Canadian airlines have operated a total of 160 training and maintenance flights in Boeing 737 MAX aircraft since the fleet was grounded all over the world in March of 2019. The aircraft have been flown under exemptions granted by Transport Canada for flights without passengers with specially trained crews. All three Canadian airlines that own MAXes, Air Canada, WestJet and Sunwing, have been granted the exemptions.
Most of the flights have been proficiency hops for the instructors who will get line pilots up to speed on the MAXes when they’re finally returned to service. Some were Air Canada ferry flights to and from a storage facility at Marana Arizona. Boeing has said it expects the MAX to be cleared for flight in the summer of 2020 but the FAA has said it might be earlier than that in the U.S. Transport Canada has said it won’t rubber stamp the FAA recertification and will conduct its own assessment so the return to flight in Canada may be later.