Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport sits on reclaimed land at the Western Gap, just west of the Toronto Islands. It opened in 1939 as Port George VI Island Airport, trained Norwegian airmen during the Second World War, and took its present name on November 10, 2009. A pedestrian tunnel to the mainland opened on July 30, 2015.
A harbour airport takes shape, 1920s to 1937
Toronto officials began talking about a major city airport in the late 1920s, and the federal Department of Transport took part in the discussions. The airport’s own history page says City Council approved a tunnel and an airport project on August 8, 1935. The tunnel was to pass under the Western Gap and link the island to the mainland. A federal election and a change of leadership stalled the plan, and the excavation was filled in by August 1936.
The idea came back in a different form. On July 9, 1937, Council approved a site beside the Western Channel, and construction started that year. On November 18, 1937, the city formed an Advisory Airport Committee headed by the First World War flying ace William “Billy” Bishop. A ferry across the Western Gap also began running in 1937, carrying workers and supplies to the site.
The work changed the western end of the island. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that the project needed land filling and the moving of cottages to Algonquin Island, and that the baseball stadium and amusement park at Hanlan’s Point were demolished. The airport was planned as one of two Toronto aerodromes. The other, at Malton, opened two years earlier and later became Pearson, a story told in the article on why Toronto’s main airport is called YYZ.
Opening in 1939
The airport opened in 1939 under the official name Port George VI Island Airport, though most people soon called it the Toronto Island Airport. The Toronto Harbour Commission, a predecessor of today’s PortsToronto, completed Terminal A that year. That building served as the passenger terminal until 2010.
The first aircraft to land was a Stinson SR-9F Reliant flown by H.F. McLean of Montreal on February 4, 1939, according to the airport’s history page. Scheduled commercial flying followed later in the year. Both the airport and Canada’s History give September 8, 1939 for the first commercial landing. The airport page describes it as a charter carrying the bandleader Tommy Dorsey and his band to an engagement at the Canadian National Exhibition. Canada’s History reports 7,252 landings and takeoffs in the airport’s first year.
The name has changed several times. The airport history page says it was renamed Toronto City Centre Airport in 1990. The Toronto Port Authority took over operations from the Harbour Commission in 1999, and that body later became PortsToronto, a name adopted in 2015.
The Second World War and Little Norway
The island airfield soon became a military site. After Germany occupied Norway, the Norwegian government in exile set up a flight training program in Canada, and the Toronto airfield became part of it. The airport’s history page dates the training to 1939 through 1943, while Veterans Affairs Canada gives 1940 to 1943, so sources differ by a year at the start. Barracks for the trainees were built at the foot of Bathurst Street, and the Norwegians also used the airfield to repair and overhaul aircraft. The training camp became known as Little Norway, and the site is now called Lakeside Camp.
In early 1943 the training facilities passed to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Veterans Affairs Canada adds that the RCAF used the airfield to train pilots and as a waypoint when aircraft were being moved across the country. The wider story of the city’s war effort is covered in Toronto in the Second World War.
The RCAF left after the war and civilian flying resumed. In 1946 Robert and Tommy Wong founded Central Airways, which the airport describes as its first commercial flight school. A control tower opened in December 1953.
The ferry and the walk to the terminal
For most of its life the airport could be reached from the mainland only by water. The first ferry was a cable ferry that carried up to 48 passengers and was hauled across the channel on chains. The airport history page says it served for about 25 years. Later vessels replaced it, though the page notes that sources conflict on the exact dates for some of them, so those are left out here. The ferry now in use, the Marilyn Bell, entered service in January 2010 and was converted to electric power in 2021, according to the same source.
The crossing is across the Western Gap, the channel that the 1935 tunnel was meant to pass under. A separate guide covers the ferries to the Toronto Islands, which are a different service from the airport ferry.
The pedestrian tunnel
The idea of a fixed link was older than the airport itself, since the 1935 plan had been for a tunnel. The tunnel that exists today was built much later. According to the airport’s history page, construction began in 2010 and excavation was finished in 2013. Canada’s History reports that the tunnel opened on July 30, 2015. Walking through it takes about six minutes, according to the airport. PortsToronto designed it with art and historical displays in the island-side atrium and the mainland pavilion, and bronze statues of Billy Bishop and fellow ace William Barker greet passengers on the mainland side. The tunnel is for pedestrians only, and the ferry remained in service beside it.
