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Plaza Storefront Replacement in Mississauga: 9 Aluminum Openings and 4 Fire-Rated Steel Doors for ICNA Relief Canada
Nine glass and aluminum storefront openings and four 45-minute fire-rated hollow metal doors replaced for ICNA Relief Canada at its plaza at 6120 Montevideo Road, Mississauga. The storefront is HERD 1451 series, thermally broken and flush glazed, and the doors are HERD 218 series. Every unit stayed occupied. The installation was done by February 2026, and back-ordered hardware held the final handover until August 2026.
The job in numbers
| Aluminum entrances | 6 (3 single doors, 3 double doors), with 9 sidelights between them |
|---|---|
| Fixed windows | 3 frames (one two-lite, two three-lite, divided by centre mullions) |
| Fire-rated doors | 4 hollow metal doors and frames, 45-minute rated |
| Storefront framing | HERD 1451 series, thermally broken, flush glazed |
| Aluminum doors | HERD 218 series commercial doors, clear anodized |
| Fire door hardware | Hinges, closers, fire-rated panic bars with lever trim, bottom sweeps, thresholds and weatherstripping (painting by others) |
| Site | Plaza with occupied units, open throughout |
| Installed | February 2026 |
| Completed | August 2026, after back-ordered hardware arrived |
| Client | ICNA Relief Canada |
| Address | 6120 Montevideo Road, Mississauga, Ontario |
ICNA Relief Canada owns a single-storey plaza at 6120 Montevideo Road in Mississauga: a row of units under a long grey metal fascia, white stucco above a stone veneer base, turning an inside corner at one end. Its glass and aluminum storefront doors and windows were due for replacement, together with four fire-rated steel doors. The client came to Canuck directly, with no general contractor, and we supplied and installed all of it.
The scope, opening by opening:
- Six aluminum entrances: three single doors and three double doors. Five have sidelights, nine in all.
- Three fixed aluminum windows, divided by centre mullions: one into two lites, two into three.
- Four 45-minute fire-rated hollow metal doors and frames, each with hinges, a closer, a fire-rated panic bar with lever trim, a bottom sweep, a threshold and weatherstripping. The painting was by others.
Four decades of doors for names Ontario knows — Canada’s Wonderland, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, the LCBO, Metrolinx, Marriott & Hilton hotels, the University of Toronto — plus thousands of businesses across the GTA. Dependable people, quality products, since 1979.
What went in
The storefront framing is HERD Aluminum 1451 series: a thermally broken, flush-glazed storefront system. Thermally broken matters on a plaza that is heated all winter. The insulating break inside the frame keeps the cold outside face of the aluminum away from the warm inside face, so the frames don't sweat or frost. Flush glazed means the glass sits level with the face of the frame, which gives the long front of the plaza one flat, even line from unit to unit.
The entrances are HERD 218 series commercial doors. Each has 2 1/2-inch vertical stiles, a 3 1/8-inch top rail and a 4 1/8-inch bottom rail, and takes glass up to 1 inch thick. HERD designs the 218 for retail plazas and other entrances with steady foot traffic. Doors and framing were finished in matching clear anodized aluminum. HERD is an Ontario aluminum extruder (herdaluminum.com), one of the commercial lines we install most often.
The four steel doors are a different kind of opening. They are 45-minute fire-rated hollow metal doors in labelled frames, and a fire door is only as good as its hardware. The closers, the fire-rated panic bars with lever trim and the hinges are part of the rated assembly. The bottom sweeps, thresholds and weatherstripping keep the weather out.
Working around occupied units
Every unit stayed occupied during the work. Openings were scheduled with the client ahead of time, so each tenant knew which door or window would be out on which day.
When a storefront comes out, the opening is exposed on both sides. In an occupied plaza that means deciding in advance which units the crew will take next. The client can then tell tenants, and keep people away from the opening while it is replaced. No unit had to close.
Installed in February, finished in August
The storefront had a 6–8 week lead time, and it kept to it. Drawings, production and installation ran as planned, and the installation was complete on 26 February 2026.
What did not arrive on time was the door hardware. It was on back order for several months, and a door job isn't finished until its hardware is on. We kept the job open, and when the hardware arrived we came back, installed it and made the final caulking. By then the client had also finished the facade around the new frames, so the perimeter seal was made against the finished wall. The job was closed on 13 August 2026.
The lesson for anyone planning the same work: a storefront has two lead times, the framing's and the hardware's, and it is worth asking for both in writing.
Where this sits
This was a storefront replacement across a whole plaza, with new aluminum entrance doors and commercial windows in one system, plus metal fire-rated doors. If you want the same work on your own building, start with the storefront doors in Mississauga page.
Questions this job answers
Can a plaza's storefronts be replaced while the units stay open?
