2020 and the institutional heir of Saskatchewan Government Airways. Seventeen aircraft: six CL-215T, three Convair 580A, one Dash 8-Q400AT and seven bird dogs.
Manitoba Wildfire Service
Owns four CL-415, three CL-215 and three bird dogs and has contracted their operation to Air Spray and Babcock since 29 November 2018. Three DHC-515 on order.
Alberta Forestry and Parks — Alberta Wildfire
Owns four CL-215T and contracts the rest: Electras, Convairs and Air Tractor Fire Bosses grouped in nines. Five DHC-515 on order at 400 million dollars.
BC Wildfire Service
Around forty aircraft at the height of a season and no aircraft owned. Everything is contracted, mostly through BC Bid in early spring.
NL Department of Transportation and Infrastructure
Five CL-415 at Gander with reload bases at Wabush, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Deer Lake and St. John’s.
GNWT Environment and Climate Change — Forest Management
Ten air tankers and four bird dogs in four groups at Fort Smith, Yellowknife and Hay River, with tanker bases at Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Inuvik.
Forest Protection Limited
New Brunswick’s aerial firefighting operator, in which the province is a shareholder alongside forest companies. Air Tractor AT-802F from Fredericton with eleven reload bases, and contracts to other provinces.
Ornge
A not-for-profit corporation and registered charity funded by Ontario’s health ministry, owning twelve AW139 and eight PC-12 NG at fourteen bases, about 20,000 transports a year.
Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service
Donor-funded, founded 1 December 1985 in Calgary, ten Airbus H145 at Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon. Not a state operator.
What the Canadian State Air Services flies today
Every type on charge, linked to its Book of Beasts page where one exists. Counts are aircraft on the books, not aircraft available on a given day.
| Type | Role | In service | Since | Units | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilatus PC-12 NG / NGXIn service | Utility and surveillance aeroplane — RCMP | 16 | RCMP Air Services — V Division | 16 in an industry profile of July 2023.
MoreThe force does not publish a type breakdown; its own September 2024 figure is 22 fixed-wing aircraft in total, of which the PC-12 is much the largest part. Thirteen were on charge in 2007. |
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| Cessna 206 Stationair and Cessna 208 CaravanIn service | Light surveillance aeroplane — RCMP | 7 | RCMP Air Services — V Division | 4 Cessna 206 and 3 Cessna 208 Caravan in a July 2023 industry profile of the branch. | ||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Daher Kodiak 100In service | Utility transport aeroplane — RCMP | 2 | RCMP Air Services — V Division | 1 of each in the July 2023 profile. The Kodiak is the newest fixed-wing type the force flies. | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H125 (AS350 B3)In service | Light utility helicopter — RCMP | 6 | RCMP Air Services — V Division | 6 in the July 2023 profile, the largest part of a rotary fleet the force put at nine aircraft in September 2024. | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H120 Colibri and H145In service | Light helicopter — RCMP | 3 | RCMP Air Services — V Division | 2 H120 and 1 H145 in the July 2023 profile, within a rotary fleet the force put at nine in September 2024. | ||
| Sikorsky UH-60 Black HawkIn service | Chartered border patrol helicopter — RCMP | 3 | 2025 | — | 3 chartered, not owned, of which two were flying in September 2026: the third was voluntarily grounded over Transport Canada regulatory concerns.
MoreTwo came from Helicopter Transport Services of Carp, Ontario and one from Expedition Helicopters of Cochrane, Ontario in 2025; the 2026 contract, 1 June to 30 November, is with Helicopter Transport Services. Charters have been renewed repeatedly since 17 January 2025 and the cumulative bill is reported in tens of millions of dollars. |
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| Remotely piloted aircraft systemsIn service | Drones — RCMP | — | RCMP Air Services — V Division | More than 200 systems reported in July 2023, with 60 more procured for border work and over 40 lent by the Canadian Armed Forces in 2025.
MoreNo single current total is published, so no number is given here. |
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| Bell 429 GlobalRangerIn service | Light utility helicopter — Canadian Coast Guard | 16 | 2015 | Coast Guard Aviation — Atlantic | 16 delivered between 2015 and 15 September 2021, the last of them the 400th Bell 429 built. The Coast Guard is the type’s largest operator in the world.
MoreA 2018 account of the fleet in service put the number then flying at 15. |
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| Bell 412EPIIn service | Medium utility helicopter — Canadian Coast Guard | 7 | 2016 | Coast Guard Aviation — Atlantic | 7 ordered in April 2015 and all delivered by May 2017, replacing six Bell 212. | |
| de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 (Dash 8)In service | Maritime surveillance aeroplane — Transport Canada | 3 | 1991 | National Aerial Surveillance Program | 3, based at Moncton, Ottawa and Vancouver.
MoreTwo were in service by 2018 and a third airframe, a Dash 8-103, was bought second-hand from Avmax of Calgary and announced on 30 January 2020 for conversion. |
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| de Havilland Canada DHC-7 (Dash 7 IR)In service | Ice reconnaissance aeroplane — Transport Canada | 1 | Aircraft Services Directorate | 1, a unique ice reconnaissance conversion listed in the directorate’s 2018 fleet.
MoreUNVERIFIED whether it is still flying in 2026: no source consulted here confirms its status after the 2026 transfer, and it is carried as current only because no retirement has been announced. |
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| Cessna Citation 550, Beechcraft King Air C90A and Bell 407 / 206BIn service | Calibration, training and transport jet — Transport Canada | 15 | Aircraft Services Directorate | 6 Citation 550, 5 King Air C90A and 4 Bell helicopters in the directorate’s 2018 fleet account, separate from the 22 Coast Guard machines it then flew. | ||
| Convair CV-580In service | Atmospheric research laboratory — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1, the best-known research aeroplane in Canada. | ||
| Dassault Falcon 20In service | Research jet — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1. | ||
| Bombardier Global 6500 (AD ASTRA)In service | Defence research testbed — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1, the newest and most capable aircraft in the NRC fleet. | ||
| Bell 412 ASRA, Bell 205A-1 and Bell 206BIn service | Fly-by-wire airborne simulator — National Research Council | 3 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 3 research helicopters: the Advanced Systems Research Aircraft, the older Bell 205 variable-stability machine and a Bell 206B. | ||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin OtterIn service | Research aeroplane — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1. | ||
| North American Harvard Mk IVIn service | Training and demonstration aeroplane — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1. | ||
| Canadair CT-133 Silver Star (T-33)In service | High-speed research jet — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1. | ||
| Cessna 337 (HEAT)In service | Hybrid electric testbed — National Research Council | 1 | NRC Flight Research Laboratory | 1. The Hybrid Electric Aircraft Testbed. | ||
| Canadair CL-415In service | Amphibious water bomber — Ontario | 9 | Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services | 9, of which two were grounded for maintenance and repair in July 2026 during a season with nearly 200 fires burning in the north. The fleet averaged about 24 years of age in 2024. | ||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and DHC-2T Turbo BeaverIn service | Utility transport aeroplane — Ontario | 11 | Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services | 6 Twin Otter and 5 Turbo Beaver, part of a fixed-wing fleet of 20 within 28 aircraft. Some of the Beavers are about 55 years old and some Twin Otters about 53. | ||
| Helicopters (Airbus types)In service | Utility and firefighting helicopters — Ontario | 8 | Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services | 8 helicopters within a fleet of 28.
