A city between flights: How Moose Jaw is holding on to the Snowbirds - CBC

The Hopkins Dining Parlour in Moose Jaw is taking part in a community-wide campaign to keep the Snowbirds, Canada's iconic nine-plane aerobatic demonstration team, flying. (Camilla Faragalli/CBC)Social SharingFramed photographs of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds adorn much of the interior of the Hopkins Dining Parlour in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Owner and general manager Linda Lin has run the restaurant for five years and says she often witnesses the images — some of which date back decades — prompt unexpected moments of connection.

“Customers will point to the pictures [and say], ‘Oh, that's my uncle!’” Lin said, smiling. “Then they will phone their family right away.”

For Lin, such encounters are a reminder of how deeply the Snowbirds, who have been based out of Moose Jaw’s 15 Wing base since 1971, are woven into the city's history and the lives of its residents.

Linda Lin, owner and general manager of the Hopkins Dining Parlour in Moose Jaw, stands in the restaurant's newly renovated basement room, which she's dedicated to the legacy of the Snowbirds. (Camilla Faragalli/CBC)

The Snowbirds are hard to miss in Moose Jaw, even when they’re not in the air.

Several decommissioned Tutor aircraft are displayed in prominent places across town, along with the Tutor Jet monument that stands proudly beside Mac the Moose at the City's visitor centre.

Snowbirds are frequently depicted in the city's famous murals, and a massive jet is emblazoned on the outside of the Temple Gardens Centre, where the local hockey team, the Moose Jaw Warriors, plays. The team logo is, naturally, a CT-114 Tutor jet.

But as the Snowbirds prepare to spend the next three years on the ground while awaiting replacement aircraft for its aging CT-114 Tutor fleet, Moose Javians remain concerned about what the squadron's absence will mean for their city — and are finding ways to make their voices heard.

A Tutor Jet on display near Moose Jaw's visitor centre. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)

Lin wants to do more to commemorate the iconic aerial squadron.

She is converting a basement room at Hopkins, which is housed in a municipal heritage property, into a space dedicated to showcasing the Snowbirds' history. The room is expected to open to the public in the coming weeks.

She said she was inspired by the Snowbirds' final airshow earlier this month and the resulting influx of retired squadron members to her restaurant.

“It made me feel like, wow, I need to keep going to do this, you know, so that people remember Snowbirds, remember the history,” Lin said.

Kim Churko has worked at Hopkins for about 10 years. She said the restaurant has been a gathering place for Snowbirds pilots and other military personnel for decades, and that relationship has become part of its identity.

“Hopkins has been a restaurant for 47 years, so we've had many Snowbirds come and go. It's kind of a central gathering place.… We love having them,” she said, adding that the late former owner, Gladys Pierce, was a dedicated fan and friend of the team.

“They're very important to us, but the Snowbirds in particular are a national identity, and losing the Snowbirds is devastating to not just Moose Jaw, but the entire nation.”

Kim Churko, a server at Hopkins, says the restaurant has been used as a a gathering place for Snowbirds and other military personnel for decades. (Camilla Faragalli/CBC)

Hopkins worries that a prolonged interruption could affect years of specialized training and weaken a tradition connecting generations of Canadians to the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Her concern has led her to join and promote a postcard campaign urging the government to find a way to keep the Snowbirds flying during the transition to new aircraft.

Postcards are available across Moose Jaw, including at Hopkins.

“Come to Hopkins, fill this [postcard] out, and we'll mail it for you right to Ottawa. It will make a difference,” she said.

For Jana Kitts, the Snowbirds have inspired awe since childhood. Raised on a farm south of Moose Jaw near the base, she grew up anticipating their appearances each summer.

“They're amazing. They are spectacular. They are doing the craziest things in closer proximity than you can ever imagine. So there's really just that awe when you're watching them,” she said.

Kitts said the squadron is an emblem of national unity.

“They are a symbol of Canada," she said. "I think it gives everybody a sense of pride.”

Jana Kitts at her family's farm south of Moose Jaw, near 15 Wing where the Snowbirds are based. (Submitted by Jana Kitts)

Kitts started a federal petition calling on the Department of Defence to investigate ways to keep the Snowbirds flying while replacement aircraft are procured.

“Suddenly, four years turns into five years turns into 10 years and, you know, you don't have them in the sky,” she said.

Her petition also requests continued government funding and operational support for the program through 2030.

“It's a lot to go up against, you know, the government and the military,” Kitts said.

“They have their agendas, and they have protocols and everything that they need to follow as well. But I'm hopeful that it'll at least spark a conversation.”

The petition closed last weekend with nearly 2,500 signatures.

"I think Canadians also just want that reassurance that we'll get our team back," she said.

Camilla Faragalli is a CBC reporter covering south-central Saskatchewan. Before starting at CBC's new bureau in Moose Jaw in June 2026, she worked as an associate producer in Toronto and as a reporter in Whitehorse. She reported previously for an independent newspaper in the Outaouais region of Quebec. You can reach her at camilla.faragalli@cbc.ca.