This flight would mark my second and last flight on Canadian North aircraft. Like my initial Canadian North flight, my ticket was downgraded from a Boeing 737–400 series to a 737 – 300 series aircraft. Despite this, I kept my original seat assignment and had a whole row to myself. I was also fed a reasonably good but unattractive looking meal, and enjoyed several glasses of wine on my trip down from Iqaluit to Ottawa. Please read on to see the kinks and quirks of flying this unique Canadian airline on an airplane redemption.

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Review: Canadian North B737-3, Iqaluit International Airport – Ottawa International Airport

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After two wonderful days exploring Iqaluit, Nunavut, it was time to start the journey back home. While it was a quick weekend trip, I had to fly out of Northern Canada down to Ottawa, Ontario, an overnight at the Fairfield Inn Ottawa Airport, then a trans – continental flight back to Vancouver, British Columbia. Either way you approached it, it was going to be a long journey.

For my Canadian North Iqaluit – Ottawa flight, I attempted to check in on line at the Canadian North website. However, I got no where with my Aeroplan ticket.

With that error message, I ended up just heading to the airport for check in. It’s been a while since I’ve fully checked in at the airport. As a result, I made sure I arrived several hours before my trip.

Departing from Iqaluit International Airport:

Since I hadn’t officially checked in, I arrived to Iqaluit International Airport at 180 minutes before my scheduled flight. It was pretty quiet on arrival. I got the impression that most travellers leaving Iqaluit didn’t bother getting to the airport all that early.

There were no queues at Canadian North check in desks. With Canadian North having a monopoly on travel from the airport, there weren’t any other desks around.

After providing my identification, I was asked to place my rolling carry on luggage on the scale. I got a “tsk tsk” from the check in agent, with the scale showing as 23.5 lbs. I had previously weighed my bag with a luggage scale that I had brought with me, and it had shown 22 lbs earlier.

After being asked to remove some items, I told the check in agent that I could put on a sweater to make the suitcase lighter. With this statement, she relented on the mission to charge baggage fees. Unlike my trip through the Northern Territories, this time I passed through a security screening check point and headed through to a secure side.

There weren’t many amenities on the secure side. Given that I had arrived to the airport at 5:30 PM, I was getting pretty hungry. While I was visiting over dinner time, there was no restaurant on secure side aside from a sole souvenir shop selling potato chips at inflated prices. After a little research, I ended up locating a water fountain to fill up my Yeti water bottle to about 75%. Given the limited options, and no real walkable dinner options from outside the Iqaluit airport, I ended up deciding to just eat on board whenever that was.

I eventually located my departure gate 2. Without much happening at the airport, I entertained myself on some pretty spotty airport wifi, in order to pass the time.

Eventually, the flight arrived to the gate. Today’s Canadian North flight from Iqaluit to Ottawa would be served by a Boeing 737-700.

Canadian North
5T 104 – Economy Class
YFB – YOW (Iqaluit International Airport – Ottawa International Airport)
June 8, 2025
Scheduled: 8:35 PM – 11:50 PM
Booked: Boeing 737-400
Flown: Boeing 737-300

Eventually, it came time to board. After an identification card check, we headed outside to board. There were no jet bridges at Iqaluit International Airport; something surprising given how cold it likely gets in Nunavut.

On Board Canadian North:

Canadian North runs an all Boeing 737 fleet for its narrow body aircraft. I was originally booked in their Boeing 737–400 series aircraft. However, there was an aircraft swap and I ended up in a Boeing 737–300 series aircraft. An aircraft swap also occurred on my other flight on Canadian North Yellowknife – Rankin – Iqaluit.

It’s worth mentioning that I had previously called into the Canadian North Call Centre and had seats assigned on my Aeroplan award ticket. I was able to get these on a complimentary basis. Despite my aircraft swap, I had kept my window seat assignment, but got moved to row 19 F.

The Canadian North aircraft operates a single cabin of service aircraft. There is no business class seating on the plane. Boarding was a friendly process, and I easily found my seat.

