Qualicum Beach Airport: what it costs and who uses it

The Town owns and runs Qualicum Beach Airport. Property taxes cover $240,000 of its costs in 2026, up from about $65,000 in 2022. Federal grants for paving and equipment were turned down in 2025 and 2026. No Town record proposes closing it.

From property taxes, 2026
$240,000
From property taxes, 2022
$64,748
Federal grants turned down
2025 and 2026

What the airport does

  • Rotary Club volunteers began building the airport in 1954. In 1957 the Province gave the Town 160 acres of Crown land for it.1
  • Iskwew Air flies scheduled flights to the YVR south terminal. Sealand Flight School also operates there.1
  • BC Emergency Health Services reported 11 patient transfers through the airport from January to May 2025, and 4 from January to mid-June 2026.5,8
  • During the Wesley Ridge fire in summer 2025, the airport gave its infield to up to nine helicopter companies and their equipment, and supplied fuel.5
  • Arrowsmith Search and Rescue and the Beaufort Squadron air cadets lease space there. What Council funded lists their property tax exemptions.
  • At a December 2025 meeting, Iskwew Air told Council that about 7,000 passengers a year fly between Vancouver and Qualicum Beach, about 60% of them Qualicum Beach residents. It said it spent $400,000 at the airport in 2025 on lease fees, fuel and airport improvement fees. These are the company’s own figures. The Town hasn’t published its own count.7

What it costs

Airport money in, costs, and what property taxes covered
YearMoney inCostsPaid from property taxes
2020 $515,759 $477,221 None ($38,537 left over)
2021 $593,239 or $636,843 $652,176 $58,937 or $15,333 *
2022 $913,717 $978,465 $64,748
2023 $897,025 $1,066,985 $169,960
2024 $859,967 $1,065,433 $205,465
2025 (projected) $1,006,240 $1,145,712 $139,472 (budget: $235,000)
2026 (budget) $886,300 $1,126,300 $240,000

Sources: 2023–2027 Financial Plan for 2020;4 2025–2029 Financial Plan for 2022;2 2026–2030 Financial Plan for 2023 to 2026.1 * Two of the Town’s plans give different 2021 figures.3,4

  • Most of the money in is fuel sales, and most of that goes back out to buy fuel. In 2024, fuel brought in $690,017 and cost $662,983. Without fuel, the airport took in about $170,000: $101,209 in leases, $49,171 in fees and $19,570 in other income.1
  • The 2025 figures include a one-time $130,000 project paid from reserves, so it shows on both sides.1
  • Most of the rise since 2022 is in airside costs, which went from $129,952 in 2022 to $322,746 in 2024. The 2024–2028 plan links part of the increase to a new Airport Manager position.1,2,3
  • The Town stopped charging landing fees in 2021 because landings were hard to count.6
  • New fees took effect on July 1, 2026: about 6.5% higher, then about 3% a year. The fee for each Iskwew Air passenger was cut from $11 to $5. That costs about $17,000 a year, and staff said it supports keeping the carrier “for the purposes of receiving continued ACAP funding.”8,10,11
  • Staff list this as a challenge: “Operating an airport facility with limited local revenues and without regional government participation.”1 They recommend working with neighbouring towns and the Regional District “to address the Airport as a regional amenity.”10

Grants

Received

  • About $1.34 million from Transport Canada for new runway and taxiway lights, finished in 2022. Transport Canada paid all of it.18
  • $159,000 from the Province’s BC Air Access Program for the Jet A fuel system (2022), and $289,000 for the underground aviation gasoline system (2023).18,19

Turned down

  • Paving the runway, taxiways and apron ($3.69 million) and new equipment such as a loader and snow blower ($898,000): Transport Canada turned both down in April 2025. The Town applied again, at $3.85 million and $898,000, and was turned down again in April 2026. Both applications stay active for 2027, when staff expect paving to cost about $4.5 million.5,8,10
  • A $35,000 provincial grant for an airport master and business plan: turned down in 2025. See the Airport Master Plan.5

What the grant rules say

  • The federal program funds airports that “offer year-round scheduled commercial passenger service with a minimum of 1,000 passengers per year.”20 Staff note that “the presence of a commercial carrier is an eligibility requirement for ACAP funding.”10 That is why Iskwew Air matters to the airport’s grants.
  • The provincial program has no revenue test. It funds certified airports “serving fewer than 1 million passengers annually,” and can give extra money to “Facilities with limited revenue streams.”21

Is the airport about to close?

Some residents have said the airport could close for lack of business, or that provincial funding depends on how much business it brings in. We found no Town record that proposes closing it, and the provincial grant rules have no revenue test.

When a resident asked in 2025 whether the airport could be decertified, staff answered that it “requires certification to have a commercial carrier (ISKWEW AIR).”14

The Town is still investing in it. Council approved two new hangar leases in 2025, which staff said “will provide additional revenue to the Airport’s budget.”5 The Town keeps applying for federal grants. The new Official Community Plan calls for a separate Airport Area Plan (see the Ravensbourne Lane subdivision).

What is real is the cost to taxpayers. It has grown from a small surplus in 2020 to $240,000 budgeted in 2026, and there is no plan yet to change that. A master and business plan has been put off since 2024.

Noise

  • From June 12 to November 17, 2025, the airport received 175 complaints from about 35 addresses. In the second half of 2025, 51% of them came from a single address. In the same period, staff found 2 breaches of the noise abatement rules and 1 curfew breach.5
  • In the first half of 2026, complaints fell to 48 from 22 addresses, compared with 120 from 32 addresses a year earlier.8
  • Petitions: in June 2025, residents asking for limits on training flights over homes submitted a petition with 94 signatures.9 At the December 2025 meeting, one resident said they had 180 more signatures, and another pointed to 63 more from Qualicum Woods residents. A petition supporting the airport had about 3,000 signatures, which its organiser said included over 400 Qualicum Beach residents.7

What Council has done:

  • September 2025: applied to NAV Canada for noise-sensitive areas over nearby neighbourhoods. February 2026: widened the application (unanimous). Details are in our fact check of Mayor Westbroek’s flyer.
  • January 2026: a one-year trial of equipment that records aircraft arriving and leaving ($5,500, unanimous). Staff will report at the end of 2026, and said Council could look at landing fees again after that.6,12
  • May 2026: postponed limits on “touch-and-go” training flights, to consult the flight schools and residents’ associations (unanimous).13

PFAS (“forever chemicals”)

  • PFAS at Canadian airports come mainly from firefighting foam. Our water page covers what this means for the Town’s wells.
  • In November 2023, a resident raised PFAS at a Committee meeting. Staff said the airport uses urea, not salt, to de-ice the runway, and that airlines only rarely de-ice aircraft there with a glycol product.15
  • In late 2025, Council received two letters sent to many BC councils, asking for disclosure and testing of PFAS at BC airports. Both were received for information, with no discussion.16,17
  • We found no Town record of firefighting foam being used or stored at the airport, and no testing for PFAS there or in the Town’s wells.

Where the candidates stand

From their answers to the QB Insights candidate questionnaire and their campaign materials. We list what each candidate has said about the airport, and the aviation work they say they have done.

  • Robert Filmer (Council): “The airport is another example of a valuable Town asset that needs stronger business planning. I strongly support protecting the Qualicum Beach Airport, but assets such as the airport and golf operations should become increasingly financially and operationally independent. The general taxpayer should not automatically be the permanent backstop.” He says, “I now work in senior aviation management.”22
  • Scott Harrison (Council): “…look at activating the south airport lands…”23
  • Mischa Oak (Council): “I completely support having an airport in our community, but right now residents are unfairly subsidizing out-of-town pilots who land and train over our neighbourhoods for free…” and “I’d bring in real usage tracking and landing fees sized to cover those costs…”24
  • Adam Walker (Mayor), on his flyer: “Support local travel and emergency services. Grow revenue and reduce costs to taxpayers.”
  • Teunis Westbroek (Mayor): “Address aircraft noise while making sure our Town-owned airport remains viable for the long term.”
  • We found nothing on the airport from Nessa Cymbalisty (Mayor), or from Donald Couzens, Anne Skipsey, Melissa Worth or Jean Young (Council). Donald Couzens says he retired “after almost 30 years of service in the Royal Canadian Air Force.”25 As councillors, Anne Skipsey and Jean Young voted on the airport decisions above.

What happened

  1. 1954Rotary Club volunteers begin building the airport.
  2. 1957The Province transfers 160 acres of Crown land to the Town for the airport.
  3. 2021The Town stops charging landing fees.
  4. 2022New runway lights finished, paid by Transport Canada. A provincial grant replaces the Jet A fuel system.
  5. 2023A provincial grant replaces the underground aviation gasoline system.
  6. December 2024Council moves the airport master plan to 2026, only if a grant pays for all of it.
  7. April 2025Transport Canada turns down the Town’s paving and equipment grants.
  8. June 2025Residents present a petition asking for limits on training flights over homes (94 signatures).
  9. Summer 2025Wesley Ridge fire: up to nine helicopter companies work from the airport.
  10. September 2025Council applies to NAV Canada for noise-sensitive areas over nearby neighbourhoods.
  11. December 2025Staff report the provincial grant for a master plan was turned down.
  12. January 2026Council approves a one-year aircraft tracking trial (unanimous).
  13. February 2026Council widens the noise-sensitive area application (unanimous).
  14. April 2026Transport Canada turns down the paving and equipment grants again.
  15. May 2026Council postpones limits on touch-and-go training to consult flight schools and residents (unanimous).
  16. July 1, 2026New airport fees take effect. The fee for each Iskwew Air passenger drops from $11 to $5.

Sources

  1. 2026–2030 Financial Plan (adopted Apr 1, 2026) airport, pp. 112–115
  2. 2025–2029 Financial Plan airport budget, p. 113
  3. 2024–2028 Financial Plan (adopted Mar 13, 2024) airport budget, p. 106
  4. 2023–2027 Financial Plan airport budget, p. 81
  5. Committee of the Whole agenda, Dec 3, 2025: Airport Quarterly Report pp. 3–6
  6. Staff report on airport fees, Nov 26, 2025 (Committee of the Whole supplementary item, Dec 3, 2025) landing fees, p. 5
  7. Committee of the Whole minutes, Dec 3, 2025 (Airport) pp. 2–4
  8. Committee of the Whole, Jul 8, 2026: Airport Quarterly Report pp. 3–4
  9. Committee of the Whole minutes, Jun 25, 2025 (Airport) p. 3
  10. Council presentation, May 6, 2026: Airport Establishment and Operations (fees) slides 17, 20, 23
  11. Special Council minutes, Jun 29, 2026 fee bylaws adopted, Res. 26-161
  12. Regular Council minutes, Jan 21, 2026 aircraft tracking trial, Res. 26-018, p. 6
  13. Regular Council minutes, May 13, 2026 touch-and-go limits postponed, Res. 26-130
  14. Regular Council agenda, Mar 12, 2025 answers to airport questions, p. 230
  15. Committee of the Whole minutes, Nov 7, 2023 p. 2
  16. Regular Council agenda, Nov 20, 2025 correspondence log, p. 18
  17. Regular Council agenda, Dec 10, 2025 correspondence log, p. 44
  18. 2022 Annual Report pp. 36, 40
  19. 2023 Annual Report p. 40
  20. Transport Canada: Apply for Airports Capital Assistance Program funding
  21. Province of BC: BC Air Access Program Guidelines 2026/27 pp. 3, 5
  22. Robert Filmer’s answers to the candidate questionnaire QB Insights
  23. Scott Harrison’s answers to the candidate questionnaire QB Insights
  24. Mischa Oak’s answers to the candidate questionnaire QB Insights
  25. Donald Couzens’s answers to the candidate questionnaire QB Insights

Last checked October 5, 2026. Report a mistake.