Toronto's top doctor will study health impacts of Billy Bishop Airport expansion

As Ontario's government pushes forward with plans to expand Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport, the city's board of health is taking a closer look at what that growth could mean for residents' health.

Dr. Michelle Murti, Toronto's medical officer of health, has been tasked with writing a study on the expansion's effects. Alongside Health Canada, she will examine how a larger airport could impact lung and heart disease rates among people living nearby. The directive came Monday during a board of health meeting where experts, residents, and others raised concerns about unprecedented health risks from the expansion.

"We're trying to understand to what degree health impact is going to have," Murti said. Some community members raised specific worries about ADHD and memory issues linked to airport proximity.

Ontario's Ford government is moving aggressively on the expansion. During the spring sitting, it passed legislation giving itself control of the airport from Toronto and granting expropriation powers over large portions of Toronto Island. The province also plans to designate the area a special economic zone, allowing it to bypass provincial and municipal laws to speed construction.

The government has not held public consultations on the plan, though Premier Doug Ford has said internal polling shows more than 70 per cent support for expansion. Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria has framed it as essential nation-building, comparing it to major infrastructure projects the country needs to compete economically.

Prior research has raised concerns. A recent study found that ultrafine particulates linked to various diseases are already present near the airport. "When we did our study, we could see a rise of ultrafine particles for each flight when wind was blowing from the airport to the community," said Greg Evans, a professor of engineering at the University of Toronto.

Downtown councillors say they're hearing pressure from residents to oppose the expansion publicly, with constituents asking them to stand up to the province.