With the outbreak of the Second World War, the RCAF eventually acquired a total of 119 Yale aircraft between 23 August, 1940 and 25 September, 1946. Assembly of the Yale in Canada was licensed to Norduyn in addition to their production of the Harvard and Norseman. The North American Yale was very similar to the Harvard, the most obvious difference being fixed landing gear as opposed to the retractable undercarriage found on the Harvard.

Originally ordered in quantity by the French, the first Yales were diverted to the RCAF after the fall of France. The Yale aircraft instruments were consequently annotated in French and calibrated in the metric system so all were placarded with conversion tables. Other differences and limitations found in this design included engine and propeller controls which worked in opposite directions to standard practice, electric starters were not included so the engines had to be hand cranked, and the aircraft were chronically under-powered. Never-the-less, the aircraft provided valuable service for aircrew training at the outbreak of war.