Bombardier's Toronto-Area Operations

Bombardier — a Quebec company founded on snowmobiles in Valcourt — became a major presence in the Toronto region only through acquisition, not organic growth. In 1992, amid a global aerospace downturn, Bombardier bought two distinct operations: the De Havilland Canada aircraft plant at Downsview, and the Urban Transportation Development Corporation, which had rail-manufacturing plants in Thunder Bay and Kingston, Ontario.

Downsview: planes until 2019

The Downsview site had been an airfield since the late 1920s. Under Bombardier, it built Q400/Dash 8-400 turboprop airliners and assembled Global-series business jets. Bombardier sold the Dash 8 program and its remaining Downsview manufacturing rights to Longview Aviation Capital in 2019, ending Bombardier's own aircraft production at the historic site after 27 years.

Thunder Bay: Toronto's trains, built 700 km away

Less visible but arguably more consequential for daily Toronto life: Bombardier's Thunder Bay plant built and refurbished the bi-level GO Transit rail cars that carry GO commuters across the Greater Toronto Area, at a production pace described by the company as nearly one train a day during peak output — meaning "Bombardier" is less popularly associated with the GTA commuter rail cars residents ride every day than with the De Havilland name at Downsview, even though both trace to the same 1992 deal.

Sources

• Flight Global — Bombardier Ceases Aircraft Production at Historic Toronto Downsview Site
• Downsview Park — De Havilland Aircraft History