Lieutenant-Colonel George Taylor Denison III Armory, commonly known as Denison Armory, is a

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

facility located at 1 Yukon Lane in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada. It is in the northeastern corner of

Downsview Airport Downsview Airport was located in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An air field, then air force base, it had been a testing facility for Bombardier Aerospace from 1994 to 2018. Bombardier has sold the facility and manufacturi ...

, just west of the W.R. Allen Expressway (

Allen Road William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway and colloquially as the Allen, is a short expressway and arterial road in Toronto. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue West, heading north to just s ...

) on Sheppard Avenue West. Denison Armory is the headquarters of

4th Canadian Division The 4th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army. The division was first created as a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War. During the Second World War the division was reactivated as the 4th Canadian Infantr ...

(formerly

Land Force Central Area The 4th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army. The division was first created as a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War. During the Second World War the division was reactivated as the 4th Canadian Infantr ...

), Joint Task Force Central, and the 32 Canadian Brigade Group. It is also home to several units of the brigade. The armoury is named for

George Taylor Denison III Lieutenant-Colonel George Taylor Denison III, FRSC (31 August 1839 – 6 June 1925) was a Canadian lawyer, military officer and writer. Life and career He was born in Toronto to Colonel George Taylor Denison II, and educated at Upper Can ...

, a Canadian Militia commander, judge and Toronto

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

History

The current

armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are most ...

replaced the previous location at

Dufferin Street Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northe ...

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...

, built in 1961 and demolished in 2003, now site of

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

Downsview Downsview is a neighbourhood in the north end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. The area takes its name from the Downs View farm established around 1842 near the present-day intersection of Keele Street and Wilso ...

store. After the closure of

CFB Toronto Canadian Forces Base Toronto (also CFB Toronto) is a former Canadian Forces base in Toronto, Ontario. The airfield is currently operated as Toronto / Downsview Airport. RCAF Station Downsview The Downsview Lands were part of an extensive land p ...

, now Toronto/Downsview Airport, the armoury was relocated next to the new site for Land Force Central Area. The closest major intersection is Sheppard Avenue West and

. Nothing remains of the 1961 armoury, which was built to accept regiments displaced by the demolition of the old

Toronto Armories The Toronto Armories, also known as the University Avenue Armories and the Toronto Drill Hall, was an 1894 armoury building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located on University Avenue, just north of Osgoode Hall. It was the largest ...

on University Avenue.

Armory

In the Canadian Forces, an Armory is a place where a reserve unit trains, meets, and parades. In addition to the headquarters elements, the armoury also serves as the home to several

Primary Reserve The Primary Reserve of the Canadian Armed Forces (french: links=no, Première réserve des Forces canadiennes) is the first and largest of the four sub-components of the Canadian Armed Forces reserves, followed by the Supplementary Reserve, the ...

units, including the

Governor General's Horse Guards The Governor General's Horse Guards is an armoured reconnaissance regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army. The regiment is part of 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group and is based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the most se ...

, the 32 Combat Engineer Regiment, the

Area Support Unit Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a Region (mathematics), region on the plane (geometry), plane or on a curved surface (mathematics), surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar ...

for 32 Canadian Brigade Group, and several cadet corps/squadrons of the Canadian Cadet Movement. The original armoury was located at 3621 Dufferin Street. Built in 1961 by

Page and Steele Page + Steele, formerly known as Page and Steele, is an architecture partnership created in 1926 by Forsey Pemberton B. Page (1885–1970) and W. Harland Steele (1900–1996) in Toronto, Ontario. It is now part of the IBI Group of architectural and ...

, the two storey complex was demolished in 2003.

References

Armouries in Canada Buildings and structures in Toronto {{canada-mil-stub Governor General's Horse Guards

History

Armory

See also

References