De Havilland Canada selects Alberta location for new aircraft manufacturing facility

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada’s new aircraft manufacturing facility will be located in Wheatland County, Alberta. The site is approximately 30 minutes east of Calgary.

This new facility will be called De Havilland Field. The facility will include a new, state-of-the-art aircraft assembly unit, runway, parts manufacturing and distribution centres and maintenance repair and overhaul centre.

In addition, educational space for training the workforce of the future is planned as well as general office buildings and a De Havilland Canada aircraft museum.

“De Havilland Field will be the home of assembly and production of reliable and rugged Canadian aircraft that serve missions around the world. This is the start of a new chapter for both De Havilland Canada and Canadian aerospace and we are excited about beginning the process with Wheatland County to provide new aviation opportunities for Canada and Alberta,” said Brian Chafe, CEO of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.

The company notes that these operations will complement its current parts manufacturing facilities in Victoria, British Columbia and its new engineering and customer support centre of excellence in Toronto, Ontario.

De Havilland Field will be the site of final assembly for the DHC-515 Firefighter aircraft launched earlier this year, the DHC-6 Twin Otter as well as the Dash 8-400 aircraft.

The company notes that the location of the new facility is ideal. It has access to a large, young and diverse labour pool in Alberta, family-friendly cost of living and an international airport that can support efficient parts distribution to its global customer base. Once in full operation, the facility is expected to create up to 1500 jobs.