Plan to expand Billy Bishop Island airport for safety zones sparks concern

The structures would act as buffers if a plane overran or undershot the runway, and according to new federal regulations must be in place by July 2027. 

The three potential designs PortsToronto is considering would require extending the airport’s land mass at both ends of the runway by between 52 and 82 metres. The extensions would be up to 270 metres wide, but wouldn’t affect the existing “marine exclusion zones” that boaters and other water users are prohibited from entering.

The project could take between two and three-and-a-half years to complete, and could also include new noise walls, roadways and reconfigured taxiways. The agency plans to present its preferred option and an environmental assessment of the plan at a public meeting in the fall. 

Building the safety zones would require amending the agreement that governs the airport, which was signed in 1983 by PortsToronto, the City of Toronto, and Transport Canada, and prohibits expansion.

PortsToronto is also seeking an extension to the agreement’s current end-date of 2033, which it says is required to allow it time finance the safety zones, the cost of which it estimates at more than $100 million.

In an interview, PortsToronto vice-president Warren Askew said the agency hasn’t determined how long an extension to the agreement it will request, but noted that Canadian airport agreements can be up to 60 years.

Billy Bishop is the ninth busiest airport in Canada, and served 2.8 million passengers in 2019. According to PortsToronto it generates $2.1 billion in economic output and employs more than 2,000 people.

Norm Di Pasquale, who organized against a failed push to allow jets at Billy Bishop a decade ago, said he worries the latest proposal could be the “thin end of the wedge” for additional changes that will increase air traffic at the airport, and inflict more noise, pollution and congestion on Toronto’s rapidly densifying waterfront.

He said he’s skeptical of any plan for “paving the lake,” and is concerned the safety zones could be a stepping stone to a future runway extension that would enable jet flights.

Di Pasquale, the NDP’s candidate for Spadina—Fort York for the next federal election, said he doesn’t want to shut down the airport, but argued that any changes should undergo thorough public consultation and not be rushed.

The airport “cannot be allowed to grow completely uncontrollably because it will end up dominating the waterfront. And the waterfront works when all uses are in balance,” he said.

PortsToronto said it’s committed to consultation, and the plan to expand the airport footprint is “about compliance and safety.” It “will not address runway extensions or have any effect on current runway operations, runway capacity or aircraft types using the runway,” the agency said.

However, it acknowledged that in the longer term, it intends to explore the use of other types of aircraft than the Q400 turboprop planes currently allowed to operate out of the airport, as part of a process it stressed was separate from the RESA project. 

Next year the agency plans to update its airport master plan to look at ways to make the facility “cleaner, greener, and quieter,” which will include exploring efficient modern aircraft technology and a “managed growth study.” 

Askew said aviation technology has evolved since the agreement was signed, and hybrid, electric or hydrogen aircraft could address concerns about noise and air quality around Billy Bishop. He didn’t confirm the agency wants to explore jets.

“I think we want to look at all technologies,” he said. 

While allowing new types of aircraft would also require amending the tripartite agreement, it’s not clear whether that issue will be bundled into the upcoming talks between the signatories about safety zones.

PortsToronto says it’s waiting for feedback from the city, which is expected to bring a report on the safety zone request to Mayor Olivia Chow’s executive committee this fall. But the agency said negotiations on any additional changes will likely take place in a second round of talks. 

Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik, whose Spadina—Fort York ward includes the airport, said the focus needs to remain on the safety zones for now.

Given the “very tight timeframes” to meet the 2027 RESA deadline, the signatories can’t “get distracted,” she said. “Safety is the highest priority.”

Neil Pakey, CEO of Nieuport Aviation, the company that operates Billy Bishop’s passenger terminal, and which records show has been intensely lobbying council members about the airport, said it will be up to the signatories to determine the timing of discussions.

But he said it would make sense to discuss “modernizing” the agreement while discussing amendments for the safety zones.

“You’re at the table, you’ve got the book open. Look at the language and modernize it,” he said. 

A spokesperson for Chow said the mayor would wait until the city report is published to weigh in on potential changes to the airport.