Wikipedia
PortsToronto (PT), formerly known as the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), is responsible for the management of the harbour of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. It is a federally-incorporated agency, with directors appointed by three levels of government: the Government of Canada, through the Minister of Transport, Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto. The agency changed its name in 2015 to PortsToronto.
The organization is the successor to the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) which 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 harbour 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 agency to pursue opportunities to increase its revenues, including expansion of the island airport, and the building of a cruise ship terminal. The agency built a working relationship with startup airline Porter Airlines and, despite the 2003 cancelling 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. In contrast, the cruise ship facility has been little-used after the failure of a ferry to Rochester, New York.
The expansion of the airport has placed it in opposition to various community groups and Toronto City Council, which in 2003 cancelled a TPA-planned bridge to the airport. Additionally, the agency 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. The agency is seeking a further expansion of flights at the airport and the introduction of jet airplanes, a move which is opposed by several community groups and is undergoing a feasibility review by the Toronto City Council.