Toronto City News
Nick Westoll
31 August 2024
Toronto Pearson International Airport is the busiest air travel hub in Canada and as passenger demand increases, officials say the need to expand and renew is growing with every passing year.
“Over 60 per cent of all traffic through this country comes through Pearson,” Karen Mazurkewich, the head of stakeholder relations and communications for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), said.
“Right now we’re between about 46, 47 million passengers a year. By the early 2030s, we’re expecting it to go up to 65 million per year.”
The GTAA, which is responsible for operating and maintaining the terminals, the runways and all the other hard infrastructure that makes up Toronto Pearson International Airport, launched a 10-year, multi-billion-dollar program to overhaul its facilities and assets dubbed Pearson LIFT (long-term investments in facilities and terminals).
Mazurkewich said the plan is split into three phases, but emphasized there aren’t firm completion deadlines yet for each phase. She said the first phase happening now is called “the accelerator,” which will address more immediate infrastructure needs.
Read on: Decade-long Toronto Pearson airport expansion, renewal program underway
