halt Ontario\u2019s plan for a major expansion of Billy Bishop airport<\/a> will guard Toronto\u2019s waterfront against serious setbacks to its revitalization, advocates say.<\/p>\nThe project would involve increased pollution and \u201cmassive destruction\u201d of the Toronto Islands after billions of dollars invested in waterfront rehabilitation over the past couple of decades, said Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence.<\/p>\n
He pointed to the nearly kilometre of lakefill needed to build a runway and taxiways as well as the \u201cgridlock\u201d and aircraft and car emissions the additional plane traffic would cause on shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federal government listened to the people of Toronto who organized by the tens of thousands to push back against this proposal,\u201d Gray said. \u201cIt shows that people working together can make real change and protect their city.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the government is \u201cexclusively\u201d focused on approved safety upgrades already underway at Billy Bishop, rather than on building it out to allow jets to land.<\/p>\n
He said the conclusion was based on public consultations that garnered more than 87,000 responses. But MacKinnon also left the door open a crack to a potential change of course in future years, framing the decision as \u201cat this stage,\u201d instead of a final one.<\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford\u2019s proposal to significantly expand the runway drew criticism from environmental and community advocates over concerns around the project\u2019s effect on noise, traffic and pollution levels as well as affordable housing and the Toronto waterfront itself.<\/p>\n
It made up one piece in a broader bid by the Ford government to overhaul the city\u2019s shores. The grand plans include a redeveloped Ontario Place, currently under construction, a possible new island to hold a massive convention centre and legislation that saw the province take over the city\u2019s role in Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in order to expand it \u2014 an effort that is now grounded.<\/p>\n
Ontario Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said Friday the province will continue trying to advance an expansion, stressing its benefits for job creation and economic growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs this work continues, we look forward to seeing and anticipate a plan that ensures the project protects public spaces, including the Toronto Islands, addresses potential noise and environmental impacts, expands and improves Little Norway Park, supports new housing opportunities in the area and delivers lasting benefits for local communities,\u201d he said on social media.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Ford\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a reprieve from an extremely ill-conceived and reckless idea that would have undone 50 years or more of progress in reconnecting Toronto to its place of origin on Lake Ontario,\u201d said Ken Greenberg, an urban designer who helped lead a group called Reality Check that opposed the provincial plan.<\/p>\n
Greenberg described the Toronto harbour, which is formed by the islands that lie just offshore and host Billy Bishop, as the \u201ccrown jewel\u201d in the waterline of Ontario\u2019s Golden Horseshoe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as a whisper jet; it\u2019s an oxymoron,\u201d he said, while acknowledging that the regional jets that a larger airport could accommodate make no more noise than the turboprops that touch down there daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difference is not a single airplane, it\u2019s the frequency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Ford government has said the airport would eventually notch a projected 10 million passengers a year and generate $8.5 billion in annual economic benefits.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Olivia Chow gives her reaction to the federal decision, and local pushback, that resulted in the shut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":825893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[45,49,48,11867,714,3302,2882],"class_list":["post-825892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ontario-quebec","tag-politics","tag-toronto","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}