History of Toronto Pearson International Airport

1937-1946: Construction and wartime use

Trans-Canada Air Lines was expected to begin operations in 1937, and the Government of Canada wanted to build an airport to serve Toronto. In November 1936, Toronto City Council formed an "Advisory Airport Committee" to advise on where to build a municipal airport. The committee proposed several locations and of these two were approved by the Government of Canada, which agreed to fund one-quarter of the project. The two sites were the Island and Malton, north-west of Toronto. A seaplane and land airport would be built at the island, and an auxiliary field was to be built at Malton. After two days of debate, City Council voted 14–7 to approve the construction of both airports.

In April 1937, land agents representing the Toronto Harbour Commission approached farmers in Malton who owned Lots 6-10 on Concession 5 and 6 to acquire land for Malton Airport. The land covered 13 farms:

Agreements were drawn up for a total purchase of 570.9 hectares (1,410.8 acres), and several farmers sold lots ranging in size from 20 to 80 hectares (50 to 200 acres). The Chapman farm house was the first office and airport terminal. The construction of the airfield would result in the burial of Silver Creek, one of many creeks in the area that connected to Etobicoke Creek.

The second terminal, a standard wood frame building, was built in 1938. The airport at the time covered 170 hectares (420 acres) with full lighting, radio, weather reporting equipment, two hard surface runways, and one grass landing strip. The first scheduled passenger flight to Malton Airport was a Trans-Canada Airlines DC-3 that landed on August 29, 1939.

From June 1940 to July 1942, during the Second World War, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) operated No. 1 Elementary Service Flying School (EFTS). From 1940 to 1945 No. 1 Air Observer School (AOS) also operated at Malton Airport. Aeronautical Inspection Directorate’s Inspector School was also based at Malton to overlook aircraft production and the training schools.

During the World War II BCATP built six hangars, drill hall and several h-huts and administrative buildings to support the training program. The two BCATP schools flew Avro Anson (built in Malton by Victory Aircraft) and de Havilland Tiger Moth during their time at Malton. After the war No. 10 Aeronautical Inspection District occupied the training school facilities with Veterans Affairs utilizing the huts The RCAF left Malton in 1946 and the buildings later demolished as the airport expanded.

1946-1958: expansion

A third "TCA" terminal was built to the western side of second wood frame terminal in 1949. It could handle 400,000 passengers per year and had an observation deck on the roof. In front of the old terminal was a set of stairs leading to a ramp to allow visitors to access the rooftop observation deck. Further expansion saw the expropriation of land near the hamlet of Elmbank. The runways were 5/23, a 3,368 m (11,050 ft) runway (used for test flights of the CF-105 Arrow (Avro Arrow) fighter from the Avro Canada plant); 14/32, a 3,498 m (11,475 ft) runway (replaced by 15L/33R); and 10/28, a 2,263 m (7,425 ft) runway that now is a taxiway.

Preclearance was pioneered at Pearson in 1952 as a convenience to allow it to connect as a domestic airport to the many smaller airports in the United States that at the time lacked customs and immigration facilities. It was at first a service performed by U.S. Customs agents at the gate. U.S. federal government concerns over smuggling between precleared and non-cleared passengers at Toronto Pearson (who at that time shared mixed terminal space) nearly ended the program in the 1970s, until a compromise was reached that called for segregated facilities. Today, Pearson handles 8 million passengers through its U.S. customs and immigration preclearance facilities per year, which is roughly one quarter of all passenger traffic at the airport.

1958–1996: Transport Canada management

In November 1958, the City of Toronto sold the airport to the federal Department of Transport; in 1960, it was renamed Toronto International Airport.

The 1939 and 1949 addition (and surrounding structures) were torn down in 1964 with the area developed for Air Canada's hangar with the terminal site now occupied by the Vista Cargo Centres (Cargo Area 5).

The third "TCA" terminal was demolished in the late 1960s and replaced by the Aeroquay One terminal building, which was built further south of the original site along Airport Road. Aeroquay One (also called Terminal One) had a square central structure housing ticketing and baggage facilities topped by a parking garage with about eight levels and ringed by a two-storey passenger concourse leading to the gates. It was designed by John B. Parkin, with construction taking place between 1957 and 1964. Aeroquay One was officially opened on February 28, 1964 by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

Considered state-of-the-art in the 1960s, the original Terminal 1 became overloaded by the early 1970s. Terminal 2 opened as a passenger airline terminal on June 15, 1972. Initially, it served only charter airlines, but it became the hub for Air Canada passenger flights on April 29, 1973. While a legend suggests that Terminal 2 was originally intended as a freight terminal, this was not the case. The legend may have stemmed from the fact that a cargo facility was used as a temporary passenger terminal while waiting for completion of the new terminal.

