Skip to content

We’re building your NEW Canadian North

Safe, sustainable and always focused on the needs of the communities we serve.

Canadian North and First Air are uniting to form a strong, sustainable airline that will serve our Northern customers and charter clients under the name ‘Canadian North’.

We know that you rely on us to bridge vast distances, bring people together and deliver important goods – always with friendly and helpful customer service. By combining our teams and resources, we will be able to operate far more efficiently and the improved sustainability we achieve will create new paths for us to invest our long-term growth and renewal, for the benefit of everyone we serve.

We are committed to communicating clearly and keeping your needs top-of-mind for every decision we make. Every step we take will be carefully planned and we will continually share our progress here.

Whether we serve you as a passenger, cargo customer, charter client, or work with you as a partner, we look forward to welcoming you onboard your new, unified, Canadian North.

If you have questions, we’re always here to listen and to help.

You can reach us by telephone at 1.800.267.1247 or by email at contact@canadiannorth.com.

Latest Updates

New Year, New Fares

As part of our ongoing integration journey, we are pleased to announce upcoming changes to our passenger and cargo fare structure for travel and shipping that will occur after Wednesday, January 1, 2020. These changes will be implemented in conjunction with the start of a new Medical and Duty Travel contract with the Government of Nunavut.

We fully understand that the availability of affordable air service is essential to all Northerners. With this in mind, we have designed our new pricing structure to provide a broader range of choice to our customers, including a new, significantly discounted Economy fare now available to all Nunavummiut.  Customers who book further in advance, are flexible with their travel dates and require fewer features will benefit from this new, lower-priced fare.

Also on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, we will expand our popular Ilak Fares program to include enrolled Beneficiaries of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA). As a result, IFA Beneficiaries will now enjoy access to the same lower-priced fares that Beneficiaries of other Inuit Land Claims Agreements currently enjoy. Because Ilak Fares are priced lower than our existing Pivut Fares program, we will discontinue the Pivut program in favour of the newly expanded Ilak program, retaining the Pivut name for the Western Arctic.

  • For IFA Beneficiaries, it will be known as the Pivut program (with identical attributes to the Ilak program).
  • For Beneficiaries of other Inuit Land Claims Agreements, it will continue to be known as Ilak program.

At the same time, we will significantly increase the number of Ilak/Pivut seats on our Montréal-Kuujjuaq and Mackenzie Valley flights for Beneficiaries travelling on those routes, with seats also available on all other flights within our network.

To see more details about our upcoming passenger and cargo pricing changes, please click here.

To view a side-by-side comparison of our published fare products (effective for travel occurring after Wednesday January 1, 2020), please click here.

Welcome aboard your NEW Canadian North

Effective today, we have officially launched our first-ever unified Canadian North flight schedule. You can now travel and ship with us across our vast network of 24 northern communities, from our southern gateways of Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton, with seamless interline connections and charter flights to destinations throughout Canada, the US and beyond. To view this schedule, please click here.

In conjunction with the launch of our unified flight schedule, we have combined our reservations systems, airport check-in processes and cargo services. This means that:

  • We are now serving you with a single website, canadiannorth.com, and you can reach us through a single Customer Contact Centre telephone number and email address:
  • You can check-in for your flight at any of our airport counters, with online check-in available on the new Canadian North website at canadiannorth.com.
  • You can ship to anywhere in our network, from any of our cargo facilities.
  • We have combined our existing Canadian North and First Air passenger and cargo facilities in Edmonton, Iqaluit, Ottawa and Yellowknife, effective Friday, November 1. Please click here for complete details.
  • You can earn and redeem Aurora Rewards points on any of our scheduled flights, with the ability to earn Aeroplan Miles for the same travel. It’s free to join Aurora Rewards and takes just moments to do so at aurorarewards.com/join, so we hope you’ll sign up if you haven’t already.
  • We have officially launched our unified ‘Canadian North’ brand, featuring our distinctive Inukshuk logo and red and white colour palette. You will see this brand in more and more places as time progresses, including our uniforms, counter signage and aircraft livery.

While the launch of our unified flight schedule and new brand are significant milestones within our ongoing integration journey, our work isn’t done yet. Over the next 12 to 18 months, we will also integrate our flight operations, maintenance facilities and all of our ‘behind-the-scenes’ functions, while ensuring that we continue to provide a seamless experience at every stage. We know that air travel is vitally important to the people, organizations and communities we serve, so we’ll continue to listen closely to your feedback and provide updates here, on our social media channels and through our day-to-day interactions with you.

Thank you as always for travelling and shipping with us. We hope we will see you onboard again soon.

