Canadian Helicopters Limited, formerly a part of the Canadian operations of CHC Helicopter Corporation, operates 88 aircraft from 22 bases across Canada and provides a broad range of helicopter services to support the following activities: emergency medical evacuation; infrastructure maintenance; utilities; oil and gas; forestry; mining; construction; and air transportation. Canadian Helicopters also operates an advanced flight school; provides third party repair and maintenance services; and provides helicopter services in the United States in support of specialty operations including forest fire suppression activities and geophysical exploration programs.
History
Commercial helicopter flying began in British Columbia in the summer of 1947. Three former Royal Canadian Air Force officers, pilots Carl Agar and Barney Bent, and engineer Alf Stringer, were operating a fixed-wing charter company, Okanagan Air Services, out of Penticton. In July 1947 they raised enough money to purchase a Bell 47-B3 and pay for their flying and maintenance training.
Okanagan Air Services moved to Vancouver in 1949, was renamed Okanagan Helicopters and, by 1954, had become the largest commercial helicopter operator in the world.
Toronto Helicopters was founded by Len Routledge and Douglas Dunlop. It was a pioneer in air ambulance services in Ontario and operated helicopters for the Ontario Ministry of Health.
Sealand Helicopters was founded by Newfoundland and Labrador businessman Craig Dobbin in February 1977.
In 1987, Dobbin headed a group that purchased Okanagan Helicopters and Toronto Helicopters and merged them with his own company, Sealand Helicopters to form Canadian Helicopters.
Until November 2000, Canadian Helicopters was the domestic operating arm of Canadian Helicopters International, a wholly owned subsidiary of CHC Helicopter. In 2000, Canadian Helicopters was divested by way of a management buy-out. The company continued operations as Canadian Helicopters until it was renamed HNZ Group after acquiring that company.
Starting in the first quarter of 2009 Canadian Helicopters Ltd. began providing intergovernmental support in Afghanistan. On October 1, 2010, the company announced a contract with United States Transportation Command for flying operations of two Sikorsky S61 and four Bell 212 helicopters, bringing their total contracted to 11 in Afghanistan. Although painted in white and blue livery, these were civilian specification aircraft. With the increased flying tempo, the company acquired crew body armor for dangerous environments and during hostile conditions.accessed January 28, 2026, https://engardebodyarmor.com/canadian-helicopters/
In December 2017, the company was taken private as Canadian Helicopters Limited.
, Canadian Helicopters Limited has an air operator's certificate, 11988, in Les Cèdres, Quebec.
Bases , the following are bases in Canada:
Province / territoryCityAirportNotes Alberta Edmonton Edmonton International Airport Executive office Fort McMurray Fort McMurray International Airport Grande Prairie Grande Prairie Airport British Columbia Fort St. John Fort St. John Airport Penticton Penticton Regional Airport Flight school Smithers Smithers Airport Terrace Northwest Regional Airport Terrace-Kitimat Manitoba Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie/Southport Airport Department of National Defence training and maintenance support, KF Defence Programs (Allied Wings) New Brunswick Fredericton Fredericton International Airport Newfoundland and Labrador Bishop's Falls Goose Bay Goose Bay Airport Pasadena Northwest Territories Inuvik Inuvik (Mike Zubko) Airport Norman Wells Norman Wells Airport Yellowknife Yellowknife Airport Acasta HeliFlight Nova Scotia Halifax Halifax Stanfield International Airport Emergency medical services Nunavut Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay Airport Iqaluit Iqaluit Airport Sanirajak Sanirajak Airport Previously known as Hall Beach Quebec Montreal Montréal/Les Cèdres Heliport Corporate head office, heliport operated by Canadian Helicopters Radisson La Grande Rivière Airport Robert-Bourassa generating station, Whapchiwem Canadian Helicopters Sept-Îles Sept-Îles Airport
Heliports , Canadian Helicopters Limited operates the following heliports: Montréal/Les Cèdres Heliport, Montreal, Quebec Sagard Heliport, Sagard, Quebec Smithers (Canadian) Heliport, Smithers, British Columbia
Fleet , Transport Canada listed the following helicopter fleet as being registered to Canadian Helicopters Limited - Hélicoptères Canadiens Limitée of Quebec:
+ Canadian Helicopters fleetAircraftNo. of aircraftVariantsNotes Aerospatiale AS 355 7 AS 355-N Twin engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus, 4 passengers Bell 206 1 LongRanger Single engine, 6 passengers, not listed at Canadian Helicopters site Bell 212 8 - Twin engine, 14 passengers Bell 407 6 - Single engine, 6 passengers Bell 412 3 412EP Twin engine, 14, passengers Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil(Aerospatiale AS350) 49 34 - AS350 B215 - AS350 B3 Single engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus, 5 passengers, an unknown number listed with Canadian Helicopters as AS350 B3e Eurocopter EC120 4 EC120B Colibri Single engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus, 4 passengers Eurocopter EC135 1 EC135 T2+ Twin engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus, 6 passengers Sikorsky S-61 3 S-61N Twin engine, 26 passengers Sikorsky S-76 4 1 - S-76A2 - S-76C1 - S-76D Twin engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as S-76A++ (9 passengers), S-76C+ (8 passengers) and S-76D (8 passengers)Total 86
Gallery
Footnotes
References
External links
Official site