VIDEO: Avro Arrow replica lowered into place at Mississauga park

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Published June 25, 2026 at 8:47 am

avro arrow replica arrives at mississauga park.
The assembled Avro Arrow replica is lowered into place at what will be its permanent location at Paul Coffey Park in Mississauga. (Photo: Mayor Carolyn Parrish X)

After nearly a decade, the Avro Arrow touched down in Mississauga on Wednesday.

Carefully lowered into its permanent spot at Paul Coffey Park in the city’s north end, the near full-size replica of the supersonic jet often described as a significant part of Mississauga’s story is now on display as a tribute to the city’s — and country’s — aviation history, those behind the years-long endeavour say.

The replica, conceived of some nine years ago and built in Barrie before being trucked south on Highway 400 to Mississauga earlier this week, is situated on a pedestal nearby the restored CF-100 model aircraft that’s been on display for decades at the Malton park.

“Our Avro Arrow (is) finally installed,” Mayor Carolyn Parrish, involved in the project from the beginning when she served as city councillor for the area, said on Wednesday.

The mayor included a video of the replica being assembled and put in place at the Mississauga park, located just north of Toronto Pearson Airport, in a post to social media this week (see below).

Parrish said plans are also in the works to have the scale model Avro Arrow CF-105 illuminated at night.

Mississauga Ward 5 Coun. Natalie Hart announced to her colleagues and others at Wednesday’s city council meeting that the replica aircraft had been installed at the park “and it looks fantastic.”

 

Jayshree Patel-Surray, general manager of the Malton Business Improvement Area, said late last week the replica Avro Arrow’s arrival and permanent installation at the Derry Road East and Goreway Drive park represents the culmination of a multi-year community effort led by the Malton BIA, City of Mississauga, local leaders, corporate partners and private donors.

An official ceremony marking the new installation, which will offer a glimpse into the city’s — and country’s — aviation history, is planned for Aug. 31, Parrish said earlier.

The mayor also took to social media last week to announce the replica jet’s impending arrival in the city, drawing attention to the long-awaited delivery.

The Avro Arrow itself was built some seven decades ago in the Malton area of Mississauga, with only a handful completed prior to the jet’s manufacturing operation being shut down.

The large likeness of what’s been described as a ground-breaking supersonic aircraft marks a significant milestone for Malton and Canadian aviation heritage, the Malton BIA said earlier in a news release.

Calling the years-long effort a “landmark project,” the BIA added “the dramatic scale replica returns Canada’s most iconic aircraft to the community where it was originally built and celebrates Malton’s historic role as a global aerospace hub.”

BIA officials noted the permanent monument will sit on “the very grounds where (the Avro Arrow) was originally built, honouring the mid-20th century local engineers and tradespeople who positioned Malton as a global aerospace hub.”

The public art project has been in the works for nearly a decade and was initially to be completed at some point in 2023 or soon thereafter. However, unspecified issues led to delays in unveiling the piece to the public.

In 2017, the Malton BIA said, its chair, Sam Kohli, and Parrish, then Ward 5 councillor, began discussing a vision to create “a landmark that would celebrate Malton’s unparalleled contribution to Canadian aviation history.”

The Avro Arrow was designed and built in Malton in the late 1950s before production was unceremoniously halted by the Canadian government in 1959.

At the time, the jet was widely thought of as the ultimate in Canadian aerospace achievement and one of the most advanced jets in the world.

The sudden halt of the $470-million Arrow program in 1959 put some 15,000 employees, many of whom lived in Malton, out of work.

In a nod to the significant place the 1950s’-era twin-engine supersonic jet has staked out in Mississauga’s history, the City of Mississauga paid to have the near full-size replica built and installed at Paul Coffey Park.

 

 

 

While initial plans called for a full-size replica to be constructed, rising cost of materials prompted city officials to scale things back by about 20 per cent several years ago in order to stay on budget, Parrish said earlier.

The replica Arrow project was approved several years ago by city council at a total cost of $3.6 million. The city planned to pick up $2.2 million (now $2.75 million) of that tab, with the rest coming from community donations and other sources.

The installation of the replica Arrow is part of a larger, ongoing redevelopment of the 112-acre Paul Coffey Park, a multi-use destination formerly known as Wildwood Park that opened in 1968. Sections of the new-look park are scheduled to open this summer. 

Check out more photos of the Avro Arrow and the Malton plant where it was built.

 

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