Canadian North was established in 1989 as a subsidiary of Canadian Airlines International, specifically to serve northern Canadian communities' needs. The airline traces its roots to former operators Nordair in eastern Canada and the Canadian Arctic, and Pacific Western Airlines in western Canada and also in the Canadian Arctic. Wardair also maintained a significant Arctic presence during its existence.
In September 1998, Norterra purchased Canadian North, whose ownership was divided equally among the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, representing the Inuvialuit people of the western Canadian Arctic, and Nunasi Corporation, representing the Inuit of Nunavut.[10][11]
Logo used by the airline from 2003 to 2019
After utilizing three different livery schemes, Canadian North adopted its final pre-merger logo in 2003. Its logo displayed three of the distinctive symbols of the North: the polar bear, the midnight sun and the Northern Lights. Canadian North's slogan was changed from "Your North. Your Airline" to "seriously northern" (all in lower-case), with advertising changed to reflect different aspects of the company (serious service, serious delivery, etc.).[12]
On 1 April 2014, the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC), representing the Inuvialuit of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, bought the 50% share of Norterra held by Nunasi. The purchase of Nunasi's interest in Norterra gave the IDC complete control of Canadian North, Northern Transportation Company (now Marine Transportation Services), and other companies that were jointly-held.[15][11] On 11 April 2014, Norterra and the Makivik Corporation, owners of First Air announced that they were in negotiations to merge the two airlines.[16][17] According to a website that had been set up on that same day, the new airline would be owned equally between the two companies and "a merger would create a stronger, more sustainable business, provide better service to customers and lead to new economic development opportunities across the North. We believe the two companies would complement each other's strengths."[18] In October, 2014, it was announced the merger would not go through,[19] but Canadian North would still codeshare on some flights with First Air until 16 May 2017.[20] On 23 February 2017, the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC) announced that arrangements had been concluded to transfer ownership of Canadian North directly into Inuvialuit Development Corporation.[21]
Canadian North Boeing 737 at Cambridge Bay Airport, Nunavut. The aircraft is still registered to Bradley Air Services but no longer in operation.
Bradley Air Services, later operating under the tradename First Air, was founded by Canadian aviation pioneer Russel (Russ) Bradley, and started operations in 1946. Beginning as a flying school in Ottawa, Ontario, and moving in the fall of 1946 to Carp, Ontario, First Air started scheduled operations in 1973 between Ottawa and North Bay, Ontario. This service was operated with an eight-seat passenger plane.
In 1979, Bradley acquired the routes and some aircraft from Survair, which itself had taken over the smaller Arctic community routes from Nordair Arctic, which was itself derived from the main airline, Nordair. Future Bradley acquisitions included Ptarmigan Airways, and later NWT Air, both Yellowknife based.
On 28 September 2018, Makivik Corporation and the Inuvialuit Corporate Group (ICG) signed a definitive agreement to merge Canadian North and First Air, again awaiting federal government approval. The new airline would use the new First Air livery, but would operate under the name "Canadian North".[22] On June 19, 2019, the federal government gave approval to the merger provided several terms and conditions were met.[23]
On 1 November 2019, First Air and Canadian North completed the merger and combined schedules into one, using the code 5T, dropping First Air's 7F code as well as the name but keeping the livery.[24] In early 2021 the call signs "First Air" and "Empress" were retired and the combined airline began operating as 5T / AKT, call sign "Arctic."
As of 18 December 2021, operations are now under the Canadian North name with a new livery.
Canadian North confirmed in December 2022 that is was to retire its last Boeing 737-200 by early 2023, replacing it with turboprop aircraft with similar gravel runway capabilities.[25] The aircraft made its last scheduled flight with passengers on 6 May 2023.[26]
Canadian North began a joint route with Air Greenland on Air Greenland's once-weekly flight between Nuuk and Iqaluit from summer 2024, with Canadian North providing flights timed to connect passengers arriving from Kuujjuaq, Montreal and Ottawa.[27]
Destinations
As of 16 February 2024, Canadian North services 29 domestic scheduled destinations:[5]
Canadian North offers charters to anywhere, non-stop flights in continental North America[30] and maintain charter terminals at Calgary and Edmonton.[7]
Fleet
Current fleet
Over time the registration of the fleet has moved from Canadian North to Bradley Air Services (First Air). As of September 2024, the fleet consists of 35 aircraft all registered to Bradley Air Services.[4][30][31]
Five ATR 42–300 series and two ATR 42–320 series combi aircraft, ice/gravel runway capable, six ATR 42-500, passenger only. All aircraft can take up to 42 passengers.
Five 300 series, 136 passengers, two Quick Change (QC) aircraft, combi, can be converted to freight. Four 400C combi aircraft 78 passengers, one 737-400 passenger only with 156 seats.
Northwest Tower in Yellowknife, the former headquarters for the airline
The company headquarters are in Kanata, Ontario,[7] the former First Air HQ.
Canadian North had its headquarters in the Northwest Tower,[33][34] in downtown Yellowknife. They were later moved to the grounds of Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta but the airline kept its community and marketing support employees in Yellowknife. In addition it has regional offices in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It also has an operations office in Edmonton, Alberta,[33] on the grounds of Edmonton International Airport.[35] Following the takeover by First Air, the former headquarters in Calgary was shut down and remaining management was transferred to Kanata.
Canadian North in-flight service includes leather seating, advanced seat selection, free newspapers and magazines, and free colouring books and crayons for children.
