Ford’s Expansion Plans for Billy Bishop Airport face “Uncomfortable Truths”

After about a decade of relative quiet, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (BBTCA) has re-emerged as a major public issue.  Back in 2014, Transport Action Ontario (TAO) and other non-government organizations were very active in opposing expansion plans which would allow jets to land at BBTCA.  Our objections were two fold: (a) short haul air travel should be replaced by intercity passenger rail, which is more environmentally sustainable and (b) higher safety requirements for jet aircraft will negatively impact the Toronto waterfront.

In 2024, due to impending new regulations from Transport Canada, Ports Toronto, the airport operator, applied for and received a 12-year extension to the multi-government tripartite agreement, allowing it to operate the airport until 2045.   Once this life extension was granted, Ports Toronto set to work on the creation of Runway End Safety Areas (RESAs), required to be completed by July 2027.  The RESAs are open space areas at each end of Runway 08/26 allowing for safer operation.  All other operating restrictions at BBCA, including the no jets restriction, remained in place.

In March 2026, Premier Ford suddenly called for a runway extension to accommodate jets, due to alleged economic benefits. He followed this up with a vow to expropriate the City of Toronto’s 20% ownership of the airport and indicated that BBTCA would be designated a Special Economic Zone under Ontario Bill 5 to reduce provincial and municipal hurdles.  

But Premier Ford’s eagerness ignores many “uncomfortable truths”:

• Any expansion of BBTCA falls under federal jurisdiction, not provincial.  To date, the feds have given mixed signals.
• With BBTCA operating under grandfathered federal safety regulations, any expansion would likely bring new federal regulations passed in 2015 into play.  These new regulations are more onerous.
• Expanding Billy Bishop will require wider runways, altered taxiways, relocated aircraft parking and a larger terminal, all of which would be very difficult and costly to squeeze into the very small footprint of BBTCA.  It is, after all, an island airport.
• The on-shore arrival and departure areas will need to expand to be able to process more passengers and marine search and rescue services will need to expand so as to be able to handle incidents involving larger aircraft.
• Due to larger exclusion zones, marine activity in Toronto harbour will likely be severely affected, affecting the Island ferries and tourist vessels.
• Introducing jets, with their lower obstacle limitation surfaces, will likely limit the development of tall apartment towers in the Portlands, reducing Toronto’s future housing supply in an era of housing shortage.
• Passenger volumes through BBTCA have declined in the past decade and continue to decline.  This is likely due to the growing attractiveness and better connections to the UPX train to Pearson International Airport (PIA).   Furthermore, PIA has recently announced expansion plans providing sufficient capacity for decades.
• The cost of expanding Billy Bishop can likely not be funded from Airport Improvement Fees, thereby requiring taxpayer funding.
• The overall business case, considering costs of expansion and declining ridership, is likely very poor.

As in 2014, TAO will be supporting local non-government organizations, lead by Waterfront for All (WfA),  in opposing this expansion.   WfA has asked that the first step be the development of a definitive proposal, showing land masses, lighting structures, exclusion zones, on shore facilities, permitted tower heights, full costs etc.  Then, and only then, can our political leaders and the public fully assess the complex effects and any tradeoffs.    We recall that In 2014, the process was backward – the political discussion preceded definitive facts – and a lot of time and resources were wasted. TAO supports the WfA approach.