Government of Canada supporting Canada’s major airports with funding for COVID-19 testing and screening infrastructure

As Canada works towards recovery and travel re-start, investments in our airport infrastructure continue to be crucial to maintain safety, security, and connectivity for travellers, workers and communities. Government of Canada investments will also help to rebuild the public’s confidence in domestic and international travel, and ensure that Canada’s aviation industry is well positioned to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, launched a new contribution funding stream under Transport Canada’s Airport Critical Infrastructure Program. This new Biosecurity Funding Stream will provide $81.6 million to support Canada’s major airports with investments in COVID-19 testing and screening infrastructure.

This funding will help facilitate the safe restart of air travel in a way that limits the transmission of COVID-19 and protects travellers and workers. The 26 major Canadian airports eligible for funding under the Biosecurity Funding Stream represent 93 per cent of the volume of air passenger traffic in Canada in 2019.

Projects eligible for funding under the Biosecurity Funding Stream include:

• Infrastructure investments for the establishment of COVID-19 health testing and screening facilities;
• Improvements to airport flow and zoning to better manage the movements of people and physical distancing requirements to, from, and at the testing and screening facilities;
• Tools to inform travellers and workers of the existence and operating hours of health testing and screening facilities, to direct them to the facility, and to notify them of procedures related to the flow, zoning, testing and screening; and
• Technological aids to assist with traveller and worker notification, regarding testing and screening and the processing of related results.