Canadian North also has its own "Aurora Concierge" and Aurora Rewards program for frequent travellers. Benefits of being an Aurora Concierge member include: Priority check-in, baggage, and boarding, extra piece of checked luggage, free alcoholic beverages, no fee changes, personalized membership card and baggage tag, and more.[39][40]
Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is the territory's largest community and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. The northernmost city in Canada, its traditional Inuktitut name was restored in 1987.
Canadian Airlines International Ltd. was a major Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carrying more than 11.9 million passengers to over 160 destinations in 17 countries on five continents at its height in 1996. Canadian Airlines served 105 destinations in Canada, more than any other airline. It was a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as Air North, Yukon's Airline, is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The airline also operates charter flights throughout Canada and Alaska. The airline also provides ground handling services and fuel services to other airlines throughout Yukon, and it also provides ground handling services at Vancouver International Airport and Edmonton International Airport. Its main base is Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.
Bradley Air Services Limited, operating as First Air, was an airline headquartered in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operated services to 34 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, and the Northwest Territories. First Air has assisted in various humanitarian missions such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, airlifting relief supplies and equipment. Its main base, which included a large hangar, cargo and maintenance facility, was located at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, with hubs at Iqaluit Airport, and Yellowknife Airport. On November 1, 2019, the airline consolidated operations with Canadian North.
Rankin Inlet is an Inuit hamlet on the Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and second-largest settlement in Nunavut, after the territorial capital, Iqaluit. On the northwestern Hudson Bay, between Chesterfield Inlet and Arviat, it is the regional centre for the Kivalliq Region.
Nordair was a Quebec-based airline in Canada founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation.
Air Tindi is an airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It operates scheduled and on demand charter services. Its main base is Yellowknife Airport and the airline was previously owned by the Arychuk family. The name Tindi means "the big lake" or "Great Slave Lake" in the local native Tłı̨chǫ Yatiì language.
Air Greenland A/S, also known as Greenlandair, is the flag carrier of Greenland, owned by the Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 28 aircraft, including a single A330-800 airliner used for transatlantic and charter flights, 9 fixed-wing aircraft primarily serving the domestic network, and 18 helicopters feeding passengers from the smaller communities into the domestic airport network. Flights to heliports in the remote settlements are operated on contract with the government of Greenland.
Air Nunavut, trading as Smooth Air, is an airline based in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. It was the only local and Inuit-owned air carrier in the eastern Arctic, operating charter services throughout Canada's Arctic, northern Quebec and Greenland. Its main base is Iqaluit Airport.
Iqaluit Airport serves Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and is located adjacent to the city. It hosts scheduled passenger service from Ottawa, Montreal, Rankin Inlet, and Kuujjuaq on carriers such as Canadian North, and from smaller communities throughout eastern Nunavut. It is also used as a forward operating base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In 2011, the terminal handled more than 120,000 passengers.
Resolute Bay Airport is located at Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, and is operated by the government of Nunavut. It is the second northernmost aerodrome in Canada to receive scheduled passenger airline service with Grise Fiord Airport, which is served from Resolute, being further north. Alert Airport, the northernmost airport in Canada and the world, Tanquary Fiord Airport, and Eureka Aerodrome are all further north but have no scheduled services. Alert and Eureka are both served by Resolute.
Summit Air is a Canadian airline headquartered in Yellowknife that operates scheduled, charter and cargo aviation throughout the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. Summit Air is a member of the Ledcor Group of Companies and operates in partnership with several other companies and communities including the Haisla Nation, Air Baffin, the Det'on Cho Corporation, and businesses in the Kitikmeot Region.
Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in the Canadian province of Alberta.
Transair was an airline based in Canada. It was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines in 1979. Transair's operational headquarters was located at the Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba.
Nunavut is the largest, easternmost, and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for self-government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.
CHAK is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 860 AM in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The station broadcasts the programming of the CBC Radio One network known as CBC North.
Abraham "Abe" Okpik, CM was an Inuit community leader in Canada. He was instrumental in helping Inuit obtain surnames rather than disc numbers as a form of government identification. He was also the first Inuk to sit on what is now the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and worked with Thomas Berger.
Adlair Aviation (1983) Ltd. is a family-owned charter airline in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Adlair Aviation was established in 1983 by pilot Willy Laserich and his family. Adlair has bases at Cambridge Bay Airport and Yellowknife Airport.
Operation Nanook is an annual sovereignty operation and manoeuvre warfare exercise conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic. Sovereignty patrols in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern Canada are conducted by the Canadian Rangers, Canadian Coast Guard in tandem with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The exercise portion is intended to train the different elements of the Canadian Armed Forces to operate in the Arctic environment.
Chrono Aviation Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary Chrono Jet Inc., is a charter airline headquartered at Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport. It operates aircraft in passenger, cargo and combi roles. It has bases at MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport and Rimouski Aerodrome. It has over 265 employees. As of 18 October 2024, it was announced that Chrono Group, the owners of Chrono Aviation, had been placed in receivership. This was ordered by the Superior Court of Quebec under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act as Chrono was unable to pay their creditors.
1 2 "Administration". Canadian North. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2011. Head Office - Calgary 200, 580 Palmer Road N.E. Calgary, AB T2E 7R3 Canada" and "Regional Head Office - Iqaluit P.O. Box 70 Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 Canada" and "Regional Office - Yellowknife 202 Nunasi Building, 5109 48th St. Yellowknife, NT X1A 1N5 Canada" and "Operations Office - Edmonton 101 – 3731 52 Avenue East Edmonton AB T9E 0V4 Canada
↑ "Directory Information". Government of the Northwest Territories. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011. NT Northwest Tower 5201 – 50 Ave
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