Michael Lewis
Special to Ontario Construction News
Opponents of Premier Doug Ford’s plan to extend the Toronto Island Airport’s runways to accommodate jets, a move that would limit the height of new buildings in the sprawling Port Lands housing development, need to make their case to Ottawa, Toronto councillors say.
“It is very much incumbent on the federal government to say, ‘slow down,’” Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher told the city’s planning and housing committee meeting on April 14.
She said the alternative is to allow the province to move forward with a highly consequential project without a full assessment of its impacts on housing supply, traffic gridlock, noise, air/water quality, and marine life.
She said those concerned about jets above the Toronto waterfront need to contact their MP to try and influence decisions on whether Ford should be able to remove the city from a tripartite agreement that says all three levels of government must approve major changes to the airport’s operations.
Coun. Fletcher said the Ford plan, which would increase the airport’s annual passenger volumes to ten million from two million and stretch the airport’s two main runways deep into Lake Ontario, could be blocked if the federal government prevents the province from taking over the city’s role in the governance agreement.
Federal Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon in late March said he’ll be working with the province “to design a path forward,” for the airport, also known as Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. He noted that there are safety issues to consider but also that Toronto’s Pearson airport is “congested.”
Transport Canada spokesperson Hicham Ayoun said a decision on the future of the airport will involve consultation with stakeholders and indigenous groups “while taking into account economic benefits, transportation needs, and environmental considerations.”
The Ford government earlier in March announced pending legislation to take over Toronto Islands lands where Billy Bishop is located to modernize the terminal and lengthen runways, with the city to be compensated for asset values — Toronto owns about 20 per cent of the airport site — and for lost annual revenue.
It said it intends to usurp the city’s place in the tripartite airport governance agreement and declare Billy Bishop a Special Economic Zone to suspend provincial and municipal rules normally applied to large projects, “while maintaining robust safety and environmental protections.”
Bill 5, 2025 provincial legislation that created the Special Economic Zones Act, is facing legal challenges including a lawsuit from four environmental groups who in April took the Progressive Conservative government to court arguing the Act is unconstitutional.
In a statement, Mayor Olivia Chow said, “unilateral action to grab city land without consulting Torontonians is not acceptable.”
Chow called on the federal and provincial governments to be transparent about plans for the airport and “the impact it will have on how we enjoy our waterfront, downtown congestion, plans to build more housing and our film sector.”
Ford, who said expanding the airport, which currently hosts regional airlines flying comparatively quiet turboprop planes, will allow longer-haul flights and foster economic opportunity, while creating jobs and relieving crowding at the city’s primary airport Toronto Pearson International.
But Toronto-St. Paul’s Coun. Josh Matlow, whose motion directing staff to report back “on an urgent basis” with an impact assessment was approved at the meeting, said the city has a responsibility “to put facts on the table where the provincial government has not provided anything,” with the information to be shared with provincial and federal counterparts.
Matlow, in a letter to the housing committee, said “jets will require a significant reduction in the height and density of new housing projects in the area that could have a cascading effect on the affordable housing that could be part of those future redevelopments.”
He said airport expansion might mean only smaller buildings on the Port Lands, where planners envision up to 25,000 new residences, adding that a study is needed to assess the impact of jet traffic on the waterfront’s quality of life.
His motion for a study was supported by community groups including the South Toronto Residents’ Association which represents 27 associations and tens of thousands of people living in downtown wards.
“In addition to the threat of the direct loss of homes in the Port Lands from building height restrictions,” the group’s chair Rick Green in a letter to council said the airport expansion would lower property values of new homes along a swath of the waterfront. He cited a critical lack of affordable housing and public spaces for workers in the downtown core.
The housing committee meeting also heard a deposition from Melanie Wilson, who said the city has a “small window of opportunity” to try and influence the federal government before the province moves unilaterally to remove the city from the tripartite governing agreement.
City staff told the housing committee that the transportation planning team could work to hasten an assessment of impacts to meet terms of Matlow’s motion which calls for a report in the second quarter.