Ontario Introduces Legislation To Take Over City Of Toronto Land To Expand Billy Bishop Airport

The Doug Ford government is set to introduce legislation to take over land from the City of Toronto to expand Billy Bishop Airport, paving the way for larger jets to operate from the facility.

“Our government will soon introduce legislation to take over the City of Toronto’s role in the tripartite agreement that governs the airport’s operations, and we will move to take ownership of the City-owned lands in the airport in exchange for fair compensation so we can extend the runway to accommodate jet traffic, upgrade the terminal building and improve access to Toronto’s waterfront,” Ford said at a news conference on Monday.

Currently, a tripartite agreement involving the Toronto Port Authority (which owns 78 per cent of the land), the City of Toronto (which owns around 20 per cent of the land) and the Government of Canada (which owns around two per cent of the land) governs the property on which Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is located. The deal was originally signed in 1983.

The province said it intends to introduce the legislation in the legislature’s upcoming spring session. If passed, Ontario would “take ownership of the city-owned land at the airport and facilitate the city’s replacement by the province in the tripartite agreement.”

The province said it also intends to declare the airport a Special Economic Zone.

“Ahead of the start of construction on the airport’s expansion, and following consultation with impacted First Nations, the province also intends to declare Billy Bishop Airport a Special Economic Zone. This would speed up the expansion of the airport by streamlining approvals, while maintaining robust safety and environmental protections,” a government release states.

The Ford government passed Bill 5 last year, which included the controversial special economic zone provision that allows the province to suspend provincial and municipal laws for a given project.

Earlier this month, Ford said his government would take over the City involvement with the airport property.

Calls to allow larger jets to land at Billy Bishop have been opposed by City Hall and local groups for more than two decades, but Ford in the past has referenced recent internal polling, which claims 70 per cent of people living downtown now support such an expansion.

The owners of the island airport have previously said they “fully support” the province’s intention to modernize and expand Billy Bishop Airport.

NoJetsTO issued a statement calling on the Ford government to “abandon this plan and allow Torontonians to have their say on the airport, and will closely monitor the legality of proposed legislation to remove the City of Toronto from the Tripartite Agreement.”