MoreThe province describes them only as Eurocopters able to lift up to 7,000 lb; Skies Magazine identifies them as EC130s; the ministry itself publishes no type breakdown. |
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| Airbus Helicopters EC135 / H135In service | Police helicopter — Ontario Provincial Police | 2 | 2011 | OPP Aviation Services | 2 EC135 bought in 2011, which replaced an earlier ageing pair. Three more H135 were ordered on 15 September 2024 and are carried separately as on order. | |
| Pilatus PC-12In service | Utility and transport aeroplane — Ontario Provincial Police | 1 | OPP Aviation Services | 1, based at Thunder Bay in the 2015 account of the unit; no more recent public figure was found. | ||
| Cessna 206 StationairIn service | Traffic enforcement aeroplane — Ontario Provincial Police | 1 | OPP Aviation Services | 1, based at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport. | ||
| Bombardier Challenger 650In service | Government executive jet — Ontario | 1 | 2026 | — | 1, registered C-FBBW, a 2016-built aircraft bought second-hand for 28.9 million Canadian dollars, imported on 7 April 2026 and registered on 10 April 2026. | |
| Leonardo AW139In service | Air ambulance helicopter — Ornge, Ontario | 12 | Ornge fixed-wing base | 12, owned and operated by Ornge itself, across a network of bases. Ornge flies about 20,000 patient transports a year. | ||
| Pilatus PC-12 NGIn service | Air ambulance aeroplane — Ornge, Ontario | 8 | Ornge fixed-wing base | 8 in service in December 2024, being renewed and expanded to 12 under a 118 million dollar provincial programme running to 2030. | ||
| Canadair CL-415In service | Amphibious water bomber — Québec | 8 | Service aérien gouvernemental | 8 CL-415 within a scooper fleet of 14 stated by the Québec government in 2026.
MoreA 42 million dollar programme announced in 2019 put the eight through Viking Air at Victoria for a life extension of at least 25 years. |
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| Canadair CL-215 and CL-215TIn service | Amphibious water bomber — Québec | 6 | Service aérien gouvernemental | 6 within the scooper fleet of 14 stated by the province in 2026: four piston CL-215 and two turbine CL-215T.
MoreThe four pistons are the last radial-engined water bombers in Canadian government service. |
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| Bombardier Challenger 601 and de Havilland Canada Dash 8In service | Air ambulance jet — Québec | 4 | Service aérien gouvernemental | 4 aeromedical aircraft: a Challenger 601-3R, a Challenger 601-3A and two Dash 8 of the 200 and 300 series. Two Challenger 650 have been bought to renew the jets. | ||
| Airbus H145, Bell 412EP and Bell 206B — Sûreté du QuébecIn service | Police helicopter — Sûreté du Québec | 3 | 2021 | Sûreté du Québec — aerial operations | 3 helicopters: an H145 bought second-hand for about 13 million Canadian dollars in August 2020 and delivered on 7 May 2021, a Bell 412EP of 2002 and a Bell 206B of 1980. | |
| Canadair CL-215TIn service | Amphibious water bomber — Saskatchewan | 6 | Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency — Air Operations | 6 turbine scoopers, each carrying 1,200 imperial gallons, owned by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. | ||
| Convair CV-580AIn service | Land-based air tanker — Saskatchewan | 3 | Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency — Air Operations | 3, each carrying 1,750 imperial gallons of retardant.
MoreFour were in the fleet when the province announced on 23 April 2024 that they would be replaced, on the ground that they reach the end of their useful life in 2027. |
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| de Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400ATIn service | Land-based air tanker — Saskatchewan | 1 | 2025 | Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency — Air Operations | 1 delivered in late summer 2025, the first of four Q400 conversions bought for about 187.06 million Canadian dollars with 16.29 million of federal money.
MoreThree more are due by the end of 2027 and are carried as on order. |
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| Rockwell Turbo Commander (bird dog)In service | Air attack command aeroplane — Saskatchewan | 7 | Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency — Air Operations | 7, the largest bird dog fleet owned by any Canadian province. | ||
| Beechcraft King Air B200In service | Air ambulance aeroplane — Saskatchewan | 4 | Saskatchewan Air Ambulance | 4 medically equipped aircraft at Saskatoon, one of them rebuilt in 2025 with a larger door, a new stretcher system and an electric lift. | ||
| Canadair CL-215 and CL-415In service | Amphibious water bomber — Manitoba | 7 | — | 7 Canadair scoopers, four CL-415 and three CL-215, plus three Turbo Commander bird dogs.
MoreAll ten aircraft are owned by the province; Air Spray and Babcock have care and custody under a ten-year contract signed on 29 November 2018. |
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| Canadair CL-215TIn service | Amphibious water bomber — Alberta | 4 | Alberta Wildfire — air tanker group | 4, built in the 1980s and turbine-converted.
MoreThe province put 14 further air tankers on suppression contracts in 2024 and says the five DHC-515 it has ordered will more than double its own tanker fleet. |
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| Canadair CL-415In service | Amphibious water bomber — Newfoundland and Labrador | 5 | NL Air Services | 5.
MoreThe fifth aircraft was out of service since the damage after structural damage taken while scooping on the Burin Peninsula; a 14.8 million dollar repair contract was awarded to De Havilland in April 2025 with PAL Aerospace subcontracted, and the aircraft came home to Gander on 11 April 2026. |
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| Air Tractor AT-802A Fire BossIn service | Amphibious air tanker — Northwest Territories | 8 | GNWT Air Tanker Group 2 | 8 in the territorial fleet, four at Fort Smith and four at Yellowknife, within ten tankers and four bird dogs in four groups. | ||
| Lockheed L-188 ElectraIn service | Land-based air tanker — Northwest Territories | 2 | GNWT Air Tanker Group 2 | 2, tankers 416 and 417 in Group 3 and Group 4 at Hay River. | ||
| Beechcraft King Air 100 and Turbo Commander (bird dog)In service | Air attack command aeroplanes — Northwest Territories | 4 | GNWT Air Tanker Group 2 | 4: King Airs as bird dogs 101 and 102 at Fort Smith and Yellowknife, Turbo Commanders as 103 and 104 at Hay River. | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H125In service | Helicopter water bomber — Nova Scotia | 4 | Nova Scotia air tanker base | 4 ordered under a 25 million dollar contract with Airbus announced in 2024, after a 15 December 2023 decision to buy four.
MoreAll four had been delivered by July 2026, when Airbus announced the fleet renewal complete and the province announced the aircraft in service and named. |
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| Airbus Helicopters H145 (D2 and D3)In service | Air ambulance helicopter — STARS | 10 | STARS Winnipeg | 10 in 2025: five H145 D3 and five upgraded H145 D2, replacing an older fleet from 2018 onwards.
MoreA federal contribution of 65 million dollars and provincial health funding paid for much of the renewal. |
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| Air Tractor AT-802FIn service | Air tanker — Forest Protection Limited, New Brunswick | — | Forest Protection Limited | Number UNVERIFIED: the company does not publish a fleet count and no reliable current figure was found.
