Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will force the City of Toronto to give up its share in the island airport so he can expand its runway to allow jets to fly in and out of the downtown core.

The future of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport has been a subject of much debate since Ford began referencing internal polling his government had done about expanding the size of its runway.

As recently as Tuesday morning, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow suggested she wasn’t in favour of the idea of attracting more jets into downtown.

“I have not seen any concrete plans for an extended airport, so I don’t precisely know what the province might be doing,” she told reporters.

“As for jets, there needs to be discussion so the waterfront is balanced … I don’t support jets, but we shall see as to what is the balance in the waterfront. Jets are noisy.”

Hours later, Ford confirmed he planned to use expropriation to insert his government into the future of Billy Bishop.

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“We will be taking over the airport,” Ford confirmed on Tuesday. “We will be compensating the city for it. Not compensating just for the value but also for any lost revenue — I believe they make $5 million a year, we will compensate them for that.”

Ford said studies would still need to take place to look at the potential impact of noise on the downtown, exactly what jets would be able to use an expanded island airport and how many more passengers it would be able to handle.

“I don’t ever foresee 747s flying into the island airport, but smaller jets,” he explained. “And it’ll be convenient for travellers, especially going around Canada and possibly into the U.S.”

As it stands — before any expropriation takes place — the airport doesn’t fall directly under the premier’s jurisdiction. Instead, it is governed by a tripartite deal between the City of Toronto, Toronto Port Authority and the federal government.

The lease was extended at the end of 2024 by city council in a 17-8 vote following a motion from Chow. She put forward the proposal despite a staff report that advised against extending the agreement before more public consultation.

Ford first mentioned his plans for the airport at an event in February, where he said it was a “gold mine” that must be used more.

“I got to tell you one thing, we got to extend that runway. We have to bring jets in, smaller jets, whatever, until people can hop on there,” the premier previously said.

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After unveiling the latest renderings for Ontario Place and blasting the Metro Toronto Convention Centre as “one of the worst” in the world, Premier Doug Ford appears to be turning his efforts to the city’s downtown airport.

Speaking at an event with the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Thursday evening, Ford said he’d seen polling to support expanding the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to include a bigger runway for larger jet engines.

“They’re incredible people,” the premier said of airport leaders. “But I got to tell you one thing, we got to extend that runway. We have to bring jets in, smaller jets, whatever, until people can hop on there.”

The island airport doesn’t fall directly under the premier’s jurisdiction and is governed by a tripartite deal between the City of Toronto, PortsToronto and the federal government. It was recently extended from 2033 to 2045.

The lease was extended at the end of 2024 by city council in a 17-8 vote following a motion from Mayor Olivia Chow. She put forward the proposal despite a staff report that advised against drawing out the agreement before more public consultation.

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Ford addressed his comments to Chow on Thursday night, telling her strong public support would allow her to expand the downtown airport.

“So, mayor, we did a poll, and our poll is pretty, pretty accurate,” he said. “It is telling us that 70 per cent of the people — now this just totally flipped, especially for people living downtown and that want to get somewhere real quick.”

Billy Bishop is located on Toronto Island across the water from Bathurst Street.

It operates Air Canada and Porter Airlines flights to domestic Canadian destinations and some cities in the United States, like New York and Chicago. It competes with Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga and, to an extent, the Hamilton or Kitchener airports.

Ford said he wanted to see the airport expanded because it’s a “gold mine” to have air travel so conveniently accessible in the downtown.

“It’s a gold mine, having an airport downtown. That’s what the polls are saying. That’s what the people are saying,” Ford said.

“They want another option to get this done. So, with the mayor’s support, we’re going to put out some proposals to get things moving.”

A spokesperson for the Toronto Ports Authority declined an interview request.

“At a time when the provincial and federal governments are looking to build resiliency and a future-focused economy, now is the right time to look at how this airport can be more and do more,” they said in a statement.

“We welcome the comments made by the Premier at the Toronto Region Board of Trade Annual Dinner which speak to the need to build resiliency, prepare for the future, and unlock the tremendous economic potential of the airport.”

— with files from The Canadian Press

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