The City of Peterborough has confirmed that Canadian Flight Academy will be a tenant at the Peterborough Airport, but not everyone is happy about it.
According to a media release from the city, the flight school will begin construction of a new facility at the airport this year. When the facility is operational, it will generate 50 jobs and an estimated $20 million in gross domestic product.
“Attracting this tenant, which is a significant established employer, is another major milestone for the airport,” Peterborough Mayor Leal says in the release.
“The Peterborough Regional Airport is much more than transportation infrastructure — it’s a significant employment centre for the broader Peterborough region. I’m excited to welcome Canadian Flight Academy to our community and I look forward to celebrating when they complete their new facility.”
However, at a January 22 meeting of Peterborough County council, some councillors expressed concerns about the addition of a new flight school at the airport, which is owned and operated by the City of Peterborough but located in Cavan Monaghan Township and adjacent to Otonabee-South Monaghan Township.
The concerns were expressed following a presentation on airport activities to county council by airport manager Kyle Bruce, who was accompanied by the city’s municipal operations commissioner Ilmar Simanovskis.
Deputy warden and Selwyn Township mayor Sherry Senis said she had received complaints about “students who continually buzz over certain areas,” referring to current flight training activities at the airport.
Bruce said that there are already defined flight training areas around the airport and that the new flight school would be using these areas. He added that, while the airport received more than 800 noise complaints in 2024, these complaints came from 20 area households, with 90 per cent of the complaints coming from around five households.
Otonabee-South Monaghan Township mayor Joe Taylor said that activities at the airport affect township residents “more than anyone else” and that the city shouldn’t operate the airport “as if it is on an island,” criticizing the lack of consultation with surrounding townships prior to communicating the decision about the flight school coming to the airport.
“It’s simply not right to ignore its impact on the surrounding area,” Taylor said, later telling Bruce, “This flight school, sir, this is not good news.”
According to reporting in the Peterborough Examiner, six tenants of the airport have also expressed concerns about the impact of the new flight school on airport operations, increased air traffic, and noise complaints.
“The addition of an additional large flight school will directly affect the residences [sic] of the Township of Cavan Monaghan and Otonabee Township with additional aircraft movements,” the letter states.
According to the city’s media release, the city’s municipal operations department that oversees the operation of the airport “is committed to ensuring a smooth transition while integrating this new tenant at the airport.”
“Peterborough Regional Airport will safely integrate operations of Canadian Flight Academy into airport activities,” the release states.
Originally operating at the Oshawa Executive Airport, Canadian Flight School was purchased in 1998 by Toronto Airways, which began offering flight training services in 1963 from the Buttonville Municipal Airport. After Buttonville Municipal Airport was closed, Toronto Airways amalgamated its operation with Canadian Flight Academy and moved to the Oshawa Executive Airport in 2016.
After years of a dispute between the City of Oshawa and Canadian Flight Academy over a lease renewal and after years of noise complaints from neighbouring residents, the municipality announced a mutual agreement with the flight school in June 2024 to resolve the ongoing litigation.
As part of the agreement, Canadian Flight Academy would cease all in-air flight training activities at the Oshawa Executive Airport by December 31 and would depart the airport by March 31, 2026. In the interim, the flight school also agreed to restrict its in-air flight training departures at the airport to after 8 a.m. on all days and before 9 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
An August 2023 settlement offer proposed the city would pay Canadian Flight Academy $5.2 million to take over its leasehold improvement along with $200,000 in relocation costs to find another location for its operations. According to the City of Oshawa, these were not the financial terms of the final settlement, which the city declined to release, citing that they were “confidential and privileged, and neither party is at liberty to comment any further on the resolution.”
