News and Updates 

November 21, 2017 Update

We are committed to open, accurate, and transparent coverage of the potential airport in Pickering.

Correction 

$150,000 has been identified in the 2018 proposed budget for a public engagement initiative on the Economic and Employment Impact within the Highway 407 Corridor, which includes the Pickering Innovation Corridor and the potential airport in Pickering.

A 2017 Development Charges Study mistakenly labelled this engagement initiative as a "Pickering Airport Feasibility Study" at a November 6, 2017 Executive Committee Meeting, where a public meeting was held to gather feedback on the 2017 DC Background Study. It is staff's intent to have the DC By-law adopted at the Council meeting scheduled for December 11, 2017, where the correct label will be reflected.

All Pickering residents will be invited to participate in the public engagement initiative, expected to begin early in 2018. Costs associated with the initiative will be covered through Development Charges.

If the Federal Government decides to move forward on a proposed airport in Pickering, the City of Pickering expects it to be financed through private sector funding, not City of Pickering property taxes. 

• October 11, 2017 
  Media Release: City of Pickering Supports Development of an Airport
• October 10, 2017 
  Council Meeting: the City of Pickering endorsed a motion to support the development of an airport in Pickering, subject to the results identified in the Federal Government's forthcoming Aviation Sector Analysis - Pickering Airport Study 
  Report CAO 03-17    
  Council Meeting Minutes 

Understanding the Economic Opportunities for an Airport

Around the world, regional airports are critical to the growth of global cities. Airports, at both the regional and international levels, are valuable economic drivers in the development of business, communities, and infrastructure around them.

Toronto Pearson has been the fastest growing airport in North America for the past five years, serving as a significant global hub. How Southern Ontario supports and leverages growing air traffic demand is a land use planning challenge of a global scale.

Planning now for an airport in Pickering is an integral part of meeting the growing demands of Southern Ontario's aviation sector, and can serve as a catalyst for broader and continued economic opportunities for Durham Region. Read more on the economic opportunities.

Proposed Site

The airport is proposed for development on lands owned by the federal government, adjacent to Pickering's Innovation Corridor. The Innovation Corridor represents nearly 800 acres of prestige employment land, located at the northern boundary of Ontario's largest new greenfield community of Seaton.

Seaton is a new, vibrant community, being developed in central Pickering, bordered by Highway 7 to the north, Brock Road to the east, Taunton Road to the south and the West Duffins Creek to the west.

The vision for Seaton is guided by the Province of Ontario's Central Pickering Development Plan, and the community is planned to accommodate 70,000 new residents and 35,000 new jobs. View more information on Seaton.

History of the Airport Site in Pickering

In 1972, the Government of Canada expropriated nearly 19,000 acres in north Pickering, and in Markham and Uxbridge, to protect them for a future airport. Properties on these lands have been leased by the Government of Canada to residential, farm and commercial tenants since 1975. Site management policy for these lands is established by Transport Canada and administered on a day-to-day basis by Public Works and Government Services Canada.

In 2001, the federal lands in Pickering, Markham and Uxbridge were re-confirmed as a regional airport site. In July 2011, The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) released the findings of a Needs Assessment Study done in 2010, which concluded that a new airport would be needed by 2027 at the earliest, to meet long term aviation needs and accommodate traffic growth. On June 11, 2013, the government of Canada confirmed a reduced Airport site in Pickering for future aviation needs and economic development, and the transfer of a portion of the federal lands to the Rouge National Urban Park.

In 2015, to protect for the reduced airport site, the federal government published revised Airport Zoning Regulations in the Canada Gazette.

The original acreage has now been redesignated into three main land uses. More than 10,000 acres has been transferred to the Rouge National Urban Park, with the balance of the 9,600 acres being reserved for a regional airport and adjacent economic development.

View the staff report.