TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow wants the land from the city’s islands back.

The mayor says the Ontario government should return lands it recently expropriated from the city through new legislation as it pushed an expansion to allow jets to land and take off from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

On Friday, federal Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon rejected Premier Doug Ford’s island airport expansion plan after receiving feedback through a public consultation.

Chow says she has filed an urgent motion to city council demanding that the province return the land as well as restore the city in the tripartite agreement that governs the airport.

In the spring, the province tabled and passed Bill 110 to take over the city’s land in and around the Toronto Islands as well as the city’s spot in a tripartite agreement that governs Billy Bishop airport, joining the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority, an arm’s-length federal agency.

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria has said the province will continue to push for the expansion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2026.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press