Jarvis RCAF

The airport, known as RCAF Station Jarvis, was a purpose-built military training base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Its closure was a direct result of the winding down of the BCATP as World War II drew to a close. With the Allied victory imminent, the massive demand for trained aircrew ceased, and the base was decommissioned as it was no longer required for military purposes.

The site is no longer an airport and has been extensively redeveloped. After its closure, the land was sold in 1972 to the Steel Company of Canada (Stelco), later US Steel Canada, which used the vast, flat area for industrial storage related to its nearby Nanticoke steel plant. The site is now known as the Nanticoke Industrial Park. While some of the original WWII-era hangars and buildings remain and have been repurposed for industrial use, the runways are no longer functional. A significant portion of the former airfield, including the area of the original runways, is now occupied by the Grand Renewable Energy Park, a large-scale solar farm. The faint outline of the triangular runway pattern can still be discerned from satellite imagery, but the land is now primarily used for industrial and renewable energy generation purposes. The ICAO code CA-0434 was likely a later designation for a private airstrip within the industrial park, which is also now closed and abandoned.

RCAF Station Jarvis was a vital component of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, one of Canada's most significant contributions to the Allied war effort in WWII. Designated as No. 1 Bombing & Gunnery School, it opened on August 19, 1940. The school's primary mission was to provide advanced training for pilots, bomb aimers, and air gunners. At its peak, it was one of the busiest airfields in the world, operating 24 hours a day. Trainees from across the Commonwealth learned skills in bombing, defensive turret gunnery, and air-to-air gunnery. Aircraft used for training included the Fairey Battle, Avro Anson, Bristol Bolingbroke, and Westland Lysander. The station had a standard BCATP triangular runway layout and housed thousands of personnel, significantly impacting the local economy and community during its operation.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the site as an airport. The original aviation infrastructure has been either removed, has severely deteriorated, or has been built over by the Nanticoke Industrial Park and the Grand Renewable Energy Park solar farm. The land is privately owned and has been fully repurposed for industrial and energy generation, making a return to aviation use highly improbable.