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Buttonville Municipal Airport (CYKZ) was a well-known general aviation field in the Toronto suburb of Markham, Ontario, that served the region for seven decades before closing permanently in November 2023. For flight simulator pilots wanting to recreate a busy Class E general aviation airport in the shadow of Toronto's suburbs, Buttonville offers a rich history of flight training, business aviation and a distinctive control-zone environment that no longer exists in real life.
Buttonville Municipal Airport, also known as Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport, lay in the Buttonville neighbourhood of Markham, Ontario, about 29 km (18 miles) north of downtown Toronto. It was operated by Torontair Ltd and for many years was one of Canada's busiest general aviation airports by aircraft movements, hosting flight schools, corporate operators and a long-established air traffic control tower. The field closed permanently on 24 November 2023 ahead of redevelopment, but its long operational history and once-busy circuit make it an interesting subject for simulator pilots recreating Toronto-area general aviation flying of the past.
Buttonville sat within a Class E control zone in the airspace north of Toronto, close to Highway 404 and 16th Avenue in Markham. The airport was classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada, with Canada Border Services Agency officers attending on a call-out basis from Oshawa Executive Airport on weekdays and from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on weekends, handling general aviation aircraft carrying no more than 15 passengers.
Buttonville had two paired hard-surfaced runways. The longer pair, 15/33, measured 3,891 feet and was lit. The shorter pair, 03/21, measured 2,692 feet and was also lit. There was no ILS installed at the field.
While the control tower was operational, pilots were required to broadcast their intentions on the mandatory frequency 124.8 MHz before entering the control zone. After Nav Canada shut down tower operations on 3 January 2019, the airport reverted to standard uncontrolled aerodrome position reports on the same frequency. Two non-precision instrument approaches were available: a GNSS approach to runway 33 and a localizer approach to runway 15. The London Flight Information Centre maintained a remote communications facility for the field.
Buttonville operated as a Class E control zone airport with mandatory radio broadcasts required on 124.8 MHz prior to entry, reflecting its position close to Toronto's suburban airspace and the need for strict noise-reduction procedures given the surrounding residential development. Following the 2019 tower closure, pilots were expected to follow standard uncontrolled-aerodrome position reporting procedures on the same frequency when joining or operating in the circuit.
The airfield began as a grass airstrip in 1953, when Leggat Aviation relocated its operations from Barker Field in Toronto. Fred F. Gillies operated the field and Gillies Flying Service from 1953 until his retirement in 1958. The airstrip was formally designated an official airport in 1962. A control tower was built in 1967, and on 17 January 2006 Nav Canada announced plans for a new tower on the south side of the airport next to the FlightExec offices on Allstate Parkway; the new facility, representing an investment of over two million dollars, became fully operational on 26 June 2007 and served up to 84,000 aircraft movements a year with ten controllers and one support staff. Nav Canada shut down tower operations on 3 January 2019. The airport was privately owned for more than four decades and was for many years regarded as one of Ontario's busiest general aviation fields; in 2014 it ranked as Canada's 20th busiest airport by aircraft movements. Financial pressures, including the withdrawal of subsidy funding by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, led the Sifton family, the airport's owners, to announce redevelopment plans in September 2009. The property was sold in a joint real estate venture on 7 October 2010 with the intention of redevelopment by Cadillac Fairview, and although planning delays allowed flying operations to continue until 2023, tenants were formally notified on 31 May 2023 that operations would cease by 30 November 2023. The airport actually closed six days early, on 24 November 2023, with Transport Canada revoking its operating certificate and runway markings removed and marked with X symbols to indicate closure.
Buttonville Municipal Airport is permanently closed and no longer supports any flying operations. The former airfield property, located beside Highway 404 at 16th Avenue in Markham, is slated for redevelopment into a mixed-use area of commercial, retail and residential space. A weather station formerly located at the airport has been relocated to Oshawa Executive Airport.
