Ottawa plans budget legislation on private airport investment and high-speed rail powers
The federal government plans to introduce budget-related legislation covering private investment in Canada's four largest airports and new expropriation powers tied to high-speed rail, according to the Globe and Mail. Expropriation is the legal process by which a government takes privately owned land for a public project.
The rail measures are linked to Alto, a proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City. The government plans legislation to speed up construction of the line. That legislation would streamline expropriation work and allow preconstruction work to take place.
On the airports, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in September a plan to attract private investment to the four largest airports through what is known as an operating concession model. An operating concession is a contract that gives a private firm the right to run a public asset. The 2026 federal budget sets aside $37.6 million over three years for due diligence, which is the checking done before a deal is signed. The money would also cover legal advice and the completion of a competitive process to select an airport operator by 2029.
The budget's first chapter, titled Canada's Investment Supercycle, includes a section on attracting private investment to modernize airports, according to the federal budget. The budget includes 54 entries in an annex called legislative measures. These are proposed changes to federal law that accompany the spending plan. The 2025 budget contained 75 such measures, compared with 62 in the 2024 budget and 49 in the 2023 budget, the Globe and Mail reported.
Bill C-31, a follow-up budget bill of more than 300 pages, is still before Parliament, the federal legislature in Ottawa. Budget bill C-15, which ran more than 600 pages, included the new High-Speed Rail Network Act.
The 2025 budget also included a measure called Catalyzing Investment in Airports and Ports. It provides $55.2 million over four years, starting in 2026-27.
