Temperatures are still warm enough to walk around in Mississauga without a jacket, but preparations for winter have already begun at one particular place on the city’s eastern edge.

The Central De-icing Facility at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga, the largest at any of the world’s airports, de-iced an aircraft just before 10 a.m. on Sept. 1 — its earliest-ever start, according to the airport.

“… a B737-800 MAX became the first aircraft (this season) to enter the (de-icing facility) for a frost spray — eight days earlier than last year and nearly three weeks earlier than the 2024-25 season,” Pearson officials said, adding the early aircraft de-icing comes on the heels of a record-breaking season for the large facility last winter.

“As Canada’s largest and busiest airport, Pearson plays a critical role in keeping people, businesses and goods connected across Canada and around the world, including through challenging winter conditions,” officials continued in an online post.

Last winter, 22,597 aircraft used the de-icing facility at Pearson, according to the airport. That included “the busiest December, the busiest January, then the busiest February on record.”

Officials added that while winter operations may be starting early this year, “preparations have been underway for months to ensure another smooth winter of operations at the world’s largest central de-icing facility.”

Airport officials said earlier that as of winter 2025, 53 pieces of specialized equipment — 46 de-icing trucks, four Glycol (antifreeze) recovery vehicles, three underwing de-icers — comprised Pearson’s de-icing facility.

Toronto Pearson Airport’s fleet of winter maintenance equipment also includes dozens of snowplows in addition to dozens more snowblowers, front-end loaders, snow tractors, sweepers and other pieces of equipment.

In total, the airport uses more than 100 pieces of specialized equipment to keep the runways clear and the aircraft safe to fly.

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(Cover photo: Toronto Pearson Airport X)


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