Canada Gets Its First Two F-35s While 72 More Jets Remain Under Review

Canada's air force has taken delivery of its first two F-35A stealth fighters, handed over on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) announced the handover on X the following day, a post that had passed 364,000 views by Sunday.

The jets, designated CF-35A in Canadian service, are the first new fighter type to enter the RCAF since the CF-18 Hornet arrived in 1982. They land in the middle of an unresolved political question: Ottawa has firmly committed to only 16 of the 88 jets it originally planned to buy, and a review of the rest has been running since March 2025.

That gap between what is being delivered and what has been decided is why this handover matters now. Every jet that arrives, every pilot trained and every hangar built makes the F-35 harder to walk away from, while the government keeps a Swedish alternative on the table.

Key facts at a glance

• First two CF-35As were accepted at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, on October 22, 2026, and will stay there to train Canadian pilots.
• Eight jets are planned for Luke through 2026 and 2027; the first aircraft are due in Canada, at 4 Wing Cold Lake in Alberta, in 2028.
• Canada chose the F-35A on January 9, 2023, in a plan for 88 aircraft worth about C$19 billion.
• Ottawa is legally committed to 16 jets and is paying for long-lead parts for 14 more; the remaining 72 are under review.
• On October 7, the government announced nearly C$4 billion for fighter facilities at Cold Lake.

How Canada got here

Canada has been trying to replace its CF-18 fleet for well over a decade. The government confirmed the F-35A as the winner on January 9, 2023, describing it on its Future Fighter Capability Project page as "the most significant investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in more than 30 years." The same page says the fleet is expected to stay in service beyond 2060, and notes that Saab's Gripen was the only other bidder still eligible when the shortlist was cut in December 2021.

The politics shifted in 2025. Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the purchase in March 2025 as relations with Washington deteriorated. That review missed the end-of-summer 2025 deadline the government had set for itself and still has no public end date.

In the meantime, work on the program has continued. Canada's first jet, production number AR-1, made its maiden flight on September 23, 2026, at Lockheed Martin's plant in Fort Worth, Texas, already wearing full RCAF markings. CF-35A is also the first two-digit designation for a Canadian military aircraft since the current naming system was introduced in the 1960s.

What was delivered, and where the jets will fly

The two aircraft will not come to Canada yet. The RCAF has set up its first CF-35A training squadron at Luke, a U.S. Air Force base in Glendale, Arizona, where the 56th Fighter Wing runs the F-35A pilot training center for American and partner-nation crews. Canadian maintenance technicians are set to train at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

In its post, the RCAF framed the delivery as being about people as much as hardware. "The future of air and space power is built on more than equipment alone. We are developing the skilled people, integrated capabilities, and modern tools we need to meet future challenges at home and abroad," the air force said.

The official schedule runs for most of a decade:

Initial operational capability means one squadron at one main base ready for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) missions. The first Canadian base will be Cold Lake in Alberta, with 3 Wing Bagotville in Quebec as the second.

The review: 16 jets firm, 72 undecided

The number that matters most is not 88 but 16. Canada has a legal funding commitment for the first 16 aircraft, and Carney confirmed in February 2026 that Ottawa is paying for long-lead components tied to 14 more. The fate of the other 72 is still open.

Defence Minister David McGuinty has declined to set a timeline. Asked on October 7 whether new spending at Cold Lake signalled a move toward the full 88 jets, he said: "The question of where we're going next is under review. We're going to take the time we need to make sure that this is gotten right."

The main alternative is a mixed fleet with Sweden's Saab Gripen E. In late May 2026, the government was said to be weighing roughly 30 F-35As and 60 Gripens, though Ottawa has not confirmed that option. Saab has offered to assemble the Gripen in Canada.

Public opinion leans toward keeping that door open. An EKOS poll from December found 72% of Canadians favour bringing the Gripen into the fleet, either by buying only Gripens from here on or through a mixed fleet.

