UPDATED: Canada to Seek Private Investment at 4 Largest Airports, “Unlocking Their True Value”

Despite concerns from the Canadian Labour Congress among others, the federal government is moving ahead with plans to attract private investment in Canada’s four largest airports, Prime Minister Mark Carney said at an investment summit in Toronto. 

“I am announcing today that we will seek private investment through long-term concessions to operate Canada’s four largest airports,” Carney said.

The Prime Minister expanded: “The government of Canada will retain ownership of the underlying land and assets, but we will unlock their true value by bringing in new capital and expertise to their operations and growth,” Carney said during an address at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on Tuesday morning.

The four airports are Vancouver’s YVR, Calgary’s YYC, Toronto’s YYZ and Montreal’s YUL.

Carney said the government studied other countries’ approaches to privatizing airports before deciding to keep land ownership.

“We’re getting the benefit of being late to this, if you will, because we’ve seen transactions that don’t work well … and we’re going to apply those lessons,” he said.

The prime minister said deals with private investors could add “tens of billions of dollars” for government coffers.

Representing major Canadian airports, the Canadian Airports Council released a statement saying the current “made-in-Canada airport model has served our country very well” but indicated willingness to work with the government on a new approach.

“Canada is entering a period of tremendous growth, and with air travel projected to double in the next decade, our airports will be essential to moving the people and goods that growth requires,” Canadian Airports Council president Monette Pasher said in a statement.

Hundreds of executives and global asset managers attended the investment summit, as the federal government seeks to attract $1 trillion in new investment to Canada over the next five years.

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in downtown Toronto the day before the gathering to protest against the summit. Their message: Canada’s economic future should not be put in the hands of CEOs.