Toronto Port Authority

The Toronto Port Authority (TPA) is a Canadian port authority responsible for management of the harbour of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, including the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The Authority is a federally incorporated agency, with directors appointed by the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto.

The Authority is the successor agency of the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) which managed Toronto Harbour since 1911, paid for through various subsidies. As part of a broad scheme of the federal government to modernize the administration of ports, operate ports in a business-like manner and divest itself of smaller ports, the TPA was set up in 1999 to operate the harbour and the airport. Toronto City Council, then developing its own plans for the harbour and waterfront, opposed the creation of the TPA, wishing to take over the harbour administration as a city function.

The new mission, to be self-sufficient, has led the TPA to pursue opportunities to increase its revenues, including expansion of the airport, and the building of the Cruise Ship Terminal. The expansion of the airport has placed it in opposition to various community groups and Toronto City Council, which in 2003 canceled a TPA-planned bridge to the Airport. Additionally, the TPA has been involved in several disputes, including a land dispute, harbour fees and property fees with the City, and lawsuits over the operation of the airport with Air Canada. In 2008, the TPA returned its first-ever profit, mostly from revenues on fees charged to passengers utilizing the airport, which has seen an increase of traffic since the 2006 launch of Porter Airlines.