Bombardier announced on December 4 that it has signed a long-term lease for more than 41 acres of land with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), and will construct a new state-of-the art manufacturing centre at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Facility construction details are not yet available, as the process to award the construction contract is in progress. For now, all that is known is that the building will span approximately 1 million square feet, and will be home to a sophisticated manufacturing facility for all of Bombardier’s Global business jets, including the industry flagship Global 7500 business jet.

Preliminary site work is now underway, and first production activities are set to begin in 2023. The new facility will be located about 20 kilometres away from the current Global aircraft final assembly site at Downsview.

“Today, I'm very excited to announce the relocation of our Global aircraft family production activities to a new, cutting-edge manufacturing facility at Toronto Pearson,” said Alain Bellemare, president and chief executive officer of Bombardier Inc. “This is a strategic move for Bombardier and a strong commitment to Ontario’s aerospace industry. It will allow us to offer world-class career opportunities and continue fueling the economic development of the region for years to come.”

The facility will combine thousands of highly-skilled employees with 21st century production and tooling innovation. Bombardier employs the highest caliber technology throughout the manufacturing process of the Global 7500 business jets, including a state-of-the-art automated positioning system that uses laser-guided measuring to ensure major aircraft structures, such as the wing and fuselage, are joined consistently and perfectly each time.

This strengthened commitment to the Greater Toronto Area will also leverage significant recent R&D investments and a continued collaboration with Ontario’s colleges and universities for world class training, research and development.

Bombardier also confirmed it will continue to support the aerospace heritage of the Downsview site with a multi-million-dollar contribution to the Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research Consortium to develop a visionary aerospace hub for academic research and training activities. The contribution includes $2.5 million in capital funding to refurbish the historic Moth Building, where wartime Mosquito fighter bombers and Tiger Moth trainers were produced.