Biz Leaders Push for Required Development of Toronto Island Airport

The battle for the future of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is heating up again.

A group of 45 prominent business leaders in Toronto have signed an open letter that urges “sustained operation and development” of  YTZ.

The group states that YTZ is the ninth busiest airport in Canada and the fifth-busiest Canada-US air crossing, offering 20 direct flights and more than 100 connections.

The airport is owned and managed by PortsToronto, but the lease is up in 2033.

In a story filed last fall, the Toronto Star said PortsToronto is asking the city and Transport Canada to amend the agreement between the trio that governs the lakefront facility, “a move that could reopen the potentially divisive debate about the downtown air hub’s future.”

PortsToronto confirmed it had requested the other two parties open talks on the so-called tripartite agreement, which was signed 40 years ago and expired nine years ago. PortsToronto says the deal needs to be updated to allow the agency to build runway-end safety areas.

In an email to Open Jaw, Warren Askew, Vice President of Airports at PortsToronto, said his company is developing a plan to comply with Transport Canada’s Runway End Safety Area (RESA) directive.

“These regulations apply to Canadian airports that regularly serve at least 325,000 passengers each year for two consecutive years. Billy Bishop Airport served just over 2 million passengers in 2023. As such, Transport Canada has confirmed that Billy Bishop Airport must have RESA constructed by July 12, 2027,” he said.

Askew said that new runway end safe areas won’t lengthen the runway, allow the use of new aircraft (such as jets), or increase at the airport. The boundaries and size of the existing Marine Exclusion Zone will also remain unchanged.

“However, the construction will require the opening of the Tripartite Agreement (governance agreement for the airport) to allow for RESA, specifically a landmass extension to provide space for the RESA (currently precluded in the agreement) and a term extension to allow for financing of this significant capital project. The term of the current Tripartite Agreement comes to an end in 2033, but we require this agreement to be opened much sooner in order to allow compliance with RESA according to the timeline required by Transport Canada,” Askew explained.

The Tripartite Agreement has three signatories – PortsToronto, Transport Canada and The City of Toronto.

“PortsToronto has been in discussions with the City of Toronto regarding how best to achieve compliance by this date for more than a year; now we require a clear path forward to achieve compliance,” he said. “The timelines are immovable and safety continues to be our paramount priority.”

Askew said YTZ generates more than $2.1 billion in total economic output and supports 4,450 jobs, including 2,080 directly associated with the Airport’s operations.

A news release from the business group said 82% of Toronto residents believe YTZ is a good use of the land, while 87% said it makes sense to have a downtown airport.

The open letter was signed by some 45 business leaders, including Porter Airlines CEO Michael Deluce, Destination Toronto CEO Andrew Weir, and Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.