Friday, December 12, 2025
The federal government is adding more than $100 million to its ongoing effort to address PFAS contamination linked to historic military activities at 22 Wing/CFB North Bay.
The federal government announced Thursday that it will contribute an additional $100 million to the City of North Bay for remediation work at Jack Garland Airport, bringing the total federal commitment under a 2021 agreement to roughly $120 million. The Department of National Defence (DND) said the funding will cover about 97 per cent of the planned cleanup over the next 16 years.
The original $20-million agreement was signed in 2021 to support PFAS remediation at the airport, where firefighting foams containing the long-lasting chemicals were used between the early 1970s and mid-1990s.
Pauline Rochefort, MP for Nipissing–Timiskaming and parliamentary secretary to the Secretary of State for Rural Development, made the announcement on behalf of Defence Minister David McGuinty.
The federal government also unveiled a second contribution agreement of up to $8.25 million to support design work and a six-month pilot project to test PFAS treatment technologies at North Bay’s drinking water treatment plant. The two-year initiative aims to reduce PFAS levels in the municipal water supply.
DND said it will continue working with the City of North Bay, the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, and Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, and will provide ongoing updates to the community.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals used in industrial applications and consumer products. They have been detected in groundwater and surface water on and near the base and airport lands.
“This additional funding is an important step forward in our ongoing efforts to address PFAS in North Bay,” said Peter Chirico, Mayor of North Bay. “It allows us to continue remediation at Jack Garland Airport and advance the engineering and design of upgrades to our water treatment system, all with the goal of providing safe, clean drinking water for our community.”
