by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 2:25 PM ET, Mon July 27, 2026
The federal government has put an end to talk of expanding the Billy Bishop Toronto City airport — at least for now. Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the government is focusing "exclusively" on approved safety upgrades that are already underway at Billy Bishop Airport, rather than on building it into a facility that can accommodate jets. However, MacKinnon specified the government was not looking at airport expansion “at this time,” which might leave the door open to revisiting the issue in the future.
Members of the organizations opposing the expansion are hailing the decision as a victory. Of the 87,000 responses the government received during its public consultation, 87 percent were against redevelopment along the lakeshore near the Toronto Islands.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is pleased with the announcement, telling media, "Democracy matters, those voices matter. And when they spoke with one voice, don't touch our waterfront, protect it, it matters," Chow added. "I just see this as a win for the people."
Billy Bishop airport has been quietly increasing its clout, with Porter and Air Canada adding routes from Toronto’s smaller airport, and a US Customs and Border preclearance site now opened.
Premier Doug Ford had promoted the expansion, with a proposal to extend the airport's runway allowing more air traffic and boosting passenger traffic to 10 million a year.
It was largely unpopular with the public, many of whom criticised the increases in noise, traffic and pollution levels that would result from such a project, as well as concerns over affordable housing and the beauty, integrity and accessibility of the Toronto waterfront.
Prabmeet Sarkaria, Transportation Minister in Ontario posted on social media that the Conservative government would continue to advocate for the airport despite the federal announcement.
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