Canada

North America

31Airlines

4Profiled Airports

24With ICAO

24With Callsign

Aviation History

Canadian aviation was shaped early on by 'bush flying,' which used small aircraft to open remote northern and rural regions to air transport in the 1920s. The federal government established Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) in 1937 as a Crown corporation to provide national air service; it was renamed Air Canada in 1965. Canada also became home to the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal starting in 1947. The government privatized Air Canada in the late 1980s, and the 1996 launch of WestJet introduced low-cost competition, while Air Canada's 2000 acquisition of rival Canadian Airlines consolidated the national market.

✦Montreal hosts both ICAO's global headquarters and a major cluster of Canada's aerospace industry, including Bombardier.

✦Canada's vast and sparsely populated geography made float planes and bush aircraft especially important for regional connectivity.

✦Transport Canada regulates one of the largest and most geographically dispersed national airspaces in the world.

1920

Bush flying opens Canada's remote north

Bush pilots began using small aircraft, often on skis or floats, to connect remote and northern Canadian communities that lacked road or rail access.

1937

Trans-Canada Air Lines founded

The federal government established Trans-Canada Air Lines as a Crown corporation to operate Canada's first national scheduled air service.

1947

ICAO headquartered in Montreal

The International Civil Aviation Organization, created under the 1944 Chicago Convention, established its permanent headquarters in Montreal.

1965

Trans-Canada Air Lines renamed Air Canada

Trans-Canada Air Lines officially adopted the name Air Canada, which it retains as the country's flag carrier.

1989

Air Canada privatized

The Canadian government sold its remaining stake in Air Canada, completing its transition from Crown corporation to publicly traded company.

1992

Bombardier regional jet enters service

The Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) entered commercial service, helping pioneer the modern regional jet aircraft category.

1996

WestJet founded as low-cost carrier

WestJet began operations in western Canada, introducing sustained low-cost competition to the Canadian airline market.

2000

Air Canada acquires Canadian Airlines

Air Canada acquired its main domestic rival, Canadian Airlines, consolidating the majority of Canada's national airline market under one carrier.

Notable Carriers

Air Canada · WestJet · Canadian Airlines (historic) · Trans-Canada Air Lines (historic)

General aviation history sources; current airline market share and fleet details may shift over time.

Aviation Firsts

Oldest Airport — contested

Rockcliffe Airport — Ottawa, Ontario (1920): Opened officially in 1920 as the Ottawa Air Station, one of six original airfields opened across Canada by the new Air Board (the site had been used for experimental mail flights since 1918). In August 2018, on the 100th anniversary of its use as an airfield, it was officially recognized as 'Canada's oldest active airport.' Still operating today as a public, non-towered airport run by the Rockcliffe Flying Club; also home to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. · Wikipedia ↗

Cooking Lake Airport (South Cooking Lake Airport) — Cooking Lake, Alberta (near Edmonton) (1926): Established in 1926; Wikipedia's own article calls it 'Canada's oldest operating PUBLIC airport' (the 'public' qualifier is part of the claim). A separate Strathcona County municipal history page makes the broader, uncited claim that it is 'Canada's oldest operating airport.' It marked its 100th anniversary in September 2026. Operates on a non-profit, volunteer basis; Alberta's only airport with both a floatplane base and a conventional runway. · Wikipedia ↗

Two different airports each carry a sourced 'Canada's oldest' claim with different scope: Rockcliffe (1920) was officially recognized in 2018 as 'Canada's oldest active airport' (no qualifier), while Cooking Lake (1926, six years younger) is called 'Canada's oldest operating PUBLIC airport' by its own Wikipedia article — a narrower claim — and a separate municipal page drops the 'public' qualifier entirely without citing a source. Rockcliffe is older and its claim is unqualified, but both are reported rather than picking a single winner, since the claims come from independent sources using different wording.

Oldest Airline

Air Canada (1937): Founded 10/11 April 1937 as Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), a Canadian National Railway subsidiary created by federal legislation; renamed Air Canada 1 Jan 1965. Canada's flag carrier and largest airline, a founding Star Alliance member. The Wikipedia article traces 'Canada's national airline' origins to an even earlier 1936 government predecessor but does not itself claim to be 'Canada's oldest airline' or compare ages with surviving competitors (e.g. regional/bush carrier lineages) — treated as the strongest verified candidate, not an independently confirmed exclusive 'oldest.' · AC ↗ · Wikipedia ↗

First Foreign Ground Handler

Menzies Aviation (United Kingdom), 2005: Menzies' own 1 March 2023 press release (announcing a Montreal-Trudeau/YUL cargo licence expansion) states directly that the company 'first entered Canada in 2005' — a dated, company-sourced claim rather than a best-guess candidate. This predates the other dated foreign-entrant events found for Canada: Servisair (UK) acquired Handlex (part of Air Transat's parent group) in 2012, Swissport (Switzerland) then acquired Servisair in Aug 2013 (bringing Swissport's own Canadian presence in through that deal), WFS (Worldwide Flight Services) already had an existing Dorval/Montreal operation by Sep 2012 (exact entry date undocumented), and dnata (UAE) entered in Nov 2016 via a 50% stake in GTA Aviation's Toronto Pearson cargo/GH operations — dnata's own release calls this 'dnata's first step into the Canadian market,' a claim about dnata itself, not about the overall market. · Menzies Aviation ↗