Ottawa has assembled more of the machinery needed to value and restructure Canadian airports than it has disclosed about what, exactly, it may offer investors.
A federal law passed in June now lets the transport minister compel airports and related parties to provide valuation information. Meanwhile, an Australian pension-owned infrastructure manager says multiple ownership structures are already being prepared for the Prime Minister’s Office, placing the review beyond a purely conceptual discussion.
The Financial Post reported that Gian-Carlo Peressutti, an executive director at IFM Investors, expects Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government could provide concrete direction when major fund managers gather in Toronto for the Canada Investment Summit on September 14 and 15.
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Peressutti said IFM had been told that progress would take neither weeks nor years. He also said government and quasi-government organizations were developing more than one possible structure for private airport investment.
“That tells me that they’re decently far along,” he told the Financial Post.
Transaction machinery is taking shape
Budget 2025 first said the government would consider airport privatization while reviewing ground leases, airport rent formulas, economic development rights, and ways to attract private capital.
The 2026 Spring Economic Update went further. It said Ottawa was assessing “alternative models of ownership” and examining how to unlock airport value for investments supporting long-term growth. The document also announced the September investment summit and a Canada Strong Fund initially capitalized with $25 billion over three years.
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The fund may grow through investment returns and federal assets allocated to it, but the government has not designated airport proceeds as a funding source. The update also does not identify which airports could be offered, the size of any private stakes, valuation methods, passenger-fee protections, or service requirements.
Bill C-30 nevertheless gives Ottawa the information-gathering power required to begin answering some of those questions. The legislation allows the transport minister to demand data from airport operators and anyone whose activities may affect the value of an airport. The information may also be shared with Crown corporations and external policy advisers.
Canada’s current structure complicates any straightforward sale. Transport Canada owns 23 National Airports System airports and leases them to 21 airport authorities. Toronto Pearson, for example, is operated by a corporation without share capital rather than by a company with conventional equity that can simply be sold.
Any private investment model would therefore need to address federal land ownership, existing ground leases, airport authority governance, and the rights given to new investors.
IFM offers a hybrid model
IFM’s interest is broader than aviation. Carney said during his March visit to Australia that the manager intended to invest up to $10 billion in Canada. According to the Financial Post, its targets include airports, toll roads, ports, renewable energy, liquefied natural gas, pipelines, and data centres over the next decade.
The manager already has exposure to 17 airports across six countries. Its preferred Canadian structure would not necessarily require Ottawa to surrender its entire position.
Peressutti pointed to Manchester Airports Group as one possible template. IFM owns 35.5% of the British airport operator, Manchester City Council owns another 35.5%, and nine neighbouring councils collectively hold the remaining 29%.
He told the Financial Post that IFM could accept government ownership or board representation, provided the governance arrangement met investors’ requirements. He also expected any Australian investment to include at least one major Canadian pension fund.
The political constraint is already measurable. A Nanos Research survey conducted for Bloomberg found 53.0% of Canadians opposed or somewhat opposed airport privatization, while 32.4% supported or somewhat supported it.
