Canadians rely on safe and well-maintained local and regional airports to support vibrant communities. These airports also support essential air services including community resupply, air ambulance, search and rescue, and forest fire response.
Wayne Long, Member of Parliament for Saint John-Rothesay, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, today announced that the Government of Canada is making important safety investments at the Saint John Airport.
Through Transport Canada's Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP), the Government of Canada will provide the airport with more than $1.8 million to purchase critical safety equipment including:
- an aircraft rescue firefighting vehicle;
- a shelter to house and protect the firefighting vehicle;
- a snowblower to keep airside surfaces clear; and
- a runway surface friction tester.
This equipment will help maintain safe airport operations for aircraft, passengers, crews and airport workers.
This funding is in addition to the more than $500,000 in Airports Capital Assistance Program funding provided to the airport in May 2021, to support the rehabilitation of airside apron floodlighting and electrical constant current regulators.
Since the Airports Capital Assistance Program started in 1995, the Government of Canada has invested over $1.2 billion for 1,215 projects at 199 local, regional and smaller National Airports System airports across the country. Funded projects include runway and taxiway repairs/rehabilitation, lighting enhancements, purchasing snow clearing equipment and firefighting vehicles, and installing wildlife control fencing.
