Toronto Port Authority | |
 | |
| Predecessor | Toronto Harbour Commission |
|---|---|
| Established | June 8, 1999 |
| Type | Government-owned enterprise |
| Purpose | Port authority |
| Headquarters | 207 Queens Quay West, Suite 500, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Leader | Geoffrey A. Wilson, CEO |
Staff | 139 (120 full-time, 19 part-time) |
| Website | www |
The Toronto Port Authority (TPA), doing business as PortsToronto (PT),[1] is a port authority that is responsible for the management of the Port of Toronto, including the International Marine Passenger Terminal, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. It was established under the Canada Marine Act as a government business enterprise that is self-funded, with directors appointed by three levels of government – the Government of Canada (through the Minister of Transport), the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto. The TPA rebranded itself as PortsToronto in 2015.[2]
The organization is the successor to the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) that had managed Toronto Harbour since 1911, paid for through government transfers, harbour and airport fees. As part of a Canada-wide plan of the Government of Canada to turn government commissions into self-sufficient agencies, the TPA was set up in 1999 to take over the port and airport functions of the THC. This was done against the wishes of the City of Toronto, which had been transferring THC harbour lands to city agencies for redevelopment. The city had planned to take over the harbour administration as a direct city function.
The new mission, to be self-sufficient, led the TPA to pursue opportunities to increase its revenues, including expansion of the island airport and the building of a cruise ship terminal. The TPA built a working relationship with startup airline Porter Airlines and, despite the 2003 cancellation of a permanent bridge to the airport, has been successful in increasing air traffic at the airport to the point where it turned a profit in 2008. It has since built a pedestrian tunnel to the airport.
The TPA's efforts to expand the airport in partnership with Porter has placed it in opposition to various communities in Toronto and Toronto City Council, which in 2003 cancelled a TPA-planned bridge to the airport. Additionally, the TPA has been involved in several disputes, including a land dispute, harbour fees and property taxes with the city, and lawsuits over the operation of the airport with Air Canada. In 2013, Porter proposed an expansion of the airport to support the introduction of jet airplanes to the airport. Toronto City Council refused to endorse the proposal and sent it to the TPA for study.[3] The jet proposal was cancelled in December 2015 after the newly elected Liberal federal government announced it would not renegotiate the operating agreement of the airport to allow jets.[4]
- ^ "Governance". PortsToronto. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
- ^ "Toronto Port Authority rebrands as PortsToronto". www.portstoronto.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ "Toronto city councillors still undecided on whether to allow Porter to fly jets from island airport". National Post. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
- ^ "Ottawa says 'no' to jets at Toronto island airport, dealing blow to Porter's CSeries plans". Financial Post. Retrieved 2016-10-06.