By Lisa Gordon | May 11, 2021 Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 38 seconds.
The Canadian government is rolling out two new funding programs to help the country’s airports recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A May 11 press conference with Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra further defined the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP) and the Airport Relief Fund (ARF), which were originally introduced in the Fall Economic Statement last November.
The new ACIP will provide almost $490 million in funding to larger airports, distributed over five years, for eligible critical infrastructure projects such as runway repairs, airfield lighting, terminal building investments and connecting airports to mass transit networks.
The ARF is a new program that will provide an additional $64.8 million in financial relief to maintain operations at airports whose 2019 revenues were less than $250 million. The amount of funding for qualified airports in this category will be calculated using a tiered formula tied to their 2019 revenues.
As well, Alghabra announced that Transport Canada’s existing Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) is being topped up with an additional $186 million over two years. This program provides financial support to local and regional airports for projects that help ensure safe operations. In addition to the increase in available funding, the ACAP program has been temporarily expanded to allow National Airport System airports with less than one million annual passengers in 2019 to apply for funding during 2021-22 and 2022-23. This expansion allows airports in Gander, Charlottetown, Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton, Thunder Bay, London, and Prince George to apply.
“In the coming days, we’ll be announcing the airports that will receive funds from the Airport Relief Fund,” said Alghabra during the press conference. “As far as the other programs, they are open to all eligible airports to apply. I look forward to receiving applications.”
He thanked all airports across the country for facilitating essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the delivery of PPE and vaccines.
“For the past year, we’ve been living in an extraordinary situation. We know the global pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the air sector in Canada. . . . Today’s announcement is an integral part of the multi-faceted support we’ve been providing.”
Alghabra noted that airports help producers get goods to market, allow search-and-rescue operations to continue, and make it possible to respond to forest fires. In addition, they deliver critical services to isolated northern communities dependent on air travel.
“Canada’s airports are major contributors to our country’s economy, and play a key role in sustaining the social and economic well-being of our communities, and our local airport workers,” he concluded. “These programs will help ensure that, as Canada works towards recovery and travel restart post pandemic, our airports remain viable and continue to provide Canadians with safe, reliable, and efficient travel options, while creating and maintaining good paying jobs in the airport sector.”