MoreFour Fire Boss amphibians were added in recent years and four AT-802 with a Cessna Caravan bird dog were contracted to Nova Scotia for the 2026 season at 6.5 million dollars. |
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| Rockwell Twin Commander (bird dog) — ManitobaIn service | Air attack officer aircraft — Manitoba | 3 | — | 3 Twin Commander bird dogs flown for the Manitoba Wildfire Service alongside four CL-415 and three CL-215, ten provincially owned aircraft in all. |
On order
| Type | Ordered | First delivery | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Havilland Canada DHC-515 Firefighter (Ontario)On order | 6 | 2031 | Six aircraft at more than 500 million Canadian dollars, expected to join the Ontario fleet in the early 2030s.
MoreIt is the largest Canadian order for the type, and the third after Manitoba’s in June 2025 and Alberta’s in February 2026. Ontario is the largest provincial operator of the previous generation with nine CL-415, and the first of the new aircraft will not replace them one for one. |
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| De Havilland Canada DHC-515 Firefighter (Alberta)On order | 5 | 2031 | Five aircraft at 400 million Canadian dollars, announced on 18 February 2026, first aircraft expected spring 2031.
MoreThe province says they will raise its total water drop capacity by about 60 per cent and more than double the tanker fleet it owns, which today is four CL-215T. |
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| De Havilland Canada DHC-515 Firefighter (Manitoba)On order | 3 | 2031 | Three aircraft, an intent to purchase announced on 16 June 2025 and an 80 million dollar commitment confirmed afterwards, with the first joining the fleet for the 2031 fire season and the other two in 2032.
MoreThey replace the province’s CL-215 and CL-415. Manitoba was the first Canadian customer for the type. |
|
| de Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400AT and Q400MRE (Saskatchewan)On order | 3 | 2026 | Three of a four-aircraft buy remaining after the first arrived in late summer 2025.
MoreThe buy is two Q400AT dedicated tankers and two Q400MRE multi-role aircraft that can be reconfigured for evacuation, patient transport or cargo; one Q400AT is already on charge, so one Q400AT and two Q400MRE are outstanding. The whole buy is about 187.06 million Canadian dollars with 16.29 million from Natural Resources Canada, and deliveries run to the end of 2027. They replace the Convair 580 fleet, four at the time of the 2024 announcement and three on the agency’s own listing today, which reaches the end of its life in 2027. |
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| Pilatus PC-12 NGX (Ornge)On order | 4 | 2025 | Four aircraft on top of the eight in service, taking Ornge to twelve, under a 118 million dollar Ontario programme announced in November 2023 with deliveries between 2025 and 2030.
MoreA larger hangar at Sudbury is part of the same investment. |
|
| Pilatus PC-24 (Ornge)On order | 2 | 2027 | Two jets within a 93 million dollar Ontario investment announced on 17 December 2024, the first due in December 2027 and the second in early 2028, to be based in a new hangar at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport.
MoreThey are for ultra-long-distance transfers of critically ill patients, including paediatric, neonatal and bariatric cases. |
|
| Airbus Helicopters H135 (Ontario Provincial Police)On order | 3 | Three ordered on 15 September 2024 for Ottawa, the Greater Toronto Area and the Thunder Bay region, aimed at vehicle theft and organised crime.
MoreOntario budgeted 134 million Canadian dollars in 2024 for five new helicopters in total; the type of the remaining two has not been announced. |
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| Replacement for the Transport Canada Dash 7 ice reconnaissance aircraftOn order | — | Not ordered, and included here because the gap is real. Canada flies one converted Dash 7 on ice reconnaissance for the Canadian Ice Service and has announced no successor.
MoreUNVERIFIED whether the aircraft is still flying after the April 2026 transfer of the flight department to the Coast Guard. |
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| Helicopters (Ontario, type not announced)On order | 5 | Announced on 17 July 2026 as part of an eleven-aircraft, 650 million Canadian dollar package for the Ontario fire programme: six water bombers and five helicopters.
MoreThe province has not named a helicopter type or a delivery date. |
||
| Bombardier Challenger 650 (Québec, ÉVAQ)On order | 2 | Two Challenger 650 bought to renew the Service aérien gouvernemental jets that fly the ÉVAQ air evacuation service for remote Québec. They replace two Challenger 601s. |
Every type the Canadian State Air Services has retired
12 types, from the Curtiss HS-2L flying boats to the MBB Bo 105. Peak figures are airframes taken on charge over the whole service life, not fleet strength on any one date.
| Type | Role | Peak | Served | Replaced by | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MBB Bo 105 | Light utility helicopter — Canadian Coast Guard | 16 | — | Bell 429 | 16, replaced by the Bell 429 between 2015 and 2021. By the time they went they were between 26 and 30 years old. | |
| Bell 212 Twin Two-Twelve | Medium helicopter — Canadian Coast Guard | 6 | — | Bell 412EPI | 6, flown until 2017 and replaced by the seven Bell 412EPI. | |
| Beechcraft King Air and de Havilland Canada Dash 8-103 | Government executive transport — Alberta | 4 | — | — | 4: three King Air and one 1985-built Dash 8-103.
MoreThree King Airs sold in 2015 for 6.1 million dollars to a North Dakota charter company, about 600,000 above the asking price; the Dash 8 was re-tendered. |
|
| Bombardier Challenger 600 | Government executive jet — Ontario | 1 | 1982–1983 | — | 1, bought in 1982 and sold about a year later. | |
| Saskatchewan Government Airways fleet | Crown airline aircraft — Saskatchewan | — | 1947–1965 | — | Numbers not established here. | |
| de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly | Patrol biplane — RCMP | 4 | 1937–1940 | Norseman, Grumman Goose | 4, registered CF-MPA, CF-MPB, CF-MPC and CF-MPD. | |
| Noorduyn Norseman, Grumman Goose, DHC-2 Beaver and DHC-3 Otter | Patrol and transport aeroplanes — RCMP | — | 1946– | — | Numbers not published as a single figure. These were the types the branch rebuilt on after 1945 and flew through the bush era. | |
| Bell 47, Bell 206 JetRanger and LongRanger, Alouette III and Sikorsky S-61 | Earlier Coast Guard helicopters | — | — | — | Numbers not published as a single figure. These are the types the Coast Guard flew before the Bo 105 and Bell 212 generation. | |
| Curtiss HS-2L flying boats | Fire patrol flying boats — Ontario | 13 | 1924– | — | 13 aircraft, which the service describes as Curtiss flying boats; they are generally identified as the Curtiss HS-2L, the surplus American naval patrol type used by Canadian bush operators in the 1920s. | |
| Consolidated PBY Canso | Converted water bomber — Québec and Ontario | — | — | Canadair CL-215 | Numbers not established here. Converted wartime amphibians used for water bombing from the 1950s until the Canadairs replaced them. | |
| Grumman CS2F Tracker | Converted water bomber — Forest Protection Limited, New Brunswick | — | — | Air Tractor AT-802F | Numbers not established here. Ex-Royal Canadian Navy carrier anti-submarine aircraft converted to tankers. | |
| Sikorsky S-76 | Air ambulance helicopter — Ornge, Ontario | — | — | Leonardo AW139 | Numbers not established here. Ordered in a procurement that became the subject of a 2012 Ontario auditor general report. |
Where Canadian state aviation flies from
Almost none of these organisations owns an airfield. They are tenants — on international airports at Ottawa, Vancouver, Québec, Winnipeg and Toronto, on a Royal Canadian Air Force wing at Shearwater, on a former wartime relief field at Debert — and at Sault Ste. Marie a provincial service has held the same ground since 1924.
