The federal government is in the “early stages” of talks on whether Canada’s airports will be privatized, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters on Wednesday.
When asked if the government was considering privatizing airports and if so, how many, MacKinnon told reporters that the government was talking with airport authorities.
“We’re in the early stages of a process with airport authorities and other partners to determine the best way forward. The ultimate goal, of course, is to improve the passenger experience, to improve the efficiency of our air transport system,” MacKinnon said.
The government is working with NAV Canada and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to finalize the plan, he said, although he did not say whether this included handing over airport land entirely to private players or plans to have public-private partnerships.
“Indeed, they are a public good and I don’t think that spirit or that philosophy will change,” he said.
When asked if money from investment in Canada’s airports will be funneled into Canada’s new sovereign wealth fund, MacKinnon said, “I don’t think that any determination has been made on that front.”
The federal government is considering inviting private investment into Canada’s airports, according to the Spring Economic Update.
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The federal government says it is working to “unlock the full potential” of Canada’s airports by exploring “alternative models of ownership.”
“The government is also assessing opportunities to unlock the full value of airports in support of investments in Canada’s long-term growth, including through alternative models of ownership, the spring economic update says.
“This work will be advanced with the input of the airport authorities and other stakeholders including airlines and local governments,” the document says.
This is not the first time the Mark Carney government has hinted at privatizing Canada’s airports. In the federal budget presented in November 2025, the federal government said it will “consider options for the privatization of airports.”
As of 2020, nearly 20 per cent of the airports in the world had been privatized. A 2022 study in the U.S.-based non-profit National Bureau of Economic Research compared the performance of 2,444 airports around the world in 217 countries.
The report found that the number of passengers per flight — a key metric when assessing airport efficiency — increased by 20 per cent when private equity funds buy government-owned airports and overall passenger traffic rises by 84 per cent.
Airports also get bigger with private equity funds as owners, the report found, with private owners adding new terminals and gates. The study also found fewer flight cancellations.
However, flying may get more expensive as the fees that airports charge to airlines rises after an airport is privatized, the report found. The rise in the number of privately-owned airports was also associated with a push for deregulation and pushback against government controls, such as caps or limits on fees.
In the early 1990s, Canada chose to retain public ownership of airports but transferred operations of some of the busiest airports in the country to 21 privately owned airport authorities.
Canada currently has 23 airports that are leased to 21 private airport authorities by Transport Canada, with Mirabel International Airport and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal operated by the same authority.
The federal government collects up to 12 per cent of airport gross revenues in the form of rent, the Canadian Airports Council says. Between 1992 and 2019, airports have paid more than $6.5 billion in “rent” to the federal government, the council says.
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