Ontario tables bill to allow provincial takeover of Toronto island airport

TORONTO — Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria introduced a bill Thursday that would allow the province to take over the City of Toronto’s role in the island airport.

It’s part of a government push for an expansion of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to include jets.

The bill allows the province to assume the City of Toronto’s spot in a tripartite agreement that governs the land, an agreement that is currently between the city, the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority, which is a federal agency.

“This is going to be a good plan for the consumers and air travellers across not only Canada and Toronto, but the country,” Sarkaria said.

“More options for consumers, more competition in our marketplace, hopefully driving down the price of airline tickets and also creating thousands of jobs along this process.”

The legislation could also see the province appropriate one-third of the waterfront Little Norway Park, though Sarkaria was not clear on the specific reason for that, other than supporting airport expansion.

He also could not say how much longer the airport runway will be extended to accommodate jets.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is opposed to what she has called a “unilateral action to grab city land without consulting Torontonians.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Ford is picking an unnecessary fight with the city when he should be focused on affordability, health care and jobs.

“With zero transparency, Ford is trying to unilaterally seize city lands and public parks, put the future of the Toronto Islands at risk, and put downtown Toronto residents in harm’s way with his reckless airport expansion and land grab,” Stiles wrote in a statement.

“Who is asking for this? Certainly not the residents of Toronto’s waterfront and neighbourhoods along Lake Ontario.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press