What began in Canada as a small production run of locally maufactured F-86s soon turned into a massive program for both domestic and export demand known as the Canadair CL-13 Sabre. From an initial order of just 100 examples, a total of almost 2,000 were built and which progressively incorporated local content to the point that final variants were 90 percent built with Canadian components including a domestic Orenda axial flow turbojet. Final versions of the Sabre were considered to be the finest NATO dogfighters of their day and the best Sabres ever built: they equipped RCAF squadrons in Europe but were also used by the USAF in the Korean War; in total about a dozen foreign countries operated Canadian Sabres which included NATO partners Germany, Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the UK which took hold of over 400 units pending the arrival of the Hunter and Swift fighters. Pakistani units also saw combat against India.

First flight of the CL-13 Mk. 1 took place on 9 October 1950 and was assembled from F-86A components. Series production began with the Mk. 2 based on the F-86E where it was known as the F-86E-6 in USAF service in Korea. The domestically built Orenda engine was first tested on the prototype Mk. 3 but was refitted with the earlier J47s in the Mk. 4, the grand majority of which served in the RAF as the Sabre F.1. Finally, the Orenda engines were equipped in the production Mk. 5 and Mk. 6.