‘They aren’t simply an aerobatic team. They have been a part of our summers, our airshows, our community celebrations and our memories,’ says Orillia photographer
There are some sights in Canadian aviation that you never forget.
Nine red-and-white jets, perfectly aligned in formation. The sound of nine engines approaching from the distance. The white smoke coming on as the formation passes overhead, breaking apart before coming back together in perfect precision. All while thousands of Canadians, young and old, stand together looking skyward in awe.
For 55 years, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds have been doing exactly that.
But Friday, that era came to an end.
Connor Earl, an Aviation Photographer from Orillia, Ontario, is pictured standing with Canadian Forces Snowbirds Public Affairs Officer Captain Thomas Edelson during a reception at Lakehead University in Orillia, Ontario in 2012. Connor Earl for OrilliaMatters
The aircraft that has defined the Canadian Forces Snowbirds for the past 55 years, the Canadair CT-114 Tutor, has flown its final season. The end of the Tutor era follows the Snowbirds’ season finale at their home base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
The CT-114 Tutor became synonymous with the Snowbirds, and with Canadian airshows themselves.
Since 1971, the Snowbirds have flown thousands of demonstrations and flypasts across Canada, the United States and beyond, becoming one of Canada’s most recognizable symbols of Canadian aviation.
As an aviation photographer who has followed and photographed the Snowbirds for many years, I began digging through my own airshow archives, along with material from the Snowbirds, to revisit the team’s history, including its remarkable connection to Orillia.
While the city hosted the Canadian Forces Snowbirds in 2009 and 2012, there is an even more personal connection between the team and the Sunshine City.
His name is Capt (Ret’d) Mark “Happy” LaVerdiere.
LaVerdiere’s passion for flying began at a young age. That early dream would eventually take him far beyond the skies over Lake Couchiching.
After attending Mount Slaven Public School and later Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute, LaVerdiere continued his education at Confederation College, where he studied Aviation Flight Management.
Following his high school graduation in 1992, LaVerdiere joined the Canadian Armed Forces and completed extensive flight training to become a fighter pilot.
For years, he flew the CF-18 Hornet before trading the power and speed of the Hornet for the distinctive red-and-white CT-114 Tutor.
On Nov. 3, 2006, a young Orillia boy’s dream of flying with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds became a reality.
Following a joint news release from the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, LaVerdiere was announced as one of the newest members of 431 (Air Demonstration) Squadron.
He would fly with the team during the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons as the Lead Solo, becoming one of the few Orillians to be part of the Snowbirds’ storied history.
His call sign, “Happy,” was inspired by his resemblance to Adam Sandler’s character in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore.
And then came a moment that brought his aviation journey full circle.
On June 24, 2009, LaVerdiere and the rest of the Snowbirds returned to Orillia and performed an aerial demonstration over the shores of Couchiching Beach Park.
Thousands of spectators lined the waterfront, while hundreds more watched from boats on Lake Couchiching, as the unmistakable Tutors filled the sky.
For LaVerdiere, however, it was something much more personal; he was flying over his hometown. The same city where, years earlier, he had looked down from a Cessna with his father and decided that he wanted to become a pilot.
Now, he was looking back down at Orillia from the cockpit of a Snowbird Tutor. It was a remarkable full-circle moment.
LaVerdiere eventually left the Snowbirds after four seasons, but the connection between Orillia and the Snowbirds wasn’t over.
Three years later, the Snowbirds returned for another spectacular aerial demonstration.
As part of Orillia’s Canada Day celebrations, the team performed over the city on June 30, 2012, once again bringing the iconic red-and-white Tutors over Lake Couchiching.
And now, in 2026, that history has come full circle once again.
As an aviation photographer living in Orillia, and who has had the privilege of photographing the Snowbirds over the years, from countless locations and communities across the country, I can say that 2026 felt different.
This time, every photograph carried a little more meaning, knowing that I was documenting the final season of the iconic CT-114 Tutor.
“This was a bit of a farewell tour for this aircraft, so we tried to overfly as many communities as we could,” said Captain Patrick Charette, Snowbird 3.
And one of those communities that merited a final flyover was Orillia.
On Sept. 10, 2026, the Snowbirds made their way over Orillia while transitioning from Toronto to Sudbury.
For those of us on the ground with cameras pointed skyward, it was another opportunity to capture the unmistakable Tutors doing what they have done for generations, representing Canada.
And perhaps that is what makes the Snowbirds mean so much to Canadians.
They aren’t simply an aerobatic team.
They have been a part of our summers, our airshows, our community celebrations and our memories.
They have flown over Canada’s largest cities and its smallest communities. They’ve appeared at Canada Day celebrations, sporting events, military ceremonies and airshows.
They have inspired children to look toward the sky and dream of becoming pilots, engineers, photographers, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, or simply to appreciate the incredible machines flying overhead.
For generations of Canadians, the arrival of the Snowbirds meant one thing: look up.
But alongside the celebration, the Snowbirds have also carried a much heavier part of Canada’s aviation history.
Their legacy has come with sacrifice:
Captain Lloyd Waterer. (1972)
Captain Gordon de Jong. (1978)
Captain Wes Mackay. (1988)
Captain Shane Antaya. (1989)
Captain Michael VandenBos. (1998)
Captain Miles Selby. (2004)
Captain Shawn McCaughey. (2007)
Captain Bryan Mitchell. (2008)
Sergeant Charles Senécal. (2008)
Captain Jennifer Casey. (2020)
Ten members of the Snowbirds team lost their lives in the performance of their duties. They are not forgotten.
For those of us who photograph aviation, we often concentrate on the aircraft, the smoke trails, the formations, the reflections, the light, the perfect moment when everything comes together in the viewfinder, and all the behind-the-scenes and special moments that captivate us.
But behind every aircraft is a person, behind every formation is a team, and behind every generation of Snowbirds is a legacy built by the people who came before them.
That is why this final season has meant so much.
It isn’t simply the retirement of an aircraft; it is the closing chapter of a uniquely Canadian aviation story.
The Canadair CT-114 Tutor first entered Royal Canadian Air Force service in 1963. The Snowbirds have flown the aircraft since 1971, making the Tutor the only jet aircraft the team has ever flown.
Sadly, after 55 years, the sound of those Canadian-built jets will finally begin to fade from the skies, but the legacy won’t.
The aircraft may no longer be performing those formations overhead, but the memories remain in the photographs, the videos, the stories, and in the millions of Canadians who stood beneath those red-and-white jets and looked up in awe.
From Moose Jaw to Orillia. From the first formation to the final flight. From the pilots in the cockpit to the technicians working behind the scenes. From the communities that waited for the familiar sound overhead to the photographers who waited for that perfect moment, the Snowbirds have left their mark on Canadian aviation history.
As Major Maciej Hatta, Snowbird 1, said: “On behalf of all Snowbirds past, present, and future, thank you for joining us for one last ride.”
On behalf of the millions of Canadians who have watched the Snowbirds over the years:
Thank you, Snowbirds. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the inspiration.
Thank you for representing Canada with such incredible skill, professionalism and pride.
Thank you to every past and present pilot, technician, maintenance member, public affairs officer, support member and everyone behind the scenes who made 55 years of Snowbird history possible.
“One last time from the cockpit of Snowbird 1, thank you for joining us one last time in celebration of the Snowbirds legacy, and the end of the Tutor era … I’m not crying, we’re all crying,” said Major Maciej Hatta, Canadian Forces Snowbird, Snowbird 1, completing the Snowbirds final simulcast of the Tutor era.