The federal government is moving ahead with plans to attract private investment in Canada’s four largest airports, Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
“I am announcing today that we will seek private investment through long-term concessions to operate Canada’s four largest airports,” Carney said during his keynote address at an investment summit on Tuesday.
The new model will be based on “best practice in other countries” and the federal government will retain ownership of the underlying land and assets, Carney said.
“But we will unlock their true value, by bringing in new capital and expertise into their operations and growth,” he said.
The money raised from the investment will be spent on infrastructure development, including on regional airports across Canada, Carney added.
“Canadian pension funds already invest successfully in many airports around the world. It is time to bring that same expertise home to more directly benefit all Canadians,” Carney said.
Canada’s regulatory bodies will maintain oversight when it comes to questions of security and standards, he told reporters later in the day.
The four busiest airports in Canada are Toronto Pearson International, Vancouver International, Montreal Trudeau International and Calgary International airports, according to Transport Canada data.
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The move will result in higher costs for passengers and airlines, pressure on workers, and more airport revenue flowing to private investors, the Canadian Labour Congress said.
“In the middle of a trade war, handing profitable public infrastructure over to private investors is exactly the wrong move. If the goal is to make Canada stronger and more secure, we should be investing in the assets we depend on, keeping their value here at home,” said Lily Chang, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress.
The privatization of Canadian airports should not “end up being sweetheart deals for corporate power brokers and Liberal insiders at the expense of hard-working Canadians who are already struggling to put food on their table,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said.
NDP Leader Avi Lewis said the move was a “mistake we do not need to make” and would be “a terrible deal for travellers, workers, and the public purse.”
The Bloc Quebecois said it would oppose the privatization of Montreal airport, one of Canada’s busiest, to “foreign interest,” Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said in a statement.
Aside from leaving no guarantees that Ottawa would get to keep the revenue from these airports, Blanchet said he was also concerned about higher ticket prices for ordinary travellers.
The Carney government’s plan to attract private investment in airports has been in the works for some months now, with some details being included in this year’s Spring Economic Statement.
The federal government said in the document it is working to “unlock the full potential” of Canada’s airports by exploring “alternative models of ownership.”
As of 2020, nearly 20 per cent of the airports in the world had been privatized. A 2022 study in the U.S.-based non-profit National Bureau of Economic Research compared the performance of 2,444 airports around the world in 217 countries.
The report found that the number of passengers per flight – a key metric when assessing airport efficiency – increased by 20 per cent when private equity funds buy government-owned airports and overall passenger traffic rises by 84 per cent.
Airports also get bigger with private equity funds as owners, the report found, with private owners adding new terminals and gates. The study also found fewer flight cancellations.
However, flying may get more expensive as the fees that airports charge to airlines tend to rise after an airport is privatized, the report added. The rise in the number of privately owned airports was also associated with a push for deregulation and pushback against government controls, such as caps or limits on fees.
In the early 1990s, Canada chose to retain public ownership of airports but transferred operations of some of the busiest airports in the country to 21 privately owned airport authorities.
Canada currently has 23 airports that are leased to 21 private airport authorities by Transport Canada, with Mirabel International Airport and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal operated by the same authority.
The federal government collects up to 12 per cent of airport gross revenues in the form of rent, the Canadian Airports Council says. Between 1992 and 2019, airports have paid more than $6.5 billion in “rent” to the federal government, the council says.
FU GLOBAL DEFUND
This would need boundaries. Airport improvement fees, and airport CEO salaries quadruple that of larger US airports are unregulated and currently downloaded to the airlines or passenger. Canadians would need assurances that privatization would reduce air travel costs and promote travel.
I hope Trump secretly buys Toronto’s airport and renames it Airport America
Who can afford to fly these days…?
To jimmy d I agree with you 100% . I don’t know why Canadians can’t see what Carney is upto . Mindbogling
Time to protest Carney. RCMP going to have to be paid overtime
WRONG WAY TO GO. THE UK IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bellingham airport will be a busy airport soon. Even the BC elbozers will head there once the fees go over the moon!
I wish some country starts a nuclear war with Canada or atleast nuke every major province for history learning purposes in AI data bases for the future. Canadian Airports were built for Canadians by Canadians, not from privatization.
Does anyone believe that private investment will cause our airport landing fees to go down? To make a return on investment, private companies will insist on higher fees.
No wonder Canada has a massive debt. Carney and Liberals do not understand business and numbers.
Let’s see, we currently lease airports to operaters that function as non profit business. So all of a sudden it’s private investment that will allow the Feds to invest in smaller airports. Once it’s private then it’s no longer a non profit business. But we have extra money to invest? So what would the airport fees look like for the Canadian traveller? We should do a comparison, then we can decide if its a good idea or not.
Here ome all the new commenters to prop up Carney
Makes you wonder how many of them work for Global
Bravo. Rent only investment to Canadian airports.
This will make flights at low rates & benefits the people/seniors who want to Travel in the World.
Next plan, Health Care Business To reduce to much restrictions to foreign experienced Educated health care people.
Common sense and actions prevail.
The only question is will it be Brookfield or China getting rich, it definitely wont be Canadians.
Elbows up, Knees Down and Mouth Open!
Can you imagine if it was a Conservative PM pursuing this, the righteous uproar that would come from trying to privatize public infrastructure? Why not just make the airports into the profit engines they are supposed to be?
What’s taking place is not investment
Its a sell off
Those are two completely different things
Well either USA investment via Brookfield or China either way Carney is happy and the elbows clowns will love it either way . Can’t fix stupid
Carney is trying to line his pocket no doubt.
This is unlocking Canadas potential? This is just a service. How about we pump more Oil and Gas, mining more Potash and critical minerals, and make value added products to sell to the world.
The part global forgot to mention was
” Foreign investment ” let’s sell of public services because we know from experience that services will improve and become cheaper by doing that and profits won’t come before people’s safety.
Elbows up suckers
Airports are a part of our basic infrastructure. Past divestment of government responsibilities has been less than acceptable.
What do the Airport Authorities think of this? Currently they pay rent to the Federal Govt.
Flying going to get more expensive
Hahahaha! Hes about to sell off the remaining assets to his US buddies you Elbowzos!
Carneys company Brookfield will get the contract.
And the selloff begins.
Sounds an awful lot like management and concession contracts which aren’t exactly great investments in Canada
Not that his supporters care much about facts