Before We Privatize Canada's Airports, Ask Who Will Pay
Prime Minister Mark Carney's government wants to bring private capital into the operation of Canada's four largest airports — Toronto Pearson, MontrĂ©al-Trudeau, Vancouver International and Calgary International. Ottawa frames this as a way to unlock billions in investment without selling the airports outright: the federal government would keep ownership of the land and assets while granting private investors long-term operating concessions. That distinction matters to policymakers, but for the passenger at the check-in counter, a different question matters more: who eventually pays the investor? Private capital is not charity. Pension funds and infrastructure investors who commit billions to Canadian airports will expect a return, and that money has to come from somewhere. Canada's aviation system already runs largely on the user-pay principle — the Competition Bureau reports that passenger fees alone accounted for 33 to 47 percent of revenue at the country's eigh...