Winnipeg courts WestJet ‘maintenance facility’

WINNIPEG — WestJet is eyeing Winnipeg as the potential home for a aircraft maintenance facility, the Winnipeg Free Press has learned, launching a race to expand wastewater, utilities and traffic infrastructure near the airport to help secure the deal.

Conversations continue between the airline, the Winnipeg Airports Authority and all levels of government regarding the facility. Other cities, including Hamilton, Ont., are also courting the airline, multiple sources told the Free Press.

The deal is still up in the air, but if it lands in Winnipeg, it could bring a large number of jobs and revenue into the Manitoba economy.

“It looks like the airports authority is making a good effort to try and attract the business, and that is excellent,” Prof. Barry Prentice, director of the University of Manitoba Transport Institute, said Thursday.

“Let’s hope it happens because it would be very desirable.”

Local officials and stakeholders have remained tight-lipped about the proceedings, but an administrative report set to be presented to the city’s property and development committee next week shows the airports authority is moving to lay the groundwork for future development.

It has offered to front the cost of installing new water mains, sewers, utilities, roadways, traffic control signals and drainage to a plot of land located just west of the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport.

According to the report, the land in question stretches east to west along Saskatchewan Avenue, beginning near the airport’s western boundary, by Wihuri Road, to Sturgeon Road, before extending north.

The land is owned by the airports authority and the public service has recommended city council allow it to move ahead with construction.

“This agreement would let WAA build infrastructure to support development of their land. All costs would be paid by WAA, with no cost to the city,” the report says.

“This new infrastructure will allow the area to connect to city services for the first time.”

The development aligns with the Airport Area West Industrial Secondary Plan, which encompasses about 1,026 hectares of land in the western portion of the city. About 119 acres of that land is reserved for airport development.

Work to install water services and utilities to the larger region is already underway, and expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026, the city report says.

It is too early to predict the economic benefits a maintenance facility would bring to Manitoba, but Prentice estimated the investment would be measured in the hundreds of millions and could generate hundreds of jobs.

It could also spell myriad downstream benefits, including improved air service at the airport. It may lure professionals, including engineers and aircraft mechanics, to Manitoba in search of education and employment, Prentice said.

“It’s all positive news. There’s no downside that I can see whatsoever for this,” he said.

Winnipeg may be an attractive location for WestJet because it is located in the centre of Canada, and not far from Calgary, where the airline already has a major hub. Housing prices and the costs of living in the Manitoba capital are lower than in some major cities elsewhere in the country, Prentice said.

The professor noted Winnipeg is already home to a “fairly significant” cluster of aerospace companies, including Standard Aero, Boeing and Magellan.

“It certainly creates the notion that this is a place that’s open for business.”

“The airports authority, I think we need to give them a bit of credit for being proactive in doing this. Taking the effort to develop the property and to attract the industry,” Prentice said.

The airports authority initially agreed to an interview about its plan to develop the lands, but later declined to comment.

In a statement, WestJet spokesperson Jennifer Booth said her company is “continually evaluating our needs for maintenance capacity across the country and are regularly in conversations with airports across Canada, including Winnipeg.”

“At this point in time, no decisions have been made and we have no further information to share.”

A City of Winnipeg spokesperson confirmed the lands are zoned for employment and airport-related uses. The spokesperson said the city has “not received any formal development applications at this time.”

Aimee Goyer, executive director of strategic initiatives and marketing at CentrePort Canada Inc. called the airports authority development plan “a very exciting and unique offering” that “will allow companies direct access to the secure side of the airport.”

“However, we can’t comment on specific tenants,” she said in an email.

Coun. Evan Duncan, who chairs Winnipeg’s property and development committee, would not comment on a prospective WestJet deal, but said the airports authority’s plan to develop the land is a “necessary step.”

City council must approve the airports authority’s request to develop the land before construction can begin.

» Winnipeg Free Press