Bombardier has signed a long-term lease agreement with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to build a new Global Manufacturing Centre at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

With preliminary site work underway in Mississauga and first ‘production activities’ set to begin in 2023, the facility will optimise final-assembly operations for all Global business jets, including the flagship Global 7500.

Bombardier says that the Global Manufacturing Centre, which is about 20km from the current Global aircraft final-assembly site at Downsview, will “reinforce Canada’s leading position in the business aviation market”.

The 1 million ft² facility will combine thousands of highly skilled employees with ‘21st-century production and tooling innovation’, including an automated positioning system that uses laser-guided measuring
to ensure that 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 (www.bombardier.com) also confirmed that 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 (DAIR) to develop a “visionary aerospace hub for academic research and training activities”.