Afghanistan in Downsview, Toronto

The new Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre near Downsview Park means soldiers of 32 Canadian Brigade Group (32 CBG) can now conduct training in a simulated town modelled after urban terrain in Afghanistan.

The new facility is the first of its kind in Canada. While other training facilities for urban operations exist, none of them simulates the current operations overseas.

Inside what was once an aircraft hangar, soldiers conduct patrols and protection escorts in the midst of role players who provide all the realism of inhabitants and insurgents. As participants plan, rehearse and put their plan into action, they are under the watchful eye of skilled and experienced evaluators who provide on-the-spot critiques of what went well and what could have been done better.


Soldiers take a break after training at the Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre.


A soldier takes cover behind sandbags during a training scenario at the Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre.


Soldiers pull a local police officer to safety after a suicide bomber detonates himself at a checkpoint during a training scenario, in the Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre.


Privates Cesare Ierullo (left) and David Macdonald of The Royal Regiment of Canada engage an insurgent during a training scenario at the Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre.


A suicide bomber detonates himself at a check point, while soldiers pull a local police officer to safety during a training scenario in the Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre.


Soldiers conduct a security patrol inside the Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre