Recently, more than $5 million in new funding was announced by the Government of Canada to help the Fort McMurray International Airport, $10.4 million in new funding for the Edmonton International Airport, and more than $5.3 million to help the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport.
These funds will help the airports recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and support continued air services and important transportation infrastructure projects at the airports.
To help ensure safe airport operations for aircraft, passengers and crews, Fort McMurray will receive $2.7 million from Transport Canada’s Airport Critical Infrastructure Program to support upgrades to the airfield lighting system and to purchase new snow removal equipment.
In addition to the funding for the critical infrastructure projects, the Government of Canada provided the Fort McMurray International Airport with $2.6 million from Transport Canada’s Airport Relief Fund to help it maintain continued airport operations and essential air services for residents and workers in Fort McMurray and surrounding communities.
The Government of Canada is also announcing funding to support 13 safety-related projects at five local and regional airports in Alberta. This funding, valued at $4.1 million, is being provided through Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program.
For Edmonton International Airport, the funding from Transport Canada’s Airport Critical Infrastructure Program, will support investments in:
- Information technology infrastructure, including new hardware, software, network and data facilities, to increase security and better protect the airport from potential cybersecurity and system attacks.
- The replacement of critical infrastructure to enhance the efficiency and security of airport check-in and boarding; and
- projects to enable COVID-19 testing and screening at the airport.
This funding is in addition to almost $18.5 million already announced under the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program in July 2021, for infrastructure improvements including upgrades to runways and airfield lighting, as well as $6.2 million from Transport Canada’s Airport Relief Fund to help the airport maintain continued airport operations and essential air services for residents and workers in Edmonton and surrounding communities.
Winnipeg International Airport will receive funding from Transport Canada’s Airport Critical Infrastructure Program to support:
- The establishment of a new permanent structure for the security screening of non-passenger vehicles.
- The addition of a dedicated vehicle access lane for processing cargo.
- Improvements to air terminal security.
- Upgrades to airport roadway infrastructure; and
- Projects to enable COVID-19 testing and screening at the airport.
This funding is in addition to $7 million announced under the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program in August 2021, for the rehabilitation of the airport’s airfield paved surfaces, and $5.7 million from Transport Canada’s Airport Relief Fund to help the airport maintain continued operations and essential air services for residents and workers in Winnipeg and surrounding communities.
The Government of Canada continues to advise all Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada at this time.
The Airport Critical Infrastructure Program, launched in May 2021, will provide $571.2 million in funding over five years to airports for eligible infrastructure projects related to safety, security, connectivity to mass transit systems, or testing and screening related to COVID-19 and its variants.
The Airport Relief Fund, launched in May 2021, provided $64.8 million in funding in 2021-2022 for targeted airports whose 2019 revenues were less than $250 million.