CFB North Bay
North America had originally been divided into eight regions which were subdivided into sectors.
Northern NORAD Region (NNR), and the Ottawa NORAD sector were the ones that would come to be located at North Bay.
NNR was created in 1959 and before moving to North Bay had been located at St. Hubert. It covered a large area including Quebec, the Yukon, North West Territories, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Maritime provinces, and some of Ontario and Maine.
To the region, the Royal Canadian Air Force brought Early Warning and Control radars, two Bomarc surface-to-air missile squadrons, and four interceptor Voodoo squadrons.
The United States Air Force gave ground and airborne radar, F-101 Voodoos, F-102 Delta Daggers and F-106 Delta Darts, F-89 Scorpions and Bomarc Squadrons. The American Army gave surface-to-air Nike Hercules missiles.
In May of 1963 NNR moved to North Bay under A/V/M Harvey. North Bay was the single SAGE centre on Canadian land and was funded by Canada. The rest of Canada’s information went to the United States' centres.
To cover such a large, communications were important. The network, supplied by Bell, could have supplied a city of upwards of 30 000 people. This network was necessary to bring information from the various radar sites and to have direct communication to aircraft and other sites and centres.
The site at North Bay was known as the “Hole” or the “Blue Room” and was actually underground, containing no windows. It was the first SAGE centre built underground. All facilities like sewage, water, heating, and air conditioning were outside or on the roof.
The site included features such as a hospital, dining room for up to 400 people, and showers. Women had special spaces to stay in case of an emergency, while men would sleep at their workspace on a cot.
SAGE, including at North Bay, was replaced by the AN/FYQ-93 ROCC, Regional Operational Control Centre in 1983.