STEPHENVILLE, NL, Feb. 23, 2022 /CNW/ – Canadians rely on safe and well-maintained local and regional airports to support vibrant communities. These airports also support essential air services including community resupply, air ambulance, search and rescue, and forest fire response.
The Minister of Rural Economic Development, the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, today announced that the Government of Canada is making important safety investments at local and regional airports in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Through Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program, three airports in Newfoundland and Labrador will receive over $1.4 million for safety-related projects and equipment that will help maintain safe airport operations for passengers, crews and airport workers. The airports receiving funding are:
Deer Lake
- $205,000 to purchase a grader
Gander
- $863,625 to purchase a loader, a snowplow and a sweeper
Stephenville
- $376,000 to purchase a runway surface friction tester and a 4×4 snowplow
This funding is in addition to the more than $8 million announced under the program in May 2021 to support safety-related projects at the Churchill Falls, Deer Lake, Gander, and Stephenville airports.
Since the Airports Capital Assistance Program started in 1995, the Government of Canada has invested over $1.2 billion for 1,215 projects at 199 local, regional and National Airports System airports across the country. Funded projects include runway and taxiway repairs/rehabilitation, lighting enhancements, purchasing snow clearing equipment and firefighting vehicles and installing wildlife control fencing.
Quotes
“Local and regional airports play an integral role in Canada’s transportation system and are important hubs for the communities they serve. This funding will help ensure continued safe and reliable airport operations for residents, many of whom depend on their local airport not only for personal and business travel, but also for community resupply of essential goods as well as access to routine and emergency medical care in larger centres.”
The Honourable Gudie Hutchings
Minister of Rural Economic Development
“The pandemic highlighted the important role Canada’s local and regional airports play in our country’s economy, and in sustaining the social and economic well-being of our communities. In addition to supporting personal travel, local and regional airports are key connectors for business, health care, social services, and emerging resource development sectors. These investments will improve access to safe, reliable and efficient air transportation options, and will help us deliver our commitment to build safer, healthier and stronger communities as Canada recovers from the pandemic.”
The Honourable Omar Alghabra
Minister of Transport
Quick Facts
- As announced in the Fall Economic Statement 2020, the Airports Capital Assistance Program received a one-time funding top-up of $186 million over two years.
- The Fall Economic Statement 2020 also announced the temporary expansion of eligibility for the Airports Capital Assistance Program to allow National Airports System airports with less than one million annual passengers in 2019 to apply for funding under the Program in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.
- The eligible National Airports System airports are: Gander; Charlottetown; Saint John; Fredericton; Moncton; Thunder Bay; London; and Prince George.
Associated Link
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca.