Living near an airport means hearing airplanes. That has always been part of life in Pitt Meadows. But lately, many neighbours have observed our everyday activities are increasingly punctuated by the sound of small aircraft engines.
This isn’t just perception.
Statistics Canada tracks each takeoff or landing at airports across the country. The numbers for Pitt Meadows Regional Airport are striking (see chart attached).
Since 2022, aircraft movements have increased by 64 per cent. That represents roughly 81,000 additional takeoffs and landings in 2025 compared with just a few years earlier.
Spread across the airport’s operating hours, that’s about one additional aircraft overhead every five minutes throughout the day. Each one may last only a short while, but together they change the rhythm of daily life in neighbourhoods beneath the flight paths.
Zoom out further and the change is even more dramatic. Over the past decade, total aircraft activity at YPK has more than doubled.
Part of the explanation appears to be increased flight training. Aviation authorities across North America reported a global pilot shortage following the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased demand for training flights.
Whatever the cause, the implications of this growth deserve public attention.
Because more takeoffs don’t just mean more noise. They mean a lot more air pollution.
Health Canada estimates that air pollution contributes to more than 15,000 premature deaths annually in Canada, along with millions of respiratory illnesses. Research shows air pollution is especially concentrated near airports, exposing our families to higher risks.
Since our children increasingly face summers shaped by wildfire smoke, there are strong reasons to consider how we manage other sources of air pollution that are more within our control — including activity at the airport our city co-owns with Maple Ridge.
There are also costs for our agricultural land.
Nitrogen pollution from aircraft engines eventually settles onto the ground, where it gradually acidifies soils and alters the nutrients crops need to grow. This has to concern our municipality where farming remains central to our economy and identity.
None of this means the airport is inherently a problem.
YPK has long been an important part of the region’s economy and transportation infrastructure.
But when activity more than doubles within a decade, it raises reasonable questions. What level of activity is appropriate for an airport in the middle of a growing residential and agricultural community?
How should noise, air quality and environmental impacts be monitored and managed?
I’d be interested to hear what other residents think.
At present, the city has no intention of updating the airport’s Noise Management Plan before 2028 — eight years after the last plan was published. Nor is there any plan to study the health or agricultural implications of increased flight activity.
These seem like issues worth discussing openly — especially as municipal elections approach in the fall. Good local governance starts with good information and public engagement.
The sky above our community has changed quickly. It’s time for a conversation about what that means for the ground below.
– Dr. Paul Kershaw is a policy professor in UBC’s
School of Population & Public Health, and a resident of Pitt Meadows since 2004.
•••••••••••••••
CHANGE SINCE:
2022 Post-pandemic
59% increase
75,376 additional takeoffs and landing in the year
207 increase per day
12 additional takeoffs and landings per operating hour
.
2019 The last non-pandemic year for which there is a noise management plan
42% increase
59,533 additional takeoffs and landing in the year
163 increase per day
10 additional takeoffs and landings per operating hour
.
2015 Last decade
97% increase
99,761 additional takeoffs and landing in the year
273 increase per day
16 additional takeoffs and landings per operating hour
.
2005 Last 20 years
102% increase
102,562 additional takeoffs and landing in the year
281 increase per day
17 additional takeoffs and landings per operating hour
Sources:
Statistics Canada. Table 23-10-0296-01 Aircraft movements, by class of operation, airports with NAV CANADA services and other selected airports, monthly
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2310029601
Statistics Canada. Table 23-10-0002-01 Aircraft movements, by class of operation and peak hour and peak day of movements, for airports with NAV CANADA towers, monthly, inactive