De Havilland Canada began development of the Dash 8 in the late 1970s in response to what it saw as a considerable market demand for a new generation 30 to 40 seat commuter airliner. The first flight of the first of two preproduction aircraft was on June 20 1983, while Canadian certification was awarded on September 28 1984. The first customer delivery was to norOntair of Canada on October 23 1984. .

Production since switched to the improved performance Dash 8-200. Announced in 1992 and delivered from April 1995 the -200 features more powerful PW123C engines which give a 56km/h (30kt) increase in cruising speed, as well as greater commonality with the stretched Dash 8300. The 200B derivative has PW123Bs for better hot and high performance.