FAQs

Questions about our integration

No. While Canadian North and First Air are now serving our customers together as the new Canadian North within a unified schedule, with a single reservations system and check-in/cargo processes, we will continue to operate separate flights until we transition to as single Air Operator Certificate and Approved Maintenance Organization Certificate (which is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete). This means that until then, your flight will be operated by either:

  • Canadian North, OR
  • First Air, operating on behalf of Canadian North
  • The airline operating your flight will be identified during the reservations process and on the ticket receipt you receive when your booking is complete.
  •  A decal has been placed on each aircraft operated by First Air, indicating that it is operated on behalf of Canadian North by First Air.
  • All aircraft within the unified fleet will be eventually painted in the new Canadian North red and white livery with the Inukshuk logo on the tail, to be done gradually throughout the integration process.
  • The Canadian North and First Air Operations teams will work together to ensure that our customers receive a seamless travel experience on all of our flights, with the same commitment to safety, efficiency and helpful customer service.

Questions about booking and flying with us

Yes. As of November 1, 2019, the existing First Air and Canadian North websites have been replaced by a completely redesigned website – www.canadiannorth.com. Visitors to the existing First Air website will be automatically redirected to our new website.

Yes. As of November 1, 2019, you can now reach us at a single Canadian North Customer Contact Centre number and email address:

All calls and emails to the previous Canadian North Call Centre telephone number will be automatically redirected to the new Canadian North Customer Contact Centre telephone number and email addresses.

We now offer a unified reservation system. This means that you can book your travel:

Through our travel agency partners and other online booking channels

The fare rules and baggage allowance that apply to your ticket will be identified during the booking process and are included on the confirmation you will receive after your booking is complete.

You can check-in for your flight and drop off your baggage at any of our airport check-in counters, with online check-in available on the new Canadian North website at www.canadiannorth.com.

Please note that we now offer unified check-in counters in Ottawa, Iqaluit, Edmonton and Yellowknife. To learn more about the locations of these counters, please click here.

The process to combine the rest of our existing check-in counters into unified Canadian North counters will be completed gradually throughout our network. We will provide updates as we make progress.

Questions about shipping cargo with us

You can drop off and pick up your freight at any of our Cargo locations. Please note that we now offer unified Cargo facilities in Ottawa, Iqaluit, Edmonton and Yellowknife. To learn more about the locations of these facilities, please click here.

The process to combine the rest of our existing Cargo facilities into unified Canadian North facilities will be completed gradually throughout our network. We will provide updates as we make progress.

Yes, we will continue to honour existing cargo rates, and in instances where a customer had an agreement with both First Air and Canadian North, we will merge the agreements and provide the lower of these rates on any shared lane. If you are a cargo customer, your assigned account manager can provide you with your new cargo account number and a copy of your new Air Cargo Services Agreement and answer any questions you have. For a list of our account managers, please click here.

Questions about loyalty rewards programs

Aurora Rewards is Canadian North’s loyalty rewards program. Aurora Rewards members can earn points for flying on Canadian North scheduled flights that they can redeem for free flights and a great selection of gift cards. For more information about Aurora Rewards, please visit www.aurorarewards.com.

It’s free to enroll in Aurora Rewards and takes just moments to do at www.aurorarewards.com/join.

Aurora Rewards members earn points by booking travel on Canadian North scheduled flights, with points awarded after they have flown.

Aurora Rewards members can also earn points from purchases made with partner retailers – Stanton’s, Northwind Petroleum, Bob’s Welding (Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk locations) and Northern Shopper.

Aurora Rewards members can redeem points for Canadian North flights by contacting our Customer Contact Centre at  1.800.267.1247.

Aurora Rewards members can also redeem points for gift cards through the Aurora Rewards website. Please click here for details.

Yes. As an Aurora Rewards member, you can also earn Aeroplan Miles and Aurora Rewards for the same travel, as long as you have added your Aeroplan member number to your Aurora Rewards member profile and provide your Aurora Rewards or Aeroplan member number when you make your booking. You can sign in to access your Aurora Rewards member profile at www.aurorarewards.com/signin.php. As an Aeroplan member, you can also redeem Aeroplan Miles towards free Canadian North flights.

Yes, Aurora Concierge benefits are now available on all Canadian North flights, including flights operated on behalf of Canadian North by First Air.

As always, Aurora Concierge members should travel with their member card to ensure that they receive access to the benefits they are eligible for.

To see a complete list of Aurora Concierge benefits, please click here.

Questions? Were always happy to assist.

You can reach us by telephone at 1.800.267.1247 or by email at contact@canadiannorth.com.