Please note: Major cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver and Victoria had numerous small establishments that contained anywhere from single buildings, some leased, to multi-building establishments outside of the main bases for a variety of functions such as administrative, residential, supply, communications or coastal defence. I would like to profile all of them here eventually, but for now I am mainly concentrating on major establishments.
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Canadian Forces Base Calgary (Harvey Barracks): Originally established as Sarcee Camp in 1910 as a militia training camp. The government leased a parcel of land form the Sarcee Indian Reservation near the future site of Currie Barracks for the camp and training area. The 50th battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised and trained …
Canadian Forces Station Ladner: (Vancouver Wireless Station) (Royal Canadian Air Force Station Boundary Bay) Originally opened on 10 April 1941 under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as Royal Canadian Air Force Station Boundary Bay, the home of No. 18 Elementary Flying Training School. A Relief Landing Field was constructed near Langley. No. 18 EFTS …
Fort Osborne Barracks: Originally established as a wooden fort on what is now the west lawn of the Provincial Legislature in Winnipeg in 1873, the barracks was later named after Colonel William Osborne Smith, the first commander of the Military District No. 10 in Winnipeg. In 1917, the former campus of Manitoba Agricultural College was converted …
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Moncton: Originally established at the Moncton Airport in 1940, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, as RCAF Station Lakeburn. The station featured 40 buildings including a 40 bed hospital, 5 double-sized hangars, barracks, mess halls and recreation facilities. No. 8 Service Flying Training School (No. 8 SFTS) opened at …
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Torbay: Established by the RCAF on 15 December 1941 as the home of No. 11 Bomber Reconnaissance (BR) Squadron. No. 5 Coastal Artillery Co-operation Flight was established at the station in April 1942, disbanding in 1945. Other units occupying RCAF Station Torbay at various times during WW II were No. …
Canadian Forces Station Inuvik: Opened on 12 March 1961 as Naval Radio Station Inuvik, replacing the former NRS Aklavik. Located 123 miles north of the Arctic Circle, NRS Inuvik served as a communications research station, part of Canada’s National Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) organization. Initially a tender of HMCS Gloucester near Ottawa, the station also served …
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Debert: Opened in April 1941, RCAF Station Debert was the home to the Royal Air Force’s No. 31 Operational Training Unit (opened on 3 June 1941), a Communications Storage Facility and the Royal Canadian Navy’s No. 31 Naval Air Gunners School. A Relief Landing Field was also constructed near the …
Royal Canadian Air Force Detachment Frobisher Bay: Frobisher Bay Air Base was established in 1942 by the United States Army Air Corps. An 8600 ft airfield was constructed for their use. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the base was used by the both the United States and Canada for transportation purposes. A radar station was built …
Canadian Forces Base Toronto – Avenue Road Detachment: Originally opened in 1939 as the RCAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, a military laboratory, on the grounds of the Eglington Hunt Club. The Institute’s purpose was to conduct secret research on the psychological effects of combat flying. It was here that Dr. Wilbur Franks, under the direction …
No. 9 Service Flying Training School: See No. 9 Service Flying Training School in “Closed bases that still have a military presence“. No. 10 Bombing & Gunnery School: Opened in 1940, the aerodrome near Mount Pleasant was originally a Relief Landing Field for No. 9 SFTS at Summerside. As with all RLFs, the aerodrome had …
Canadian Forces Base Montreal – Lasalle Detachment: (Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Hochelaga) Originally established as a Naval Supply Depot, it was constructed between 1951 and 1953 at 2555 Dollard Street in Lasalle. The depot was officially commissioned on 1 October 1955 as HMCS Hochelaga. The depot took over functions previously handled by small depots in …
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Saskatoon: In 1940, the Federal Government took over the Saskatoon Municipal Airport for use as an RCAF training facility. On 16 September 1940, No. 4 Service Flying Training School officially opened as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, with Relief Landing Fields at Osler and Vanscoy. The airport …
Canadian Forces Station Whitehorse: Originally opened by the Department of Transport, the airfield was taken over to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 as part of the Northwest Staging Route. Designated as RCAF Station Whitehorse, the station had detachments at Teslin, Aishihik, and Snag and in 1946, at Watson Lake. After World …
BERMUDA Canadian Forces Station Bermuda: Opened 3 July 1963 on the former site of a World War II Royal Navy Radio Station, Naval Radio Station Bermuda served as a radio station in Canada’s National Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) organization. The establishment of the station was a logical progression, as the Royal Canadian Navy had been using …
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