The Bomarc Missile

From 1961 to 1972, 28 nuclear-armed, American-built and supplied Bomarc missiles were stationed north of North Bay off Highway 11 as a key part of North America’s air defence system against a potential Soviet air attack during the Cold War. Their presence tied North Bay to major world events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, détente, and arms limitation talks, while also placing the city at the center of Canadian controversies over nuclear weapons, the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, and growing military, political, and economic dependence on the United States symbolized by the creation of NORAD in 1957. Because Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s government was reluctant to provide the required nuclear warheads, the missiles remained unarmed from their installation in 1961 until the end of 1963. The Bomarc system and its military infrastructure brought jobs and prosperity to North Bay, but also meant residents lived with the knowledge that their city would be in the crosshairs if hostilities broke out between the United States and the Soviet Union. Hundreds of American military personnel were stationed at CFB North Bay during the Bomarc era, making the missiles both a sign of continental cooperation and a symbol of Canada’s vulnerability to international forces beyond its control in the late 20th century. The development of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the 1960s made the Bomarcs obsolete for continental defence, and they were removed from North Bay and La Macaza, Quebec, in 1972. From 1979 to 2009, an unarmed Bomarc stood in Lee Park, now Veteran’s Fields, before deterioration led the US Air Force to remove it to the National Air Force Museum in Ohio.

Ontario · Canada