It's gone. After seven decades of propellers buzzing over Highway 404, Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport (YKZ) officially closed its runways at the end of 2023. If you drive past the intersection of 16th Avenue and Woodbine now, the silence is weirdly heavy. For years, this wasn't just some hobbyist landing strip for weekend flyers. It was a massive economic engine, a training ground for thousands of pilots, and a logistical lifeline for the Greater Toronto Area.
But land in Markham is expensive. Like, "billion-dollar development" expensive.
Honestly, the death of Buttonville was one of the longest-running soap operas in Canadian aviation. We saw decade after decade of "will they, won't they" regarding its closure. Cadillac Fairview and the Sifton family, who owned the site under the banner of Toronto Buttonville Regional Airport Ltd., had been eyeing the exit for years. When the final NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) went out and the lights dimmed on November 30, 2023, it marked the end of an era that honestly defines how Toronto treats its infrastructure: we trade transit and utility for high-density real estate.
The Reality of Why Buttonville Mattered
Most people saw the planes and thought "rich guys with toys." They were wrong.
At its peak, Buttonville was one of the top ten busiest airports in Canada by aircraft movements. It handled roughly 150,000 to 170,000 takeoffs and landings a year. Think about that. That is a staggering amount of traffic for a patch of land squeezed between suburban sprawl and a major highway. It served as a massive reliever for Toronto Pearson. If you were a corporate executive flying in for a meeting in North York or Markham, you didn't go to Pearson. You went to Buttonville. It was faster.
The airport was home to the Million Air FBO (Fixed Base Operator) and provided a base for Seneca College’s renowned aviation program for years. When Seneca moved its flight training to Peterborough in 2014, the writing was on the wall. Yet, the airport hung on for another nine years. It’s kinda impressive, actually.
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The Business of Moving People and Organs
Beyond the flight schools, Buttonville was critical for Ornge, Ontario's air ambulance service. While they didn't base everything there, it was a vital waypoint. When minutes matter for a transplant or a trauma victim, having a secondary runway that isn't clogged by Boeing 777s is life-saving.
Then there was the police presence. York Regional Police and the Toronto Police Service used the hangars for their tactical flight operations. It was a central hub for helicopters that monitor the GTA. Moving those assets to Oshawa or Brampton—which are the nearest remaining "reliever" airports—adds minutes to response times. In aviation, and in emergencies, distance is the enemy.
Why it Actually Closed (The Money Talk)
The math just didn't work anymore.
The airport occupied about 170 acres of prime real estate. By 2023 standards, that land value is astronomical. Cadillac Fairview’s vision for the site—dubbed "Buttonville District"—is a massive mixed-use development. We are talking millions of square feet of office space, retail, and residential units.
The lease with the Sifton family was essentially the only thing keeping the propellers spinning. Once that runway pavement started needing major repairs and the navigational aids required upgrades, the owners faced a choice: sink tens of millions into an aging airport or cash out and build a city-within-a-city.
They chose the latter. Business is business.
The Ripple Effect on General Aviation
The closure created a massive vacuum. If you own a small Cessna or a Cirrus in Toronto, where do you go?
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- Oshawa Executive (YOO): Already packed and dealing with its own noise complaints from neighbors.
- Burlington Executive (CZBA): A long haul for someone living in Richmond Hill.
- Brampton-Caledon (CNC3): Busy, rustic, and also facing development pressures.
- Billy Bishop (YTZ): Almost impossible for general aviation unless you have a high-performance turbine and a lot of money for landing fees.
Basically, general aviation in the GTA is being strangled by the lack of asphalt. Buttonville was the "Goldilocks" airport—just the right size, just the right location. Now, the 300-plus aircraft that were based there have been scattered to the winds. Some owners just sold their planes. Others moved them as far away as Lake Simcoe or Peterborough.
The Environmental and Structural Mess
You can't just slap a condo on an airport the day after it closes.
Buttonville has been an active airfield since 1953. Think about seventy years of leaded aviation fuel (Avgas), hydraulic fluid leaks, and de-icing chemicals soaking into the ground. The remediation process for the Buttonville site is going to be a multi-year headache.
The removal of the fuel farms alone is a specialized task. Then there's the demolition of the old hangars, some of which are filled with asbestos and decades of industrial grime. The developers aren't just building; they are cleaning up a massive brownfield site.
What’s Next for the Site?
Don't expect to see towers rising next week.
The planning process in Markham is notoriously thorough. The "Buttonville Redevelopment" plan has gone through several iterations. The most recent focus has shifted away from purely residential towards a "prestige employment" zone. This means industrial warehouses, tech offices, and perhaps some logistics hubs.
It’s ironic. The airport was a logistics hub. Now, we’ll probably see a fleet of Amazon delivery vans parked where private jets once sat.
Impact on Local Traffic
Here is the part people aren't talking about enough: the 404/16th Avenue interchange is already a nightmare.
Adding 10,000 workers or residents to that specific corner is going to require a total rethink of the local road infrastructure. When the airport was active, it didn't actually generate much "car" traffic. A few hundred employees and a few dozen pilots a day is nothing. A major commercial hub is a different beast entirely.
Actionable Insights for the Future
If you are a pilot, a business owner, or a resident in the area, the closure of Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport changes the landscape—literally and figuratively.
For Pilots and Aircraft Owners:
If you haven't secured a hangar at Oshawa or Brampton by now, you are likely looking at private strips or further-flung municipal airports like Edenvale or Collingwood. The "waitlists" for hangars in the GTA are now years long. Investing in a portable hangar or looking into "dry-stack" storage options is no longer optional; it's a necessity.
For Real Estate Investors:
The areas surrounding the airport—specifically the industrial parks south of 16th Avenue—are going to see a shift in value. As the airport transitions to a commercial/residential district, "last-mile" delivery hubs will become even more valuable in this corridor. Keep an eye on the zoning amendments coming out of Markham City Council in 2026.
For the Community:
The "noise" is gone, but the "density" is coming. Expect significant construction delays on Woodbine Avenue for the next three to five years. If you are looking for flight training, Seneca's move to Peterborough is the blueprint; you'll need to look toward schools operating out of Oshawa or Waterloo.
The loss of Buttonville isn't just a local story. It's a case study in how modern cities grow. We prioritize the "highest and best use" of land, which almost always means buildings instead of runways. Whether that's a mistake for our long-term transportation needs remains to be seen, but for now, the sky over Markham is much emptier.
To track the specific phases of the demolition and the new zoning applications, the City of Markham’s development portal remains the most accurate source for site-specific plans. Moving forward, the regional focus will shift entirely to whether the Pickering Airport—a proposal that has been "on the way" since the 1970s—will ever actually happen to replace the lost capacity of Buttonville. Given the current political climate, don't hold your breath.
The runways are cold. The hangars are emptying. Buttonville is officially history.
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