| Base | ICAO | Status | Runway | Units and aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrie-Lake Simcoe RegionalOntario | CYLS | Active | 10/281,829 m |
|
| Billy Bishop Toronto CityOntario | CYTZ | Active | 08/261,216 m06/24900 m |
|
| CharlottetownPrince Edward Island | CYYG | Active | 03/212,134 m10/282,134 m |
|
| DebertNova Scotia | CCQ3 | Active | 09/271,524 m16/341,524 m05/23914 m |
|
| DrydenOntario | CYHD | Active | 12/301,827 m |
|
| FrederictonNew Brunswick | CYFC | Active | 09/272,440 m15/331,829 m |
|
| GanderNewfoundland and Labrador | CYQX | Active | 03/213,109 m13/312,713 m |
|
| IqaluitNunavut | CYFB | Active | 16/342,623 m |
|
| MonctonNew Brunswick | CYQM | Active | 06/243,048 m11/292,438 m |
|
| Montréal Saint-HubertQuébec | CYHU | Active | 06L/24R2,390 m06R/24L1,195 m10/28853 m |
|
| Ottawa Macdonald-CartierOntario | CYOW | Active | 14/323,048 m07/252,438 m04/221,006 m |
|
| Prince Albert Glass FieldSaskatchewan | CYPA | Active | 08/261,524 m16/34762 mgrass |
|
| Prince Rupert — Seal CoveBritish Columbia | CBY5 | Active | — |
|
| Québec Jean-LesageQuébec | CYQB | Active | 06/242,743 m11/291,737 m |
|
| ReginaSaskatchewan | CYQR | Active | 13/312,408 m08/261,890 m |
|
| RobervalQuébec | CYRJ | Active | 16/341,524 m |
|
| Saskatoon John G. DiefenbakerSaskatchewan | CYXE | Active | 09/272,530 m15/331,890 m |
|
| Sault Ste. MarieOntario | CYAM | Active | 04/221,829 m12/301,829 m |
|
| ShearwaterNova Scotia | CYAW | Active | 16H/34H1,067 m |
|
| Slave LakeAlberta | CYZH | Active | 10/281,695 m |
|
| St. John’sNewfoundland and Labrador | CYYT | Active | 10/282,591 m16/342,135 m |
|
| Toronto PearsonOntario | CYYZ | Active | 05/233,389 masphalt and concrete15L/33R3,368 m06L/24R2,956 m | — |
| Vancouver InternationalBritish Columbia | CYVR | Active | 08R/26L3,505 m08L/26R3,030 mconcrete13/312,225 mconcrete |
|
| VictoriaBritish Columbia | CYYJ | Active | 09/272,134 m03/211,532 m14/321,524 m |
|
| WhitehorseYukon | CYXY | Active | 14R/32L2,895 m14L/32R2,011 m |
|
| WinnipegManitoba | CYWG | Active | 18/363,353 m13/312,695 m |
|
| YellowknifeNorthwest Territories | CYZF | Active | 16/342,286 m10/281,524 m |
|
No air base matches that search.
Who is stationed where in the Canadian State Air Services
Flying units by site, with the government each belongs to. The RCMP calls them air sections, Québec calls its organisation the Service aérien gouvernemental, Ontario calls its Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services, and the Coast Guard now employs the people who fly its helicopters for the first time.
- Aircraft Services DirectorateFederal flight department · active
- Cessna Citation 550, Beechcraft King Air C90A, Bell 407, Bell 206B, Dash 7 IR
- National Aerial Surveillance ProgramMaritime surveillance unit · active
- de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100
- NRC Flight Research LaboratoryResearch flying unit · active
- Convair CV-580, Dassault Falcon 20, Bombardier Global 6500, Bell 412 ASRA, Bell 205A-1, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Harvard Mk IV, Canadair CT-133 Silver Star, Cessna 337 HEAT
- National Aerial Surveillance Program — EastMaritime surveillance detachment · active
- de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100
- National Aerial Surveillance Program — WestMaritime surveillance detachment · active
- de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100
- Coast Guard Aviation — AtlanticHelicopter detachment · active
- Bell 429 GlobalRanger, Bell 412EPI
- Coast Guard Aviation — NewfoundlandHelicopter detachment · active
- Bell 429 GlobalRanger, Bell 412EPI
- Service aérien gouvernementalProvincial air service · active
- Canadair CL-415, Canadair CL-215T, Canadair CL-215, Bombardier Challenger 601, de Havilland Canada Dash 8
- Coast Guard Aviation — CentralHelicopter detachment · active
- Bell 429 GlobalRanger
- Coast Guard Aviation — PacificHelicopter detachment · active
- Bell 429 GlobalRanger, Bell 412EPI
- Coast Guard Aviation — Seal CoveHelicopter detachment · active
- Bell 429 GlobalRanger
- Coast Guard Aviation — Prince Edward IslandHelicopter detachment · active
- Bell 429 GlobalRanger
- RCMP Air Services — V DivisionPolice air section · active
- Pilatus PC-12 NG
- RCMP Air Services — G DivisionPolice air section · active
- Pilatus PC-12 NG, Airbus Helicopters H125
- GNWT Air Tanker Group 2Territorial air tanker group · active
- Air Tractor AT-802A Fire Boss, Beechcraft King Air 100
- RCMP Air Services — M DivisionPolice air section · active
- Pilatus PC-12 NG, Airbus Helicopters H125
- RCMP Air Services — D DivisionPolice air section · active
- Pilatus PC-12 NG
- STARS WinnipegAir ambulance base · active
- Airbus Helicopters H145
- Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency — Air OperationsProvincial air service · active
- Canadair CL-215T, Convair CV-580A, Dash 8-Q400AT, Rockwell Turbo Commander
- STARS ReginaAir ambulance base · active
- Airbus Helicopters H145
- SPSA Air Operations — Prince AlbertAir tanker base · active
- Canadair CL-215T, Convair CV-580A, Rockwell Turbo Commander
- Saskatchewan Air AmbulanceAir ambulance service · active
- Beechcraft King Air B200
- STARS SaskatoonAir ambulance base · active
- Airbus Helicopters H145
- Alberta Wildfire — air tanker groupAir tanker base · active
- Canadair CL-215T
- Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency ServicesProvincial air service · active
- Canadair CL-415, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, de Havilland Canada DHC-2T Turbo Beaver, Airbus helicopters
- AFFES DrydenWater bomber base · active
- Canadair CL-415
- OPP Aviation ServicesPolice air unit · active
- Airbus Helicopters EC135, Pilatus PC-12, Cessna 206
- Ornge fixed-wing baseAir ambulance base · active
- Pilatus PC-24
- Sûreté du Québec — aerial operationsPolice air unit · active
- Airbus Helicopters H145, Bell 412EP, Bell 206B
- SAG — base d’attaque initiale RobervalWater bomber base · active
- Canadair CL-415, Canadair CL-215T, Canadair CL-215
- NL Air ServicesProvincial water bomber fleet · active
- Canadair CL-415
- Forest Protection LimitedAerial firefighting company · active
- Air Tractor AT-802F, Cessna 208 Caravan
- Nova Scotia air tanker baseContracted air tanker base · active
- Air Tractor AT-802F, Cessna 208 Caravan
- OrngeAir ambulance service · active
- Leonardo AW139, Pilatus PC-12 NG
No unit matches that search.
