The only aircraft designed and built by Canadians in World War II, the Fort was intended as a cheaper version of the Harvard, also an intermediate trainer. The Fort's maiden flight occurred in 1940, and the RCAF took 100 on strength in 1941. The Fort was relatively easy for pilot trainees to master, thereby making it unsuitable for the transition to combat aircraft such a the Hurricane and Spitfire. The Forts were then used to train wireless operators until the last one was retired in 1946.