Toronto’s Pearson International Airport is Canada’s hub in more ways than one. Still a stunning piece of architecture, Pearson handles enough passengers, packages, and flights to rank among the busiest airports in the world.

Impact on Economy

At the center of air traffic into, out of, and across Canada, Pearson has a huge impact on Toronto, the Province, and the region.

It’s a customs preclearance gateway to and from the United States alone gives it status and more traffic.

Aviation Reports summarizes the 2016 GTAA Report on Pearson as generating 49,000 jobs, growing 5.6 times faster than the Province of Ontario. Overall, the airport megaplex generates or enables 332,000 jobs, a $36.7 billion economy or 6 per cent of Ontario’s GDP.

But, it’s not all about the jobs. The economy grows with Air Canada’s success, FedEx’s traffic, and supply chains that depend on service and logistics at Pearson. For example, there are  products like aeroshell grease.

AeroShell® offers an inventory of greases and lubricants for a variety of aviation performance requirements. But, the interest here is its traffic to and through Pearson. It’s just one industry sector that serves the planes and air mechanics that work in and about the airport. But, it also is a “passenger” of sorts as it flies into Ontario distribution and retail centers.

Serving Aerospace

Pearson is the logistical center for Ontario’s significant aerospace industries and suppliers. As the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance pointed out, “With a sophisticated research capacity, a well-educated and highly skilled workforce and globally competitive solutions, the GTA ranks among the top choice for trade and investments in the aerospace sector.”

A significant partner and player in the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, local industries also support NASA and the International Space Station. These projects and many more support billions in local,national, and international business-to-business sales and well over 20,000 working craftspeople, engineers, and technicians.

Over 250 firms in the area use parts, accessories, and supplies for air conditioning systems, avionics, electrical power distribution systems, landing gear, robotics, and turbines, and robotics. A-players include Bombardier Aerospace, Goodrich Landing Gear, Honeywell, Northstar Aerospace, and Pratt & Whitney Canada.

The industry future

Pearson is also a support center for the Ontario Aerospace Council, Industry Canada, Canadian Space Agency, and Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Growth. The industry sector depends on talent coming from the Ryerson Institute for Aerospace Design and Innovation, University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies, and York University.

Research and innovation are clustered at the Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research (DAIR) Consortium where industry and training meet and work on the same campus to take advantage of the region’s ethnically diverse, multilingual population and labor pool.

All this leaves Pearson to determine its future as the physical and economic center of aviation and its related economy. The December 2016 GTAA report sees Pearson growing as a mega-hub airport.

Taking advantage of Pearson’s position as a main trade corridor and home to its major aerospace industry, the GTAA foresees its role as a world leader comparable to JFK, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

As a logistics junction and as a destination, Pearson will step forward with the continued support of provincial and federation support to find Canada-made solutions for barriers to problems with traffic, security, customs, parking, and baggage and passenger processing. Every Canadian dollar invested promised significant return on the investment for Pearson, Toronto, and the region.