Thanks for the question.
After two years of restrictions, demand is starting to bounce back, and that is good to see. However, certainly in terms of what we faced throughout the pandemic, competitiveness is an issue for aviation in Canada.
We only need to look as far as what's happened in the U.S. and how they were supported. U.S. airports received $40 billion in COVID support and infrastructure support; whereas, our airports in Canada received about $1.4 billion in direct support for COVID recovery and infrastructure. When you look at the U.S. and their population to Canada's, it would be about a 10:1 ratio, but support for aviation does not match that. I think competitiveness is an issue.
If you look at AIF increases for airport improvement fees over the pandemic, some airports have gone up $4, up to $10. Really, this is about being able to afford our infrastructure for the future. Our airports have taken on an additional $3 billion in debt—that's billion—and that is not to invest in infrastructure. That was just to get through the pandemic and stay operational so that we could deliver vaccines from coast to coast.
Competitiveness is a challenge.