The museum was housed in what was the original factory for the
de Havilland Aircraft of Canada. It is the oldest surviving aircraft factory building in Canada. To add space exploration to the museum's mandate the board contemplated a series of possible names. Since the national museum in Ottawa was called the "National Aviation Museum" and also had no space mandate, the name "Canadian Air and Space Museum" (CASM) was chosen. About one year after the successful rebranding and launch in Downsview the National Museum in Ottawa moved its space artifacts from the Science Museum to the National Aviation Museum and rebranded itself as the
Canada Aviation and Space Museum which led to considerable confusion since Ottawa also adopted the acronym
CASM. At that time the Downsview museum had plans to further renovate the premises to better house their large exhibits and to provide more detailed information for visitors and school programs. Plans included specific galleries to house the full-sized Avro Arrow replica, another for the Avro Lancaster and additional galleries dedicated to the history of the de Havilland aircraft company, Canadian achievements in space, including a theatre and
planetarium. The museum was given the notice of eviction from its hangar ostensibly for failure to pay over
Can$100,000 in back rent, even though the museum was in the process of repaying the rent owed and had been assured they would not be evicted. The museum relocated the collection into storage by March 2012 before subsequently learning that all of the other tenants of 65 Carl Hall Road had also been served eviction notices and that Downsview Park intended to replace the entire facility with a hockey rink. Media reports indicate that the museum held its last day open on 25 September 2011 and also launched a massive campaign to save the museum, including enlisting the aid of historians like
Jack Granatstein as well as starting a petition. On September 21, 2011 Toronto Councillor
Maria Augimeri proposed a motion that "City Council call on the Federal Government to recognize the contributions of Canadian aerospace and aviation innovation; grant the Canadian Air and Space Museum (CASM) located on the site of the former military base in Downsview, a long-term reprieve and provide assurances of its preservation on the Downsview lands." The motion was passed unanimously. On 29 October 2011 it was reported that, although the museum building had previously been listed as a
federal Heritage Building by both
Parks Canada and the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, these listings had recently disappeared and Parks Canada claimed that they had been erroneous. The museum temporarily relocated its artifacts to a secure storage location at
Toronto Pearson International Airport. In November 2018 it was announced that the museum's collection would be relocated to
Edenvale Airport, 100 km northwest of Toronto. It will reopen in 2019 and be renamed the Canadian Air and Space Conservancy. The museum is affiliated with the
Canadian Museums Association,
Canadian Heritage Information Network and the
Virtual Museum of Canada. == Collection and exhibits ==