Canadian State Air Services milestones, 1914 to today
Ontario raises the Provincial Air Service with thirteen Curtiss HS-2L flying boats at Sault Ste. Marie to spot forest fires. It is among the first government air services anywhere with a purely civil mission, and it is still flying.
The Transport Act creates the first federal Department of Transport and with it the aircraft service that becomes the Aircraft Services Directorate.
1 April: RCMP Air Services is established. Four de Havilland DH.90 Dragonflies, CF-MPA to CF-MPD, arrive in May and fly the first patrol from Moncton on 22 May.
The RCMP’s aircraft and aircrew are absorbed into the Royal Canadian Air Force for the duration of the war.
Saskatchewan begins flying patients: the oldest formally organised non-military air medical transport programme in North America, and still a government service today.
15 August: Saskatchewan Government Airways is created by order in council as a Crown corporation, flying passengers and freight into the north and pioneering Canadian smokejumping.
Québec establishes the Service aérien gouvernemental, which will become the only Canadian organisation running firefighting, air ambulance and police flying together.
The Canadian Coast Guard is formed and begins flying helicopters. Canadair designates the CL-204, the study that becomes the water bomber, after Québec forestry officials ask for something better than a converted Canso.
Saskatchewan Government Airways is sold to private investors and becomes Norcanair. The state flying stays behind and becomes the air tanker service.
1 February: the CL-215 programme is authorised at Cartierville.
23 October: the CL-215 makes its first flight.
June: the first production CL-215 is delivered to the French Sécurité civile under a contract for ten. Québec orders fifteen.
The RCMP buys its first helicopter, a Bell 212. Ontario’s air service reaches 44 aircraft, mostly de Havilland Canada Beavers and Otters.
8 June: the first turbine CL-215T conversion flies, with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF engines in place of the Wright radials.
CL-215 production ends after 125 aircraft.
Transport Canada begins the National Aerial Surveillance Program.
6 December: the CL-415 makes its first flight. Deliveries begin in November 1994 and final assembly moves to North Bay, Ontario, in 1998.
An Edmonton Journal investigation into the Alberta government air fleet finds aircraft flying empty between Edmonton and Calgary. The scandal will outlast two premiers.
15 May: a wind-driven wildfire destroys about a third of Slave Lake, Alberta. The Ontario Provincial Police buy two EC135.
The Ontario auditor general reports on Ornge, describing a web of corporate entities and a chief executive paid 9.3 million dollars over six years.
31 May: an Ornge Sikorsky S-76 crashes at night after taking off from Moosonee, killing two pilots and two paramedics. 9 September: a Coast Guard Bo 105 is lost in M’Clure Strait with three aboard.
The Coast Guard helicopter renewal programme is launched, worth more than 338 million dollars. Alberta puts its executive air fleet up for sale.
October: CL-415 production ends after 95 aircraft. Newfoundland and Labrador completes its move to the CL-415. Alberta sells three King Airs for 6.1 million dollars.
3 October: Viking Air acquires the CL-415 type certificate and with it the future of the amphibious water bomber.
29 November: Manitoba contracts Air Spray and Babcock to operate its seven provincially owned Canadairs and three bird dogs for ten years, keeping ownership of every aircraft.
7 May: the Sûreté du Québec’s H145 arrives at Saint-Hubert. 15 September: the last of sixteen Bell 429 is delivered, completing the Coast Guard’s seven-year renewal.
March: Viking, by then De Havilland Canada, renames the modernised water bomber the DHC-515 Firefighter. Twenty-two are contracted for six European Union countries.
Québec’s water bombers make about 22,000 drops in the province’s worst recorded fire season. Nova Scotia, with no aerial firefighting aircraft of its own, burns at Tantallon and Barrington Lake and decides on 15 December to buy four helicopters.
17 January: three chartered Black Hawks begin border patrols for the RCMP. 16 June: Manitoba becomes the first Canadian DHC-515 customer. 2 September: an order in council moves the Canadian Coast Guard into National Defence.
10 March: the first DHC-515 goes together at Calgary. 1 April: Transport Canada’s Aircraft Services Directorate transfers to the Coast Guard. 15 May: ground is broken on De Havilland Field. 25 June: three die in a Northwest Territories bird dog crash near Fort Simpson. July: two of Ontario’s nine CL-415 are grounded during a 200-fire week.
Canadian State Air Services news from Afterburner
Everything MiGFlug’s magazine has published on the Canadian State Air Services and the aircraft it flies. This list refreshes itself — new Afterburner stories appear here automatically.
Everything people ask about the Canadian State Air Services
Is Canadian state aviation an air force?
Which provinces own their own water bombers?
Does British Columbia own any water bombers?
Are Conair and Coulson government air services?
Who owns the Canadian Coast Guard’s helicopters, and who flies them?
Does the Canada Border Services Agency have aircraft?
How many aircraft does the RCMP have?
Who flies the Sûreté du Québec’s helicopters?
Was the water bomber invented in Canada?
What is the DHC-515 Firefighter, and when will Canada get any?
How many water bombers does Canada have altogether?
Does Canada have a coastguard air arm like the United States?
Is Ornge a government air ambulance service?
Who flies the Canadian prime minister?
Does Environment and Climate Change Canada fly its own aircraft?
Who commands Canadian state aviation?
Have there been fatal accidents in Canadian state aviation?
Why do Canadian state aircraft have civil registrations?
Read the aircraft the Canadian State Air Services flew
Every type with a page in the Book of Beasts, in service first, then by the year it left the fleet.
Every fact, checked
- RCMP Gazette: "RCMP Air Services growing to meet operational demands"official, 13 September 2024: 31 aircraft, 22 fixed-wing and 9 rotary, at 19 bases in all provinces and territories; 180 personnel including pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, tactical flight officers and flight coordinators; two PC-12 in Nunavut flying seven days a week; Air Services founded 1937 under Commissioner Sir James Howden MacBrien with four aircraft from Moncton
- AirMed&Rescue: Provider Profile — RCMP Air Services Branchtrade press, 3 July 2023: 34 aircraft in total with 16 PC-12, 4 Cessna 206, 3 Caravan, 1 Twin Otter, 1 Kodiak 100, 6 H125, 2 H120 and 1 H145; 19 semi-autonomous air sections; over 200 remotely piloted systems; bases named at Goose Bay, Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Whitehorse. Its listed sub-totals do not reconcile with its own headline figure, so it is used here for type detail only
- Government of Canada: RCMP Air Services 1937–2007, 70 years of serviceofficial archive, May 2007: Air Services established 1 April 1937; four de Havilland Dragonfly CF-MPA to CF-MPD received May 1937, first patrol 22 May 1937; aircraft and crews absorbed into the RCAF during the Second World War; Norseman, Goose, Beaver and Otter afterwards; first Bell 212 in 1971; 40 aircraft at 18 bases, 150 staff, 13 PC-12 and 9 helicopters, over 23,000 hours a year in 2007
- RCMP: Initiatives to boost border securityofficial, last modified 31 July 2025: three chartered Black Hawks patrolling between ports of entry; 60 drones procured and more than 40 provided by the Canadian Armed Forces; the Aerial Intelligence Task Force of helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers; an existing fleet of nine helicopters
- Vertical Magazine: RCMP extends Black Hawk border security capabilitytrade press, 15 April 2025: three UH-60, two from Helicopter Transport Services of Carp and one from Expedition Helicopters of Cochrane; contracts of about thirteen weeks to 30 June 2025 at 11.7 million Canadian dollars; planning for a longer-term lease of up to four
- Bell: delivery of the final helicopter under the Coast Guard’s renewal planmanufacturer, 2021: 23 helicopters delivered in total, 16 Bell 429 and 7 Bell 412EPI; programme launched 2014 and completed 15 September 2021; contracts worth more than 338 million dollars; all assembled at Mirabel, Québec; the 429s fly about 5,500 hours a year; the Coast Guard is the world’s largest Bell 429 operator
- AirMed&Rescue: Canadian Coast Guard receives delivery of final Bell 429trade press: 16 Bell 429 and 7 Bell 412EPI, final delivery 15 September 2021, CAD 338 million in contracts awarded 2014 and 2015, completing a seven-year renewal
- Vertical Magazine: Better, Faster, Stronger — the Coast Guard’s new helicopter fleettrade press: the fleet replaced 16 MBB Bo 105 and 6 Bell 212 that were 26 to 30 years old, quoting the Coast Guard’s helicopter project manager; nine permanent bases; two aircraft deployed seasonally aboard Arctic icebreakers; the Coast Guard owns the aircraft and Transport Canada’s Aircraft Services Directorate supplied the pilots and engineers; about 90 per cent of east coast 412 work is aerial construction
- Transport Canada: National Aerial Surveillance Programofficial: operating since 1991; three Dash 8 based at Moncton, Vancouver and Ottawa; about 3,500 flight hours a year; side-looking airborne radar, infrared and ultraviolet line scanners, electro-optical infrared cameras, AIS and satellite communications; partners include Fisheries and Oceans, the Coast Guard and Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Transport Canada: Aircraft Services Directorate — 85 years and going strongofficial: established 1936 through the Transport Act; Canada’s third largest air operator by the 1970s; NASP launched 1991; training centre with full flight simulators from 1998; eight client organisations including the Coast Guard, DFO, DND, the RCAF, the RCMP, the Transportation Safety Board, the Engineering Test Establishment and Ottawa Police Service; headquarters Ottawa with staff at 14 bases
- Skies Magazine: Adapting for the Missiontrade press, 25 June 2018: 325 staff, about 15,000 hours a year, 40 aircraft — 6 Citation C550, 5 King Air C90A, 2 Dash 8-100, 1 Dash 7 IR, 4 Bell 407 and 206B and 22 Coast Guard helicopters; recorded oil spilled in Canadian waters down from 17,816 litres in 1992–93 to 3,796 in 2017–18
- National Defence: Transition of the Transport Canada Aircraft Services Directorate to the Canadian Coast Guardofficial: order in council made 25 March 2026, effective 1 April 2026, transferring the Aircraft Services Directorate to the Canadian Coast Guard, part of the Department of National Defence
- Canadian Coast Guard welcomes aviation services to the Defence Teamofficial, March 2026: transfer effective 1 April 2026; the directorate established 1936 and including pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, flight operations leaders, drone pilots and technical advisers; announced in Budget 2025; Transport Canada retains the Canadian Aviation Regulations
- SI/2025-96: Order transferring the Canadian Coast Guard to the Department of National Defencestatutory instrument: P.C. 2025-639 of 2 September 2025, registered 24 September 2025, transferring control and supervision of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Support Services Group from Fisheries and Oceans to National Defence under the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act
- National Defence: Integration of the Canadian Coast Guardofficial proactive disclosure, 2026: the Coast Guard’s integration into National Defence and what does and does not change
- National Research Council Canada: Research aircraft fleetofficial: the Flight Research Laboratory at Ottawa with the Bell 412 ASRA four-degree-of-freedom airborne simulator, the Bell 205 fly-by-wire simulator, a Bell 206B, the Global 6500 AD ASTRA defence research platform, a Convair 580 flying laboratory, a Falcon 20 for microgravity and alternative fuels, a Harvard, a Twin Otter, a T-33 cleared to 500 KIAS and minus 3 to plus 7.33 g, and the Cessna 337 hybrid electric testbed
- Government of Ontario: Aviation servicesofficial: 9 Canadair CL-415 scooping 6,130 litres in 12 seconds, 5 DHC-2T Turbo Beaver, 6 DHC-6 Twin Otter with tundra tyres carrying 16 passengers, Eurocopter helicopters lifting up to 7,000 lb; a certified CL-415 simulator; 24-hour operations including rabies baiting, fish stocking and aerial survey
- Skies Magazine: How Ontario’s aviation unit prepares for the wildfire seasontrade press: 28 aircraft, 20 fixed-wing and 8 helicopters, dispatched from Sault Ste. Marie to seven northern bases including Dryden, Thunder Bay and Smoke Lake; the Ontario Provincial Air Service formed in 1924 with 13 Curtiss flying boats and 44 aircraft by 1971; about 140 full-time and 24 seasonal staff; 1,198 fires in 2021; 24 hours of simulator training a year per pilot
- Global News: Ontario grounds 2 waterbombers for repairs as wildfires rage through northnews, 21 July 2026: two of Ontario’s nine heavy water bombers grounded for maintenance and repair during a week with nearly 200 fires burning; about 80 water bombers and helicopters working in the province with 40 more standing by; an aircraft tracking analyst able to confirm at least six of the nine flying
- Skies Magazine: Bird’s-Eye Vigilancetrade press, 6 July 2015: OPP Aviation Services with one PC-12NG at Thunder Bay, one Cessna 206 at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport and two Airbus H135 at Orillia and Sudbury; about two-thirds of annual flying is search and rescue; a call-out model rather than routine patrol
- Vertical Magazine: Ontario orders 3 new Airbus H135s for airborne law enforcementtrade press, 15 September 2024: three H135 ordered for Ottawa, the Greater Toronto Area and Thunder Bay; the OPP’s existing fleet of two EC135 bought in 2011, one PC-12 and one Cessna 206; CAD 134 million in the 2024 Ontario budget for five new helicopters
