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

The Avro Arrow CF-105 touched down in Mississauga in June. Next week, it’ll be officially unveiled to the public.

After nearly a decade in the works, the near full-size replica of the supersonic jet often described as a significant part of Mississauga’s story was carefully lowered into its permanent spot on June 24 at Paul Coffey Park in the city’s north end.

There, it will remain 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 in late June, is situated on a pedestal nearby the restored CF-100 model aircraft that’s been on display for decades at the Malton park.

The Avro Arrow CF-105 replica will be officially unveiled to the community on Aug. 27 at the Flight Garden in Paul Coffey Park. The ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m.

“The Avro Arrow was a groundbreaking Canadian supersonic jet and a remarkable part of Mississauga’s aviation history,” the City of Mississauga said this week.

Join us on Thursday, August 27 as we unveil a replica of the Avro Arrow CF-105 at the Flight Garden in Paul Coffey Park.

Designed and built in Malton in the 1950s, the Avro Arrow was a groundbreaking Canadian supersonic jet and a remarkable part of Mississauga’s aviation… pic.twitter.com/4qOHW2ec6m

— City of Mississauga (@citymississauga) August 14, 2026

Mayor Carolyn Parrish, members of council and Malton Business Improvement Area representatives will be among those in attendance at the unveiling.

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

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 an earlier post to social media (see below).

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

Our Avro Arrow replica has arrived! So proud to join crews, constructor Andrew O’Connor, and residents like ‘Arrow Head’ Dean to witness its unloading/assembling. The official unveiling is set for Aug 31 in Paul Coffey Park #CanadianHistory pic.twitter.com/LlDtRiHmMh

— Mayor Carolyn Parrish (@carolynhparrish) June 24, 2026

 

Jayshree Patel-Surray, general manager of the Malton BIA, said earlier this summer 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.

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 groundbreaking 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.”

WE’RE FINALLY HERE!

What started as a discussion, turned into a vision and is now a reality, thanks to the dedication of Mayor Parrish, Malton BIA Chair Sam Kohli, and former GM, now Councillor Hart.

Stainless Outfitters Inc. truly brought it to life by constructing this… pic.twitter.com/jAnTtkgD8X

— Malton BIA (@MaltonBIA) June 23, 2026

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.

Some 15,000 people lost their jobs

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 the bulk of the cost 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.

(Editor’s note: date mentioned in above social media post from Mayor Carolyn Parrish is not correct. The unveiling ceremony will take place on Aug. 27)


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