Wings Across Canada | Discover 15 places the RCAF calls home
- May 17, 2024
- Canadiana
- 3 minute read
Our RCAF Centennial coin collection honours the history and heritage of Canada’s Air Force, as well as the contributions of its personnel to military and civil aviation, national security, and international peace.
Many of these RCAF personnel operate out of an RCAF Wing; commonly understood as a military aviation base. Located across the country, the RCAF has 15 wings that are comprised of operational and support units—including squadrons that perform specific tactical roles. Plus, many of these wings are home to some of the aircraft featured on our RCAF Centennial coins.
Keep reading to discover the unique characteristics and roles of each RCAF Wing.
Photo credit: Canadian Armed Forces
Our RCAF Centennial coin collection honours the history and heritage of Canada’s Air Force, as well as the contributions of its personnel to military and civil aviation, national security, and international peace.
Many of these RCAF personnel operate out of an RCAF Wing; commonly understood as a military aviation base. Located across the country, the RCAF has 15 wings that are comprised of operational and support units—including squadrons that perform specific tactical roles. Plus, many of these wings are home to some of the aircraft featured on our RCAF Centennial coins.
Keep reading to discover the unique characteristics and roles of each RCAF Wing.
1 Wing Kingston
The home of the Griffon and Chinook helicopters, it provides airlift support of troops and equipment anywhere in the world. Its seven tactical helicopter and training squadrons are spread out across the country.
2 Wing Bagotville
The Royal Canadian Air Force’s air expeditionary wing, 2 Wing provides a formation able to rapidly deploy as a self-contained unit, employing air power and providing associated support wherever needed, across Canada or around the world.
3 Wing Bagotville
Located in Quebec's Saguenay region, it provides general purpose, multi-role, combat capable forces in support of domestic and international roles of Canada's Air Force. It also provides search and rescue missions.
4 Wing Cold Lake
The busiest fighter base in Canada, it provides general purpose, multi-role, combat capable forces in support of domestic and international roles of Canada's Air Force. Home of fighter pilot training for the Canadian Forces, 4 Wing attracts Top Gun crews from all over the world to the annual air combat exercise, Maple Flag.
5 Wing Goose Bay
The mission of 5 Wing Goose Bay is to conduct NORAD and other Canadian Armed Forces operations. As the Eastern gateway to the Canadian Arctic, its strategic location enables 5 Wing to play a key role in protecting the sovereignty of Canada and in the air defence of North America. The location and the challenging airspace and terrain on and above Labrador and Quebec also allows 5 Wing Goose Bay to offer an outstanding environment for the conduct of joint and combined training for the Canadian Armed Forces, NATO partners and our allies.
7 Wing (Space)
The mission of 7 Wing (Space) is to integrate and assure space-enabled effects in all CAF Operations, driving pan-domain outcomes.
8 Wing Trenton
The hub of Canada's air mobility forces—from delivering supplies to the high Arctic (Canadian Forces Station [CFS] Alert) to airlifting troops and equipment worldwide. It is also responsible for search and rescue in central Canada and home to the famous Skyhawks with the Canadian Parachute Centre.
9 Wing Gander
Home of the 103 Search and Rescue (SAR) Squadron, it provides full-time SAR services to Newfoundland and Labrador. When a call for help comes in, SAR crews at 9 Wing Gander are ready to head out in any direction from their base in Canada's most easterly province, Newfoundland.
12 Wing Shearwater
The centre of naval aviation in Canada, 12 Wing is home to the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter. 12 Wing supports the Navy with up to nine helicopter air detachments for international and domestic operations. On the west coast, 12 Wing is represented by 443 Sqn in Patrica Bay, BC.
14 Wing Greenwood
Nestled in the heart of Nova Scotia's beautiful Annapolis Valley, Aurora crews conduct sovereignty and surveillance missions over the Atlantic Ocean routinely, while search and rescue capabilities are maintained 365 days of the year.
15 Wing Moose Jaw
The site of the new NATO Flying Training Program in Canada (NFTC), this southern Saskatchewan town is also home to the Snowbirds, Canada's world famous aerobatic team.
16 Wing Borden
The "Birthplace of the RCAF," 16 Wing is the largest training Wing in the Canadian Forces and its schools offer air force technical training and professional development.
17 Wing Winnipeg
Comprising three squadrons and six schools, it also provides support to the Central Flying School. For Canadian air force personnel, all roads will lead to 17 Wing Winnipeg.
19 Wing Comox
Based on Vancouver Island, its Aurora crews keep watch over the Pacific Ocean while its search and rescue teams regularly locate downed Aircraft in some of Canada's roughest terrain.
22 Wing North Bay
Also known as the Canadian Air Defence Sector (CADS), it is responsible for providing surveillance, identification, control and warning for the aerospace defence of Canada and North America at the Sector Air Operations Centre.
Photo credit: Cpl Darcy Lefebvre, Canadian Armed Forces
You can learn more about the RCAF wings and the squadrons that comprise them here. Now in its Centennial year, the RCAF is honoured with a suite of collectable coins featuring iconic aircraft from the past 100 years of service (and beyond). Discover our RCAF Centennial coins, all designed in close collaboration with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Royal Canadian Air Force intellectual property used courtesy of the Department of National Defence.
Information courtesy of and reproduced with permission from the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Soaring Through History: Discover the Aircraft on our RCAF Centennial Coins
Soaring Through History: Discover the Aircraft on our RCAF Centennial Coins
Over the past 100 years, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has had 252 different types of aircraft in their arsenal. While all have a story of service to tell, some of the most memorable and significant of these planes are honoured on our 2024 RCAF Centennial coins. Learn more about the many aircraft—past, present, and even future—featured in our high-flying coin collection.
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