- ch-aviation: Canada’s Ontario government acquires used Challenger 650trade press, April 2026: C-FBBW, msn 6063, a 2016-built Challenger 650 imported 7 April and registered 10 April 2026 to the Ontario natural resources ministry for CAD 28.9 million, up to 12 passengers, for executive travel by the premier; Ontario bought a Challenger 600 in 1982 and sold it after a year
- HeliOps: Ontario orders Canadair DHC-515trade press: six DHC-515 for Ontario at more than CAD 500 million, expected in the early 2030s; the second Canadian order after Manitoba’s three; first flight from the Calgary plant planned for 2027
- Gouvernement du Québec: Pilote d’avion-citerneofficial, salary scale dated 1 April 2026: the Service aérien gouvernemental operates fourteen water bombers — eight CL-415, two CL-215T and four CL-215P — answering about 600 forest fires a season from April to September; home port Québec City Jean-Lesage; ten deployment bases at Roberval, Baie-Comeau, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Sept-Îles, Maniwaki, Val-d’Or, Chibougamau, Matagami, Manic 5 and Rivière Bonnard; employer the ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable
- Gouvernement du Québec: Activités aériennes du SAG sur le territoireofficial: three helicopters — Bell 206B, Bell 412EP and Airbus H145 — operated with the Sûreté du Québec for rescue after natural disasters, surveillance of large gatherings, missing persons and criminal investigation, day and night across the province
- Radio-Canada: Québec va moderniser ses huit avions-citernes de type CL-415public broadcaster: 8 CL-415 and 6 CL-215 owned and operated by the Service aérien gouvernemental and placed at the disposal of SOPFEU and the forests ministry; a CAD 42 million modernisation through Viking Air of Victoria extending life by at least 25 years
- Vertical Magazine: Airbus H145 helicopter joins Sûreté du Québec fleettrade press: C-GSQP arrived at Saint-Hubert 7 May 2021; bought used in August 2020 for CAD 13 million through the Service aérien gouvernemental, which operates it; built 2016 and previously with Elifriulia of Italy; replaced a Bell 206LT used from 1994 and destroyed on a search and rescue operation in January 2020; the SQ also has a Bell 206B of 1980 and a Bell 412 of 2002; area covered more than 1.6 million square kilometres
- Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency: Response operationsofficial: 3 Convair 580A at 1,750 imperial gallons, 1 Q400AT at 2,640 gallons, 6 CL-215T at 1,200 gallons and 7 Turbo Commander bird dogs, with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft contracted on top; the four-year plan to replace the Convairs with two Q400AT and two Q400MRE by the end of 2027
- Government of Saskatchewan: SPSA to renew its land-based airtanker fleetofficial, 23 April 2024: two Dash 8-Q400AT and two Q400MRE for about CAD 187.06 million with CAD 16.29 million from Natural Resources Canada; replacing four Convair 580 that reach the end of their useful life in 2027; first aircraft late summer 2025 and the rest by the end of 2027; a projected 25-year life and 30 per cent lower emissions
- Government of Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Air Ambulance celebrates its 80th anniversaryofficial, 1 May 2026: founded 1946, the oldest formally organised non-military air medical transport programme in North America; four fully equipped aircraft at Saskatoon; about 78,500 patients since 1946 and about 1,500 transfers a year; run jointly by the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement
- Government of Saskatchewan: Upgraded Saskatchewan Air Ambulance aircraftofficial, 9 September 2025: a King Air B200 returned with a larger entry door, a bigger stretcher with a new support system and an electronic lift; the service operates four medically equipped aeroplanes
- Saskatchewan Aviation Museum: Saskatchewan Government Airwaysmuseum: SGA created by order in council 1200/47 on 15 August 1947 as a Crown corporation, flying scheduled passengers and freight to the north, supporting mining, forestry and fishing and pioneering smokejumping; sold to private investors in 1965 and became Norcanair
- Skies Magazine: Air Spray wins Manitoba aerial firefighting contracttrade press, 29 November 2018: Manitoba’s seven Canadair amphibians — four CL-415 and three CL-215 — plus three Twin Commander bird dogs, managed, maintained and operated by Air Spray with Babcock International under a ten-year Wildfire Suppression Services Contract; Manitoba retains ownership of the aircraft, parts, inventory, tools and equipment; about 1,400 flying hours and 3,750 drops a year over 649,950 square kilometres
- De Havilland Canada: Manitoba confirms intent to purchase De Havilland Canadair 515 waterbombersmanufacturer, 16 June 2025: three DHC-515 for Manitoba, replacing the CL-215 and CL-415 the province operates; quoted by the executive director of the Manitoba Wildfire Service
- Province of Manitoba: Manitoba government upgrading firefighting fleet with three new waterbombersofficial: three DH Canadair-515 at CAD 80 million, the first joining for the 2031 fire season and the other two in 2032, with updated navigation, increased tank capacity and more fuel-efficient engines; CAD 6.7 million for equipment and CAD 1.1 million over four years for weather and mapping systems
- Skies Magazine: De Havilland Canada to build 5 new CL-515 water bombers for the Alberta governmenttrade press, 18 February 2026: five aircraft at CAD 400 million, first expected spring 2031; Alberta currently owns four De Havilland CL-215 built in the 1980s and had 14 further air tankers on suppression contracts; total water drop capacity to rise about 60 per cent; quoted Premier Danielle Smith
- International Association of Wildland Fire: Alberta’s multi-resource airtanker programmeprofessional association: Alberta’s 22 airtankers in nine groups — 3 Electra L-188, 2 Convair 580, 4 CL-215T, 10 AT-802F Fireboss amphibians and 3 AT-802F land tankers — with every aircraft except the CL-215Ts privately owned under service contract; Cessna Caravan and AC-690 Turbo Commander bird dogs; the Convair was already 40 years old when brought to Alberta in 2000
- Government of Newfoundland and Labrador: Fifth water bomber soars back to Ganderofficial, April 2026: the CL-415 returned to the provincial fleet on Friday 11 April 2026 after substantial structural damage taken while scooping on the Burin Peninsula; CAD 14.8 million repair contract awarded April 2025 to De Havilland Aircraft of Canada with PAL Aerospace subcontracted; Natural Resources Canada equipment fund support
- Government of Newfoundland and Labrador: Contract to repair water bomberofficial, April 2025: CAD 14.8 million to De Havilland with PAL Aerospace in province, for the province’s fifth CL-415, part of a CAD 32 million cost-shared investment announced in October 2024 that also funds the Atlantic Wildfire Centre at Gander
- Government of Newfoundland and Labrador: New water bomber increases the province’s firefighting capacityofficial, October 2015: a Bombardier CL-415 at CAD 17.7 million completing a five-aircraft fleet within a CAD 150 million renewal from the older CL-215; based at Gander with reload bases at Wabush, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Deer Lake and St. John’s
- Government of the Northwest Territories: Air tanker fleetofficial: 10 air tankers and 4 bird dogs in four groups — eight AT-802A Fire Boss as tankers 640 to 647 at Fort Smith and Yellowknife, two Lockheed L-188 Electra as tankers 416 and 417 at Hay River, King Air 100 bird dogs 101 and 102 and AC690 Turbo Commander bird dogs 103 and 104; tanker bases at Fort Smith, Hay River, Yellowknife, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Inuvik
- Global News: 3 people killed after plane fighting wildfire crashes near Fort Simpsonnews, June 2026: a Turbo Commander AC960 designated Bird Dog 104 and based at Hay River crashed about 50 km west of Fort Simpson at about 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 25 June 2026 while working a 100-hectare fire detected on 23 June, paired with an L-188 Electra; three killed; Transportation Safety Board, RCMP, coroner and territorial government investigating
- BC Wildfire Service: Meet the BC Wildfire Service aviation fleetofficial blog: nearly 40 aircraft including airtankers, birddogs, helicopters and jumpships; land-based tankers Convair CV-580, Avro RJ85, Lockheed L-188 and Bombardier Q400; AT-802F Fire Boss skimmers; Turbo Commander and Cessna Caravan bird dogs; two contracted jumpships; four helicopter size classes
- Province of British Columbia: Wildfire aviationofficial: about 40 aircraft with access to more, including 19 airtankers and 8 bird dogs at full capacity plus a contracted helicopter fleet; resources contracted through BC Bid in early spring, with mutual aid agreements for the rest
- Government of Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia contracts four fixed-wing water bombersofficial, 13 May 2026: four Air Tractor AT-802 and one Cessna Caravan bird dog contracted from Forest Protection Ltd of New Brunswick for CAD 6.5 million from 13 May to 30 September 2026, based at Debert; CAD 12.8 million provincial funding matched federally for equipment and fleet replacement; the wildfire risk season runs 15 March to 15 October
- Government of Nova Scotia: Province purchasing new helicopter water bombersofficial, 15 December 2023: the province’s decision to buy four new helicopter water bombers after the 2023 wildfire season; a contract with Airbus for the Nova Scotia H125s was reported in 2024 at CAD 25 million
- Forest Protection Limited: Aerial firefightingcompany: Air Tractor AT-802s based at Fredericton with eleven reload bases across New Brunswick, providing initial attack for the province and for other jurisdictions. The company does not publish a fleet count
- Government of Yukon: Yukon Wildland Fire Management ready for the 2026 fire seasonofficial, 2026: two contracted airtanker groups with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on contract; 26 ground crews and 92 support staff; six fire centres at Dawson, Mayo, Carmacks, Haines Junction, Whitehorse and Watson Lake; no territorially owned aircraft
- Skies Magazine: Ornge adding two Pilatus PC-24 jetstrade press, 17 December 2024: two PC-24 within a CAD 93 million Ontario investment, first in December 2027 and second in early 2028, based in a new hangar at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport; the current fleet of 8 PC-12 NG and 12 AW139; the PC-12 fleet to grow to 12 under a CAD 118 million programme; CAD 25 million to hire more than 100 frontline staff by 2029
- Helicopters Magazine: Ontario to expand Ornge’s new Pilatus fleet, grow Sudbury basetrade press, 8 November 2023: 12 PC-12 NG replacing eight and adding four, deliveries 2025 to 2030 under a provincial investment of more than CAD 108 million; nearly CAD 10 million for a larger Sudbury hangar; 14 bases and about 20,000 transports a year
- Helis.com: STARS Air Ambulancereference database: founded 1 December 1985 in Calgary by Dr Gregory Powell, a not-for-profit largely supported by community donations; six bases at Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon; fleet in 2025 of five Airbus H145 D3 and five upgraded H145 D2, renewal begun 2018
- De Havilland Canada: Production update on the De Havilland Canadair 515manufacturer, 10 March 2026: 22 aircraft in production for Croatia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and France, plus contracts with Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta; forward fuselage sections joined and the first 28.6-metre wing box complete; assembly at Calgary
- Aviation News: De Havilland DHC-515 — the future of aerial firefighting takes shapetrade press, March 2026: 22 aircraft for six European customers with manufacturing centred in Calgary; Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta contracted; the only purpose-built amphibious firefighting aircraft in production
- De Havilland Canada: Breaking ground on De Havilland Fieldmanufacturer, 15 May 2026: groundbreaking in Wheatland County, Alberta on a purpose-built aerospace campus for manufacturing, distribution and support; described as one of the most significant investments in Canadian aerospace infrastructure in decades; the company 100 per cent Canadian owned with an 80 per cent Canadian supply chain
- Public Safety Canada: Government of Canada funds 10 new wildfire-firefighting aircraftofficial, May 2026: four air tankers, one bird dog, five heavy-lift helicopters and two support assets leased through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre from Conair Group, Coldstream Helicopters and VIH Helicopters; CAD 316.7 million over five years from Budget 2025; available from the 2026 season on request through CIFFC
- CBC News: Scandal-plagued Alberta government aircraft fleet finally soldpublic broadcaster: three Beechcraft King Air sold for CAD 6.1 million to Fargo Jet Centre, about CAD 600,000 above the asking price, with a 1985 Dash 8-103 unsold and to be re-tendered; the 2005 Edmonton Journal investigation into empty flights, the CBC investigation into Premier Alison Redford’s use of the aircraft and the auditor general’s findings on false passenger bookings
- CBC News: Is Canada ready for a fiery future? We tallied up all of its water bomber planespublic broadcaster: a province-by-province tally of Canadian water bombers and their ages, including the finding that Prince Edward Island has no firefighting aircraft
- Global News: Are Canada’s water bombers ready for forest fires?news, May 2024: fleet sizes with British Columbia at 39 aircraft all contracted, Ontario 28 and Alberta 18; Ontario’s CL-415 averaging about 24 years and some Twin Otters and Turbo Beavers 53 to 55 years; six European countries holding the first 22 DHC-515
- OurAirports open data: airports.csv and runways.csvopen dataset used for aerodrome coordinates, elevations and runway dimensions where the Canada Flight Supplement could not be consulted directly. Elevations and runway lengths are published in feet in the source and converted to metres here, which is stated because a foot-to-metre slip is the easiest way to publish a runway a third too long
- Gouvernement du Québec: Service aérien gouvernemental — soixante-cinq années d’excellence et d’engagementofficial, February 2025: the Service aérien gouvernemental marking sixty-five years, which dates its foundation to 1960
- CTV News: Ornge air ambulance at Billy Bishop Airport
- SkyVector: Prince Rupert/Seal Cove (Coast Guard) Heliport CBY5
- Aerospace Global News: Ontario to sell C$29m Challenger 650
- 620 CKRM: Black Hawk helicopters to remain key part of border patrols, RCMP says (6 September 2026)
- De Havilland Canada production update on the DHC-515 (10 March 2026)
- Airbus: Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources completes fleet renewal with four H125 (July 2026)
- Nova Scotia: New helicopters take flight, names announced (14 July 2026)
- Canadian Coast Guard: helicopter services and bases
- Vertical Magazine: TSB blames organizational and regulatory failings for the 2013 Ornge crash
- Global News: Ontario water bombers grounded for repair (21 July 2026)
- Ontario buys 11 new aircraft to fight fires (17 July 2026)
- Air Spray: Manitoba Wildfire Service aviation services contract
Figures verified 2026-09-21. Order of Battle pages are regenerated from a single dataset; if a number here disagrees with a Book of Beasts page, this page is the more recent of the two.
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