Money and bases: the hidden part of the bill

The aircraft price is only part of the cost. The full Future Fighter Capability Project is valued at C$27.7 billion including training, equipment, sustainment and infrastructure. Canada's Auditor General, in a June 10, 2025, audit, said that estimate excluded at least C$5.5 billion more for infrastructure upgrades and advanced weapons.

The same audit found the new squadron buildings at Cold Lake and Bagotville more than three years behind schedule, not ready until at least 2031. It also flagged a shortage of qualified pilots and called the plan for operating from temporary facilities incomplete.

Ottawa is now spending to close that gap. On October 7, McGuinty and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced about C$8 billion in ongoing defence investment in Alberta, including nearly C$4 billion for fighter capabilities at Cold Lake, according to a National Defence news release. The release estimates the Alberta projects will support 29,000 to 38,000 jobs over the next five to 10 years.

Other perspectives

Not everyone sees deeper reliance on a U.S.-built jet as a safe bet. The F-35 has become a flash point partly because the American president could choose to block software updates for the Canadian jets. Danish MP Rasmus Jarlov, who chairs Denmark's Defence Committee and backed his country's F-35 purchase, said in January: "We would feel more confident that we could use our fighters if we had bought a European plane."

Washington's view is that the choice carries consequences. "That's a Canadian decision," U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said. "If interoperability, if interchangeability, isn't important to the Canadians anymore, they may go in a different direction."

Some defence analysts argue the decision is narrowing on its own. Each delivery, the Luke squadron, the Eglin maintenance pipeline and bases redesigned around F-35 security standards "anchor the RCAF to the type whatever the review concludes," one defence analyst wrote. A mixed fleet, he noted, would add a second training pipeline, supply chain and weapons stock to an air force already short of pilots.

What it means for you

For Canadian taxpayers, the review decides whether tens of billions of dollars go mostly to one American program or are split with a European supplier that promises domestic assembly. The aircraft budget, the base spending and the missing C$5.5 billion flagged by the Auditor General all depend on that answer.

For people in Alberta and Quebec, the Cold Lake and Bagotville projects mean construction work now and a long-term military presence. McGuinty has tied the C$4 billion Cold Lake spending to the 16 jets already committed, saying the aircraft need "highly sophisticated" infrastructure, so it does not hinge on the final fleet size.

For Canada's aerospace workers, the F-35 is already a source of business. More than 30 Canadian contractors work on the global F-35 fleet, and over US$3.3 billion in contracts had gone to Canadian industry as of January 2025, according to the federal project page. Saab's offer of local Gripen assembly is pitched at the same jobs question.

For readers in the U.S., UK and Australia, Canada's choice is a test case. Danish lawmakers such as Jarlov have publicly questioned how far to depend on U.S. equipment, and Canada is now weighing a European option against an F-35 deal that is already delivering jets.

What happens next

• Through 2027: the remaining six Luke-based training jets are due, and Canadian pilots begin flying them.
• By the end of 2026: a production contract for six Saab GlobalEye surveillance aircraft could be signed. A non-binding term sheet was signed on September 25, 2026.
• 2028: the first CF-35As are due at Cold Lake.
• Open question: when the review ends, and whether the 14 long-lead aircraft become firm orders.

The bottom line

Canada now physically owns F-35s, but it still has not decided how many it will buy. Here is how to follow the story and judge what comes next:

1. Watch the number 30. If the 14 long-lead jets convert to firm orders, Canada's F-35 core reaches 30, which matches the reported mixed-fleet scenario.
2. Track the review deadline. The government has given none; a date, or a budget line for more jets or for Gripens, would be the real signal.
3. Follow the base work. Cold Lake and Bagotville readiness, which the Auditor General put at 2031 or later, will decide whether the 2028 arrival date holds.

FAQ

Are the new jets in Canada now?

No. The first eight will stay at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona for training through 2027. The first jets are due in Alberta in 2028.

Has Canada cancelled part of the F-35 order?

No. It is committed to 16 jets and paying for parts for 14 more. The other 72 are under review, not cancelled.