Unlike the Canadian North Boeing 737–700 series that I had arrived on, the Canadian North Boeing 737–300 series had the older style puffy seats. This plane had not yet benefitted from a cabin refurbishment found on other Canadian North aircraft, and had old school style, fuller leather seats.

In terms of leg room, there was enough legroom for a tall 185 cm traveller like myself. I was fortunate that I had the whole bank of three seats in row 19 D – F on my own. As a result, I was able to stretch out quite comfortably.

The Canadian North Boeing 737–300 series also had old school individual air vents located above each passenger seat. I appreciated having a personal air vent as it made for a more comfortable flight.

As I settled in on board, the captain provided a public address announcement of a flight time of two hours and thirty minutes down to Ottawa with an arrival temperature of 17 degrees Celsius on an early June evening.

Departing Iqaluit Airport:

We had an on time departure at 8:30 PM. Being at latitude 63.45, we were well “North of Sixty” so it was exceptionally bright out to the point that most would consider it as day light.

We taxied out to the departure runway past the old bright yellow old Iqaluit International Airport building that is still used for cargo purposes today.

Our flight took off on a westerly track on runway 34R. As we climbed to altitude, I got a really good sense of the views of the Arctic tundra. The views on takeoff leaving Iqaluit were among the most exceptional that I’ve had the opportunity to experience. It’s not every day that you get the chance to see Arctic tundra stretched out before you interspersed with snow for miles on end.

At about 3,000 feet of elevation, we started to rotate towards a southern track towards Ottawa. As the sunset over Nunavut, I got my last views of the Arctic tundra, and it’s vast beauty.

These views won’t easily be forgotten. They were absolutely spectacular.

The Meal: Dinner

After we got to altitude, the in-flight service started. Much like my flight in, I was presented with a full dinner tray.

Today’s dinner choice was Tuscan chicken or rigatoni pasta. This was presented with complimentary beer, wine or water. After a self imposed expense dry out in Iqaluit due to costs, I went and enjoyed a small bottle of red wine served with the Tuscan Chicken.

The Tuscan Chicken didn’t look like any Tuscan Chicken I’d ever had before. It had an airline meal look to the dish. However, given that I was eating dinner at 9:15 PM, I wasn’t complaining at all.

After dinner was cleared, Canadian North came around with a freshly baked cookie option. This was presented with a second wine service, which I enjoyed. Given that there was no entertainment on board, the second wine was appreciated.

Instead of in flight entertainment, I ended up watching the sun go down outside of the passenger window. It was another beautiful sunset over the horizon.

Aside from the sunset viewing, I was also able to look at the Canadian North inflight magazine “Up Here”. I always find it interesting to look at northern aviation, transportation magazines.

Most of the ads and articles related to living life in the northern territories and air charter transportation services along with several outdoor camping outfitters.

Arriving to Ottawa International Airport:

As the skies faded to black, we had a direct landing at Ottawa International Airport. With no other air traffic near our midnight landing slot, it was an easy arrival.

We arrived to Gate 14 at the Ottawa International Airport. It was completely deserted when we landed. Our flight was let out into a completely empty terminal.

It was a little weird to be arriving in Ottawa for personal reasons since I’m always there for work. However, given that it was past midnight, I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it.

With no checked baggage to collect, I headed out to the Fairfield Inn Ottawa Airport for an overnight stay. Since I’ve previously reviewed that hotel, and was only here for less than eight hours, I won’t be reviewing it again.

The Bottom Line: Canadian North

Canadian North provided another reasonably comfortable means to travel to and from Iqaluit. The catering was better than expected for a domestic Canadian traveller.

Probably the biggest inconvenience when flying Canadian north are their restrictive baggage policies. At each and every point your checked and carry on bag, will be weighed. There seems to be very limited consistency as to what you will actually be charged with rates and allowances not publicly posted on their websites.

Canadian North seems to be using this as a bit of a profit centre. However given the limited access to food in Nunavut, this turned out to be more of a sore point than any enjoyable flying experience. Make sure you prepare accordingly.

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If you’ve flown Canadian North, what do you do to address their strict baggage policies ?

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