TORONTO — Jets roared over downtown Toronto on Saturday as the Canadian International Air Show kicked off. This year’s show, hosted annually on the city’s lakeshore, features the final flight of the Snowbirds over Ontario’s capital until at least the 2030s. The nine-jet aerobatic team will be grounded at the end of the 2026 season as their signature CT-114 Tutor jets are replaced by the CT-157 Siskin II. Sandy Seymour, an air show spectator decked out in a Snowbirds hat and shirt, says she’s disappointed the federal government didn’t find a way to replace the Snowbirds’ jets without grounding them. She says the Canadian National Exhibition fair won’t be the same without the Snowbirds performing their high-flying stunts. The air show coincides with the final weekend of the CNE and Seymour says it’s a yearly tradition for her to go to the fair and watch the jets soar over the exhibition grounds. She was joined by hundreds others on the CNE grounds who had their eyes and cameras trained to the sky as fighter jets dating from the Second World War era to the modern day careened over the banks of Lake Ontario. The Snowbirds have performed some 2,700 times in the Tutor jets since 1971, becoming staples of national events and celebrations. The Snowbirds’ final show is set for Nov. 15 at the Grey Cup in Calgary. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2026. Kathryn Mannie, The Canadian Press
