Toronto island airport expansion would lead to severe traffic, committee hears

TORONTO — Premier Doug Ford’s plan to significantly redevelop Toronto’s waterfront will have “substantial implications” on gridlock, transit congestion and could lead to the degradation of the water quality in the harbour, a city official told a Queen’s Park committee on Tuesday.

Ford has grand plans for Toronto’s waterfront.

Those include a redeveloped Ontario Place, currently under construction, a possible new island to hold a massive convention centre and proposed legislation that would see the province take over the city’s role in Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport so it can be expanded.

“Servicing an airport with passenger volumes approaching 10 million annual travellers, which is a five-fold increase from current levels, would have substantial implications for downtown transportation networks and congestion,” said Annely Zonena, the director of Waterfront Secretariat, a city agency that leads revitalization of the area, at a committee hearing at Queen’s Park.

The comments came at a committee hearing on Bill 110, which was introduced in late April. The bill, if passed, would allow the province to take Toronto’s spot in a tripartite agreement that governs the land, an accord that is currently between the city, the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority, which is a federal agency.

The Port Authority supports the expansion, while the federal government has been noncommital publicly. But Ford has said the federal government and Prime Minister Mark Carney are on board with its expansion plans.

“They’re going to work with us,” provincial Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said of the federal government.

The Toronto Islands currently see about two million visitors a year and Ford has said they expect about six million visitors a year to the new Ontario Place, which will be home to a massive private spa, a new science centre and a concert venue.

There are also sporting events that could see about 40,000 fans at Rogers Centre to watch the Blue Jays or about 20,000 to watch the Maple Leafs and Raptors, Zonena noted.

“The cumulative impact of these attractions drives trips in all modes,” Zonena said.

“Increasing the airport’s trip generations for travellers and employees without proper transportation planning and transit investment will limit the success of these destinations, people’s ability to get to them, enjoy them, and their desire to return.”

She also said care must be taken when redesigning the airport, which would be expanded with infill.

“In particular, the western gap, just north of the airport lands, is how water circulates into Toronto’s inner harbour,” Zonena said.

“Impacts of constraining this waterway could result in severe degradation of the water in the harbour, exacerbating the impact of stormwater and combined sewer run-off.”

Ford is pushing for an expansion of the airport that would allow jets to land and take off with a goal to increase service to 10 million passengers per year, up from two million a year.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has called the province’s move a land grab without consultation.

The committee heard the province does not have a business plan nor has it conducted any health or environmental studies on its expansion plans.

Sarkaria, who sparred at committee with opposition New Democrats and Liberals, called the airport expansion a nation-building project that will boost the economy and provide more choice to passengers.

“An expanded Billy Bishop will help meet rising demand, relieve the pressure on Pearson, increase competition, give travellers more choice and create good paying jobs,” Sarkaria said.

He chastised several opposition politicos for being “ridiculous,” including a suggestion by New Democrat Chris Glover who warned of possible bird strikes and that jets would land within 200 metres of an elementary school.

“To suggest that safety wouldn’t be front and centre is kind of ridiculous,” Sarkaria said.

“I think we should move away from the sensationalization in comments like that because Billy Bishop moves over two million people every single year and a lot of people rely on that airport and it’s done so in a very safe manner.”

Sarkaria said the province will provide “fair market value” for the land it takes from the city and any lost revenue. The province will not invest any other money in the airport’s expansion, he said. The expansion would be self-funded privately, he said.

Sarkaria said they’ve heard from “countless” individuals who want the airport turned into a park.

“This just cannot happen,” he said. “We have to realize its full potential, it’s an underutilized asset of this city and this country and this province and that is why we are moving forward on a plan to build this expansion.”

Ford has called Billy Bishop a “crown jewel” and said he intends to designate the airport a so-called “special economic zone,” a law passed last year that allows cabinet to sidestep any and all provincial and municipal laws in a given area.

The province has not yet formalized that designation and neither Sarkaria nor Ford have said which, if any, laws would be suspended in order to build the expansion.

Glover said the lack of information about the plans for the airport concerning.

“The government has not looked at the cost-benefit of expanding this airport and this is really frightening because that’s exactly what they did at Ontario Place,” Glover said.

One northern hospital told the committee Tuesday that an expanded airport and more flights would help bring doctors in from southern Ontario. Hope Air, another health organization, said more flights would help more patients from all over Ontario to receive specialized treatment in Toronto.

Clean Indoor Air Toronto warned of increasing pollution from ultrafine particles introduced into the air from jet fuel and jet oil.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2026.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press