Financing secured for Thompson Regional Airport redevelopment
By Adam Freill
Construction InfrastructureCIB and Thompson Regional Airport reach $52 million financing close for large-scale airport redevelopment project critical to northern Manitoba communities.
Artist rendering of passenger terminal at Thompson Regional Airport. (CNW Group/Canada Infrastructure Bank)
A $52 million Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) loan will enable the redevelopment of Thompson Regional Airport. The airport is a hub providing essential passenger and cargo services to communities in northern Manitoba and western Nunavut.
Located six kilometres northwest of the City of Thompson, the redevelopment of the airport will include the replacement of the air terminal building, which is sinking into the discontinuous permafrost, as well as airside-related infrastructure and non-airside-related infrastructure.
The non-airside-related infrastructure involves the extension of sewer lines from the new terminal to an expanded lagoon, as well as parking lots and service roads. Airside-related infrastructure will see the airport outfitted with new apron and taxiways, and an expansion of existing apron and related infrastructure.
Following project completion, the airport will continue supporting long-term access to critical goods and services, including retail trade, medical, social, educational and fire suppression. The project also ensures the airport’s operational safety as well as supporting the region’s critical mineral mining opportunities, growing cargo and passenger travel needs.
Absent CIB financing and other government support, the existing airport terminal building would eventually be made inoperable due to climate change. The airport serves as a regional catchment area for 37 northern communities, including many First Nations, 15 of which are accessible only by air and the ice road.
“The Thompson Regional Airport serves as a lifeline to remote and Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba and western Nunavut,” stated Ehren Cory, CEO of Canada Infrastructure Bank. “The CIB’s loan will enable the redevelopment of the airport, ensuring the needs of the Indigenous communities who rely on, and air carriers that serve, the airport, are met.”
The redevelopment of the Thompson Regional Airport is being financed through the CIB’s Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative, which lends to projects delivering a direct benefit to Indigenous communities.
