Pearson transit hub would be a ‘game changer,’ Mississauga mayor says

With Ottawa reviewing the ownership structure of Canadian airports, officials at Pearson are signalling that they’re open to greater private sector involvement if such a move could help kick-start growth plans.

Thestar.com
March 29, 2017
By Bruce Campion-Smith

A transit hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport with rail and bus connections across the region would be a “game changer,” Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie says.

But Crombie wants more details about the potential ownership changes that the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) is hoping can help leverage the billions of dollars needed to reinvest in Canada’s busiest airport.

“This is very game-changing for people trying to get to the airport, whether it’s to travel or more importantly ... for employment,” Crombie said Wednesday during a Mississauga council meeting.

As the Star first reported, the authority that runs Pearson airport has signalled that it is open to letting private investors take a stake in the airport as a way to help fund an ambitious, multibillion dollar transit hub to move commuters, airport workers and passengers.

Howard Eng, the authority’s president and CEO, and Hillary Marshall, vice-president of stakeholder relations and communications, presented the airport’s plan to Mississauga councillors Wednesday morning.

The airport aspires to become a mega hub with more international connections that drives passenger growth and boosts airport employment. A key part of making that vision a reality is a regional transit hub on airport lands to help move passengers and airport workers.

That hub would be served by links such as GO Transit, LRT lines along Eglinton and Finch, UP Airport Express and Mississauga Bus Rapid Transit.

“In order to leverage this airport and get the benefit of this airport and this region, I think we must find a seamless and effective way to move people from the airport to their final destination,” Eng told council.

Just 10 per cent of Pearson passengers use transit now, compared to 40 per cent at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and 50 per cent at Hong Kong’s international airport.

The authority says it’s prepared to foot the cost of the hub, to be built as part of a larger processing centre where passengers will check in for flights and go through security before proceeding to the terminals.

“I think this is the time to strike ... it’s not a done deal. We may not achieve the total vision but I said to my people, we have to try,” Eng said.

With Ottawa reviewing the ownership structure of Canadian airports, officials at Pearson are now signalling that they’re open to greater private sector involvement if such a move could help kick-start their growth plans.

That’s the message that Eng says Pearson has been delivering to government officials.

“If you do venture down that road, let’s talk together on how to reinvest. That’s the communication we’ve been doing with the various levels of government,” he said.

The Mississauga Board of Trade voiced its support for the airport’s vision, especially its willingness to consider what it called “creative funding avenues” to help pay for it.

“Funding the infrastructure required to foster the growth of Pearson airport is significant and we applaud the GTAA for entertaining alternative funding opportunities for the project,” said David Wojcik, the board’s president and CEO.

Crombie called the plan “very exciting” but said the potential change in ownership “would be cause for concern” for some.

“We all agree that more investment in transit is needed. I think it makes us a little uncomfortable with the headlines that read ‘ownership changes’ and we don’t know who is driving that,” she said.

Ottawa has put the ownership of the country’s big airports, now run by not-for-profit authority, under the microscope along with ports as it looks to new revenue streams to fund its infrastructure program.

Giving private sector investors, such as pension funds, a greater stake in Canada’s eight biggest airports could raise between $7 billion to $16 billion, according to a study prepared by the C.D. Howe Institute.

In their budget last week, the Liberals’ budget made no decisions on changing the ownership of airports, saying they would continue to review the issue.