Securing North America’s first P3 airport

Iqaluit Airport - P3 Business Case

Imagine a 55-year-old airport that, in the last 10 years alone, had enjoyed five percent annual growth in passenger traffic. This was Iqaluit Airport—the business gateway to the territory of Nunavut in northern Canada. Well beyond capacity, the airport needed a new terminal and other significant infrastructure improvements to meet these increasing passenger demands. But at $230 million in capital cost, they couldn’t do it on their own, so the Government of Nunavut decided to apply to P3 Canada—Canada’s P3 governing body—for support. Stantec and PWC were hired to put together the required business case, the importance of which was clear: no P3 approval, no new airport.

The team navigated an inherited master plan that required significant updating and development, limited and sometimes incomplete reference data, and an environment where climate change could have significant impacts on the future structural viability of the ground.

Despite these challenges, the team submitted a successful P3 application—the first for an airport in North America—and laid the foundation for growth in the region well into the future.