Terminal 2 had a facility for United States border preclearance and handled both domestic and international trans-border traffic. Domestic traffic was moved to the new Terminal 1 when it became operational, leaving Terminal 2 to handle international traffic to the United States for Air Canada and its Star Alliance partner United Airlines. A passenger tunnel with moving walkways at the northwest corner of Terminal 2 connected it with Terminal 1.

The airport was renamed Lester B. Pearson International Airport in 1984, in honour of Lester B. Pearson, the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize. Operationally, the airport is often referred to as Toronto Pearson.

Terminal 3, which opened on February 21, 1991, was originally built to offset traffic from the former Aeroquay 1 and former Terminal 2. Terminal 3 was designed by B+H Architects and Scott Associates Architects Inc. The terminal, initially referred to as "Trillium Terminal 3" or the "Trillium Terminal", was originally built as a private venture and was the base of operations for the now defunct Canadian Airlines.

1996–present: GTAA management

In 1996, the Government of Canada outsourced airport operations in Canada to local authorities which would manage the airports on a self-sufficiency basis. The new Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) was formed to manage Toronto Pearson. Its first task was to develop a plan to finance and build new terminals to manage the growing number of passengers.

In 1997, the GTAA purchased Terminal 3 and shortly thereafter began a CA$350 million expansion. A team of coordinators known as T3RD oversaw the redevelopment and expansion of the terminal.

The GTAA also initiated a program to build a new Terminal 1 to replace both Aeroquay One and Terminal 2. The new terminal, costing $4.4 billion was a joint venture of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Adamson Associates, and Moshe Safdie Associates. The project began in 1999 and was described as Canada's largest construction project,

During the September 11 attacks in 2001, Toronto Pearson International Airport played a role in Operation Yellow Ribbon. It received 14 of the diverted international flights that were destined for the United States after the closure of US airspace.

The infield terminal was built to handle traffic displaced during the development and construction of the new Terminal 1. Its gates were opened in 2002 and 2003, and a first class lounge was opened in 2005. When it was in regular use, passengers were transported by bus between Terminal 1 and the IFT to reach their gates. After its closure, the Infield Terminal since been frequently used as a location to film major motion pictures and television productions.

Aeroquay One ceased operations on April 5, 2004, on the completion of the first phase of the new Terminal 1. Aeroquay One was subsequently demolished to facilitate expansion of the new Terminal 1.

Terminal 3 Pier C Expansion was completed in 2004. Expansion of Terminal 3 continued with the opening of the East Processor Extension (EPE) in June 2006, adding 40 check-in counters, new retail space, additional secure 'hold-screening' for baggage, and a huge picture window that offers one of the most convenient apron viewing locations at the airport. This phase of the expansion also included improved Canada Border services and a more open arrivals hall. Phase II of the EPE was completed in 2007 and includes larger security screening areas and additional international baggage claim areas, while the West Processor Expansion Shell was completed in early 2008.

Terminal 2 saw its last day in operation as a passenger terminal January 29, 2007. The following day, airlines moved to the newly completed Pier F, or Hammerhead Pier at the current Terminal 1. Demolition of Terminal 2 began in April 2007 and concluded in November 2008.

In order to accommodate its growing aircraft volume, substantial redevelopment of the airside and infield systems was done. Cargo facilities were added to the centre of the airport between the parallel north–south runways in order to increase capabilities and to offset the loss of the cargo facilities that were removed for the current terminal buildings. Two runways were built to increase the number of aircraft that Toronto Pearson could process. A north–south runway, 15R/33L, was added and completed in 1997. Another east–west runway, 06R/24L, was completed in 2002.

The continued increase of air traffic at Toronto Pearson resulted in a 2013 decision by Transport Canada to proceed with the planning and construction of Toronto Pickering International Airport (following a 2001 decision to simply revive plans for the airport), which would be approximately 50 km (31 mi) east of Toronto Pearson and handle up to 11.9 million passengers per year by 2032 with its three runways.

In 2015, the new Union Pearson Express or "UP" connected the airport to downtown with a new commuter express train. On December 15, 2015 Toronto Pearson, reached the 40 million yearly passengers milestone. This was a first for any Canadian airport to achieve.

In December 2015, the Infield Terminal was upgraded to become a port of entry and processing site for a large intake of Syrian refugees by Canada. The refugees were processed during the first few months of 2016.