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Officials at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport have announced the start of a multi-billion dollar construction project aimed at modernizing and expanding the facility.
The airport is launching the first phase of a long‑term investment in facilities and terminals to improve its airfield and baggage systems, CEO Deborah Flint said. Flint said the project is expected to take a decade to complete and is crucial to the passenger experience.
The first phase, estimated to cost $3 billion, will include expanding the airfield, overhauling baggage carousels in Terminal 1 and 3, better lighting systems and expanded electric vehicle charging for maintenance vehicles.
“We know that in today’s time, Pearson must be ambitious, we must be dynamic, and we must be transformative, right in step with where the Government of Canada is leading this country,” Flint told reporters at a news conference.
Flint said the project also includes a new high-speed taxiway to improve movement of airplanes between gates and runways.
“You hear it at many airports, but in this case, as it’s completed, you’ll hear less of the pilot saying: ‘We’re here early and we’re waiting for a gate.’ So this will help with that.”
Flint said the project will not create additional delays for passengers.
Project to support growth, Ontario minister says
Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told reporters at the news conference that Pearson is an important piece of infrastructure in the province and country.
“It’s a huge step forward to modernize and expand a cornerstone of Ontario and Canada’s transportation system. It means upgraded infrastructure, improved passenger experiences, expanded capacity and the ability to support Ontario’s growth for decades to come,” Sarkaria said.
Flint said Pearson is significant to Canada because it employs 52,000 people and it carries 45 per cent of the cargo destined for locations in Canada. She said the renovations are expected to create about 16,000 more jobs and enhance trade.
Pearson, which hosted 47.3 million travellers in 2025, hopes to grow that figure to 65 million a year by the early 2030s.
Deborah Flint, CEO of Pearson airport, said the renovations are expected to create about 16,000 more jobs and enhance trade. (Martin Trainor/CBC)’We’re going to be living in a construction zone for years’
But an aviation expert is skeptical that the renovations will actually benefit passengers.
“We’re going to be living in a construction zone for years,” John Gradek, faculty lecturer in supply networks and aviation management at McGill University, said in an interview Monday.
Gradek said airport improvement fees, which are used for projects like this one, could increase.
“The model we have in Canada is the user pay model and that user pay means that passengers have to pay for all of the investments that the airports are putting into the facilities,” Gradek said.
According to Pearson airport, the facility is self-funded through a range of revenue streams, including commercial and aeronautical fees. That means major infrastructure projects, such as the one announced Monday, are paid for using the airport’s own revenue. The airport says it does not rely on taxpayer funding.
Gradek said the question needs to be asked whether the project is needed.
“There are a lot of questions that have to be answered,” he said.
According to Pearson airport, the facility is self-funded through a range of revenue streams, including commercial and aeronautical fees. The airport says it does not rely on taxpayer funding. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
The announcement comes weeks after the Ontario government introduced legislation that would allow the province to take over Toronto’s stake in Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushes for an expansion there to allow jets to land.
In a statement Monday, Ontario NDP MPP Chris Glover questioned those expansion plans.
“Toronto has a perfectly good airport that is rightly being expanded,” Glover said.
“The people of Toronto, and Ontarians across the province have loudly opposed the Premier’s meddling on our waterfront. He should use those taxpayer dollars on our schools, hospitals, or creating the jobs that Ontario desperately needs.”