Who Billy Bishop was
Veterans Affairs Canada says William Avery Bishop was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, on February 8, 1894. He enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1914, later joined the Royal Flying Corps, and received the Victoria Cross for a solo early-morning attack on an enemy airfield near Cambrai, France, on June 2, 1917. He is credited with 72 official victories, which made him the second-highest-scoring British Empire ace. In the Second World War he was an Air Marshal in the Royal Canadian Air Force and helped with recruiting. He died in Palm Beach, Florida, on September 11, 1956.
Canada’s History adds a local connection. After the First World War, Bishop and William Barker started Toronto’s first civil air service, flying from the waterfront. Bishop’s role on the 1937 advisory committee and this early waterfront flying are the local links to the airport. The Toronto Port Authority renamed the field Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on November 10, 2009, according to Veterans Affairs Canada.
Rules, land and the 1983 agreement
How the airport can operate is set largely by a tripartite agreement. The City of Toronto’s page on the airport says the three landowners first signed it on June 30, 1983. PortsToronto owns about 78 percent of the airport land, the City about 20 percent and Transport Canada about 2 percent. The agreement was amended in 1985 and 2003, and Toronto City Council approved a further amendment in October 2024 to allow runway end safety area work. A January 2025 amendment is also posted on the City page.
News coverage over the years has described the agreement as banning jet aircraft and as running to 2033. The City page I reviewed does not state either point, so the agreement text and current City and PortsToronto notices should be checked for the present rules. The airport’s role in the wider region, alongside Pearson and the smaller fields, is set out in how many airports Toronto has.
The terminal and the airport today
A new passenger terminal opened in 2010, and the 1939 Terminal A was taken out of passenger use. Canada’s History puts annual passenger traffic at roughly 2.3 to 2.4 million, without tying the figure to a single year, so treat it as an approximate range and check the operator’s current statistics. PortsToronto owns and operates the airport.
Visitors who go through the tunnel pass an exhibit on Bishop with artifacts, memorabilia and photographs, and a life-sized model of a Nieuport 17, the type of aircraft Bishop and Barker flew, stands in the mainland pavilion. A bronze sculpture by George Boileau marking the meeting of the two aces is also on display, as reported by Canada’s History. Flight schedules and airline arrangements change often, so they are not listed here.
Frequently asked questions
When did the Toronto island airport open?
It opened in 1939 as Port George VI Island Airport. The airport’s history page records a first landing on February 4, 1939 and the first commercial landing on September 8, 1939.
Why is it called Billy Bishop airport?
It honours William Avery “Billy” Bishop, the Owen Sound-born First World War flying ace and Victoria Cross recipient who chaired the 1937 advisory committee. The name was adopted on November 10, 2009.
When did the pedestrian tunnel to the airport open?
Canada’s History reports that it opened on July 30, 2015. Construction began in 2010 and excavation was finished in 2013, according to the airport.
Did the airport have a role in the Second World War?
Yes. Royal Norwegian Air Force personnel trained there under the Little Norway program, and the Royal Canadian Air Force took over the training facilities in early 1943.
Who owns the airport land?
According to the City of Toronto, PortsToronto owns about 78 percent, the City about 20 percent and Transport Canada about 2 percent. Check the City page for any later change.
Sources
- Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, history of the airport (accessed October 2026)
- Canada’s History, “Flying Ace Remembered by Airport” (accessed October 2026)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Toronto Feature: Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport” (accessed October 2026)
- Veterans Affairs Canada, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport commemorative entry (accessed October 2026)
- City of Toronto, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport initiatives and the Tripartite Agreement (accessed October 2026)
Related reading
- History of the Toronto Islands
- How many airports does Toronto have?
- Why Toronto’s main airport is called YYZ
- Toronto in the Second World War
- Canadian National Exhibition history
Last verified: November 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, November 1). Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: History from 1939 to Today. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/billy-bishop-toronto-city-airport-history
MLA: “Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: History from 1939 to Today.” History of Toronto, 1 Nov 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/billy-bishop-toronto-city-airport-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: History from 1939 to Today.” Last modified November 1, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/billy-bishop-toronto-city-airport-history.
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