Mayor Roy comments on airport funding

The province is investing in airports, and Weyburn is one of those receiving funding. 

In February, Weyburn City Council approved the request from the City Administration to apply for the Community Airport Partnership (CAP) program, which supports local airports by helping to offset the costs of rehabilitation and improvements, with cost-shared grants up to a maximum of $275,000. 

Weyburn will receive $97,500 for taxiway repairs, crack sealing, and pavement marking. Read more HERE.

In all, the Government of Saskatchewan will invest $935,000 at 11 airports. When combined with local matching dollars, this represents almost $2 million investment in airport infrastructure.

"CAP is a municipal program that provides funding for the rehabilitation, construction and capital improvements of airport infrastructure for community-owned airports in Saskatchewan," Highways Minister Fred Bradshaw said, "These Investments go into improving things such as runway lighting, navigation systems, taxiways, runways, as well as other repairs and safety improvements."

Community and regional airports contribute to our economy by supporting vital public services like Saskatchewan's Air Ambulance, law enforcement and fire suppression.

"The City of Weyburn is grateful for this investment which allows for improvements to our airport's taxiway pavement and markings," said Weyburn's Mayor Marcel Roy. "With these enhancements, Weyburn can continue to provide high-quality service for those traveling to our province and the nation."

"Municipal airports are very important to not only Weyburn, but to a lot of cities throughout the province," shared Roy. "In Weyburn, we have probably about anywhere from three to six medi-planes come in each month and land there, as well as our STARS helicopters. Then we have all the private people that are working and then we have like any companies flying out of there."

He said airports always require a certain standard of maintenance, which is ultimately all about safe take-offs and landings - especially with so many of those being for medical transports. 

"The medivac planes are picking up patients and they're taking to either Edmonton, or Saskatoon, or Calgary, for surgery, so those are just as important, although STARS does the glamour job of emergencies, they also have a very very vital role in our health care system."

Some of the other airport improvement projects that will be happening include $9,090 for crack filling on the runway and tarmac in Carlyle, and  $34,948 for crack sealing and line painting in Estevan.

Since 2007-08, the ministry has invested almost $11 million including this year's funding, and more than 40 different communities and RMs have benefited from the CAP program.

For more information, please visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/transportation/airports/community-airport-partnership-cap-program.