Yes. At 6120 Montevideo Road in Mississauga every unit stayed occupied. Canuck Door Systems agreed with ICNA Relief Canada ahead of time which openings would be replaced on which day, so each tenant knew when their door or window would be out and nobody was working next to it from the inside. It takes more planning than an empty building, but no unit had to close.
How long does a plaza storefront replacement take?
Plan for two clocks. The aluminum storefront had a 6–8 week manufacturing lead time, and it kept to it. The installation of nine storefront openings and four fire-rated doors was done by February 2026. Door hardware is a separate supply chain, and on this job back-ordered hardware pushed the final completion out to August 2026. Ask for the hardware lead time in writing, not just the storefront's.
What happens when door hardware is back-ordered?
The frames, glass and doors go in on schedule, and the job stays open until the hardware arrives. On this Mississauga plaza the installation was finished on 26 February 2026. The hardware was on back order for several months. When it arrived, Canuck Door Systems returned, installed it, did the final caulking and closed the job on 13 August 2026.
What is a 45-minute fire-rated door, and where is it needed?
A 45-minute fire-rated door is a door and frame assembly tested and labelled to hold back fire for 45 minutes. In Ontario it is the usual closure for a wall that is a one-hour fire separation, such as the walls between units, corridors and service rooms in a plaza. The rating covers the whole assembly: door, frame, hinges, closer and latching hardware. This plaza received four 45-minute hollow metal doors and frames.
What comes with a fire-rated hollow metal door package?
On this job each of the four 45-minute hollow metal doors came with its frame, hinges, a door closer, a fire-rated panic bar with lever trim, a bottom sweep, a threshold and weatherstripping. The painting was done by others. A fire door only keeps its rating with labelled fire-rated hardware, which is why the panic bars are fire-rated models rather than standard ones.
What is a thermally broken storefront, and is it worth it in Ontario?
A thermally broken storefront has an insulating break inside the aluminum frame, so the cold outside face is separated from the warm inside face. Aluminum conducts heat very well, and without the break the frame sweats and frosts in an Ontario winter and loses heat. For a heated plaza with year-round tenants, like this one in Mississauga, thermally broken framing such as HERD's 1451 series is the sensible choice.
What does flush glazed mean on a storefront?
Flush glazed means the glass sits flush with the face of the frame rather than being set back behind a projecting stop. The result is a flat, clean elevation with no deep pockets for dirt, and a modern look across a long run of units. The HERD 1451 series used on this Mississauga plaza is a flush-glazed, thermally broken storefront system.
Which aluminum systems were used on this plaza?
The storefront framing is HERD Aluminum 1451 series, a thermally broken, flush-glazed storefront. The entrance doors are HERD 218 series commercial doors, which have 2 1/2-inch vertical stiles, a 3 1/8-inch top rail and a 4 1/8-inch bottom rail, and take glass up to 1 inch thick. Both were finished in clear anodized aluminum. There are six entrances (three single and three double doors) with nine sidelights, and three fixed windows.
What are sidelights and centre mullions?
A sidelight is a fixed glass panel beside a door, inside the same frame. A centre mullion is the vertical bar that divides a fixed window frame into separate panes. On this plaza five of the six aluminum entrances have sidelights (nine in total), and the three fixed windows are split by centre mullions into two or three lites each.
Should the doors and windows be replaced at the same time?
On a plaza it usually pays to do both at once. Here the storefront doors, windows and the fire-rated steel doors were all in one scope. The whole front matches in one HERD system and finish, tenants are disturbed once rather than twice, and there is one set of drawings and one crew schedule.
Why is the caulking done last on a storefront job?
The perimeter caulking seals each new frame to the wall around it, so it has to go on once the surrounding wall is finished and nothing else will move the frame. On this Mississauga plaza the client was finishing the facade around the new frames, and the final caulking was done on the last visit in August 2026, when the back-ordered hardware was installed.
What affects the cost of replacing storefronts on a plaza?
The main drivers are the number and size of openings, the framing system (a thermally broken frame costs more than a non-thermal one), the glass, the number of doors and their hardware, any fire-rated doors in the scope, the finish, and how much the work has to be phased around open businesses. Replacing every unit together is usually less expensive per opening than doing units one at a time over several years.
Who installs commercial storefronts in Mississauga?
Canuck Door Systems has installed and repaired commercial doors and storefronts from its Mississauga base at 14-1645 Bonhill Road since 1979. It supplies and installs aluminum storefront systems from Ontario manufacturers such as HERD Aluminum, Commdoor and Windspec, as well as hollow metal and fire-rated doors, and handles storefront repair and glass replacement.
Have an opening like this one?
Replacing the storefronts on a plaza that has to stay open?
Send us the address, the number of units and a few photographs of the front and back doors. We will tell you how the work can be sequenced around your tenants, what the lead times are and what it costs.