CFB Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden ( also CFB Borden , French : Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden ) is a Canadian Forces base located in Ontario . The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force , CFB Borden is the largest training facility in the Canadian Forces . The base is run by Canadian Forces Support Training Group ( CFSTG ) and reports to the Canadian Defence Academy ( CDA ) in Kingston . History . At the height of the First World War , the Borden Military Camp opened at a location on a glacial moraine west of Barrie in 1916 to train units for the Canadian Expeditionary Force . In May 1916 , the Barrie and Collingwood companies of the 157th Battalion ( Simcoe Foresters ) , CEF ( perpetuated today by The Grey and Simcoe Foresters ) , under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel D . H . MacLaren , began construction of the camp . Camp Borden was selected in 1917 for a military aerodrome , becoming the first flying station of the Royal Flying Corps Canada . During the inter - war period , the aerodrome was used as the training location for the nascent Royal Canadian Air Force ( RCAF ) and was renamed RCAF Station Borden . Camp Borden ' s training grounds were expanded in 1938 to house the Canadian Tank School . During the Second World War , both Camp Borden and RCAF Station Borden became the most important training facility in Canada , housing both army training and flight training , the latter under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan ( BCATP ) . The BCATP ' s No . 1 Service Flying Training School ( SFTS ) was located here until 1946 . Relief landing fields were located at Alliston and Edenvale . A third landing field , known locally as Leach ' s Field , was operated by Camp Borden from the 1920s to the 1950s . The L - shaped airstrip was pretty rudimentary ; the " runways " at Leach ' s Field utilized the existing ground surface . It was primarily used for touch - and - go flying . During the Cold War , Borden ' s importance as an RCAF facility in Ontario declined in favour of CFB Trenton , CFB Uplands and CFB North Bay . However , its use as an army facility stayed consistent until 1970 when a major reorganization of the combat arms ' schools resulted in the transfer of the Infantry School and Armoured School to CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick . On the other hand , numerous " purple " ( i . e . tri - service ) schools were established or expanded from existing service training establishments , including the Canadian Forces School of Administration and Logistics , the School of Aerospace Ordnance Engineering and the Canadian Forces Health Service Training Centre . The February 1 , 1968 unification of the RCAF with the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army resulted in the creation of the Canadian Forces . The military facilities consisting of Camp Borden and RCAF Station Borden were grouped under a new name , Canadian Forces Base Borden ( CFB Borden ) . The aerodrome was closed and the base saw use as a regular and reserve training facility for Canadian Forces Land Force Command ( the army ) , as well as hosting various land - based training courses for Canadian Forces Air Command ( the air force ) . In a 1990s reorganization of the Canadian Forces following the end of the Cold War , CFB Borden ' s air force training facilities were grouped under the name 16 Wing Borden . The eight surviving Royal Flying Corps hangars at the base have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada . Plaque . The Ontario Heritage Foundation , Ministry of Culture and Recreation erected a plaque in 1976 . " Camp Borden was established during the First World War as a major training centre of Canadian Expeditionary Force battalions . The Camp ( including this structure ) was officially opened by Sir Sam Hughes , Minister of Militia and Defence , on July 11 , 1916 , after two months of intensive building . This military reserve , comprising over twenty square miles , was soon occupied by some 32 , 000 troops . Training facilities were expanded in 1917 with the institution of an air training programme under the Royal Flying Corps , Canada , and the construction of the first Canadian military aerodrome , regarded as the finest military aviation camp in North America . Following the armistice Camp Borden continued as an important army and air force centre and became one of the largest armed forces bases in Canada . " Activities and facilities . Although originally an air force training base , CFB Borden is now a training base for several elements of the Canadian Forces : In addition to these specific environmental element commands , CFB Borden houses a variety of other purple trades training facilities and headquarters within the Canadian Forces , including a fire - fighting school , Military Police ( MP ) school , a chaplaincy school , the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group , medical , dental and language schools , and supports local cadet and reserve units . The Toronto Police Service ' s Emergency Task Force also trains there occasionally . CFB Borden hosts the Blackdown Cadet Training Centre , a facility established for training army cadets . This facility has also hosted air cadets and sea cadets since 2003 , when the Borden Air Cadet Summer Training Centre was closed . CFB Borden ' s residential area houses two golf courses , one nine - hole links style course ( Anderson Park , par 36 ) and one regulation - sized golf course ( Circled Pine Golf Course , par 72 ) . Circled Pine Golf Course and Anderson Park Course opened in 1952 and 1917 respectively . The courses are open to the public and serving military . The Base Borden Military Museum ( combining four separate museums ) has numerous items , equipment and vehicles from all eras of Canadian military history , including a large number of armoured vehicles and aircraft displayed outside in Worthington Park and around the headquarters area of the base . In August 2010 , the Canadian department of Defence announced a C $ 209 million series of projects to construct new facilities , and upgrade existing facilities , at CFB Borden . Former runways . Borden had two asphalt runways facing east and west : Tributes . The aircraft Control Tower is dedicated to the memory of Royal Flying Corps Cadet James Harold Talbot . Talbot became the first fatality at Camp Borden when his Curtiss J . N . 4 ' Jenny ' aeroplane crashed on April 8 , 1917 . The Air Force Annex of the Base Borden Military Museum is dedicated to the memory of First World War Victoria Cross recipient Lieutenant Alan McLeod , the youngest Canadian Airman to receive the award . Worthington Park , a part of the Base Borden Military Museum complex , named after Major - General F . F . Worthington , the father of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps . Worthington is buried in Worthington Park . Architecture . CFB Borden has several Federal Heritage buildings on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings .